How to sharpen the B on a chanter.

[Richard Katz]

I have always wanted to ask this question.

How would one sharpen the B note on your chanter? Say the B is very flat but all of the other notes are in tune.

Any advise is appreciated.

Cheers! Richard

[geoff wooff]

Richard,
if you can give more détails I might be able to help with your question. So, how flat is this B note ? Is it flat in both octaves or flat by differing amounts or sharp in the upper and flat in the lower? What type of chanter ?

cheers,
Geoff.

[Richard Katz]

Hi Geoff,

Thanks for your assistance.

My chanter is a D made in 1998 by Charles Roberts in Sligo.

My B has always seemed flat, especially in the first octave. the second octave B, which I rarely use, seems to be in tune.

I realize the B is built to be so many cents flat, but....

Probably 20 cents flat I am guessing. Not testing with a tuner right this minute.

Didn't know if this could be a tape on the hole fix or what.

Knowing that you can't actually hear it in person and are trusting my estimation......

Any suggestions are welcomed.

Thanks in advance! Richard

[geoff wooff]

Richard,
your description of the tuning of your B's is what I would expect . There are adjustments and compromises that can be made with the reeds to minimise the problem and also 'fixes' and adjustments to the chanter , some of which may have, or should have, been put into place during the making of the stick.

In a natural harmonic scale, based on D, the B note will sing sweetly with the drones when it is 16 cents flat... but any amount from 11 cents flat ( from the ET position) will start to sweeten the interval.

The problem with making a suggestion for adjustment is that everything else has to be taken into consideration. There are two awkward notes on a chanter, also on most other woodwinds, the second and the sixth . So the E wants to be flat in the upper octave and the B wants to be sharp ( in comparison to their low octave équivalents).... It is possible to design a bore shape and holes sizes to minimise these naturally occuring events... but I do not wish to go into that or even explain on a public forum how I would go about rectifying your problem.

It is possible to bring up the pitch of the lower octave B without much altering the upper but that involves physical alteration to the chanter.... the simplest way (if you cannot find a 'reed' solution) is to shift the B hole very slightly north and to rely on Oboe fingering for the then raised upper B note. How well that cross fingering will work on a large holed CP chanter I do not know.

It is far more difficult to manipulate the upper octave tunings on a chanter so the lower octave notes have to be made to play an octave below them and the whole gamut adjusted to agree with the desired scale .

The big question is " how much sharper do you want that B note ?"

I have a somewhat different method of equalising the octave tuning of the B's but we ain't exactly living in each other's back yards and you'd need to drop in for a cup of Tea so's I can see/hear the problem.

[Mr.Gumby]

the second octave B, which I rarely use

This statement keeps jumping out at me and I don't understand it. Are you deliberately avoiding the note? Don't you play tunes that go to high B (that would be extremely limiting wouldn't it?), don't you like the note?

[PJ]

Hi Richard,

Have you tried venting different holes or alternatively playing B with just one finger?

Also, I presume you have tried several different reeds.

Sorry, but just getting the obvious stuff out of the way.

[Richard Katz]

No...not that I don't like the B note or that I never play the second octave B.

I just have always felt that the B note is the most curious note on the uilleann pipes in that it is so flat in comparison to oher instruments.

I do play the second octave B, but I find that it doesn't come up a lot in the tunes that I play. My second octave B is much more in tune thatn my first octave B.

Don't take me wrong here, I am not complaining at all. There are just times that I wish my B was a little sharper.

Mr. Gumby, I actually love all my notes, but to B or not to B is the question!

Richard

[Mr.Gumby]

I do play the second octave B, but I find that it doesn't come up a lot in the tunes that I play. My second octave B is much more in tune thatn my first octave B.

It just struck me as an odd thing to say, I never feel there are particular notes that are under-represented in the general repertoire.

[ausdag]

When I play my chanter without drones, my B and Cnat sound flat, but when I turn on the drones and hear that 'golden syrup of honeyed hives' (or whatever that metaphore is) I know my B and Cnat are beautifully in tune.