Question for those familiar with O'Grady pipes. Do his newer pipes have a weaker back D, as the older ones tend to? If so, what's the best way to correct this? Not sure if it's a reed or chanter issue. One of my piping teacher's other students has an O'Grady set and they seem like a decent set for the money.
Corin
Back D's on Neill O'Grady pipes
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Joseph
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Corin,
I also have an O'Grady chanter. I recieved the set through Song of the Sea two years ago. I would agree that on my chanter the back D was weak. It was very sensitive to pressure (the note would go very sharp if played to hard) and was not loud at all. I didn't realize this until I played a few chanters by different makers. HOWEVER, the problem was not the chanter but the reed. Three weeks ago, I went to visit a friend who is a very good reed maker. He tried different reeds that he had already made and was able to find a reed that worked. He then fine tuned it, cutting the reed shorter and adding a rush in the reed. The result was incredible. The chanter is louder (without diminishing tone), more responsive, and the back D is now loud and strong. It is a totally different instrument. While he was fine tuning my chanter, I played a while on his own (made by a very good maker and reeded by himself). It sounded and responded wonderfully. However, by the time I left his home I felt personally that my chanter sounded just as good if not better.
It is my opinion that Neil O'Grady is a fine meticulous pipe maker (along with being a very curtious and genuine man). However, while he makes decent reeds, he is not a great reed maker. I think he makes wonderful chanters and would recommend him to anyone, but if you are having problems with a weak back D I would possibly see about getting it re-reeded. I know not everyone has the luxury of being two hours away from a skilled reed maker, but there are a lot of very good reed makers out there.
hope this helps
Joseph
I also have an O'Grady chanter. I recieved the set through Song of the Sea two years ago. I would agree that on my chanter the back D was weak. It was very sensitive to pressure (the note would go very sharp if played to hard) and was not loud at all. I didn't realize this until I played a few chanters by different makers. HOWEVER, the problem was not the chanter but the reed. Three weeks ago, I went to visit a friend who is a very good reed maker. He tried different reeds that he had already made and was able to find a reed that worked. He then fine tuned it, cutting the reed shorter and adding a rush in the reed. The result was incredible. The chanter is louder (without diminishing tone), more responsive, and the back D is now loud and strong. It is a totally different instrument. While he was fine tuning my chanter, I played a while on his own (made by a very good maker and reeded by himself). It sounded and responded wonderfully. However, by the time I left his home I felt personally that my chanter sounded just as good if not better.
It is my opinion that Neil O'Grady is a fine meticulous pipe maker (along with being a very curtious and genuine man). However, while he makes decent reeds, he is not a great reed maker. I think he makes wonderful chanters and would recommend him to anyone, but if you are having problems with a weak back D I would possibly see about getting it re-reeded. I know not everyone has the luxury of being two hours away from a skilled reed maker, but there are a lot of very good reed makers out there.
hope this helps
Joseph
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No E
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Hey Joseph,
Ya big tease... Tell the poor guy that there's a releatively easy fix for his problem, then don't him the details
Perhaps you can get the reedmaker in question (the esteemed Mr. O'Donovan, I'm guessing) to cough up some measurements.
Hope the piping is going well, and you that you're able to get down to an SCUPC meeting sometime soon
No E (Larry Dunn)
Ya big tease... Tell the poor guy that there's a releatively easy fix for his problem, then don't him the details
Perhaps you can get the reedmaker in question (the esteemed Mr. O'Donovan, I'm guessing) to cough up some measurements.
Hope the piping is going well, and you that you're able to get down to an SCUPC meeting sometime soon
No E (Larry Dunn)
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meemtp
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Thanks for the replies,
It might just be worth it then for me to buy a set and just have the chanter rereeded. I could still have an affordable set that would probably keep me happy for a while. There just so happens to be an excellent reedmaker in the town where I work. He made a fantastic reed for a sessionmate's Rowsome chanter. I'm borrowing my friend and teacher's old practice set now, but he'll need it back at some point for another student that he'd actually charge. So, I can't complain. Song of the Sea is about a 3 hour drive for me, so that would work. By the way, does the reedmaker you spoke of ever venture to these parts?
Corin
It might just be worth it then for me to buy a set and just have the chanter rereeded. I could still have an affordable set that would probably keep me happy for a while. There just so happens to be an excellent reedmaker in the town where I work. He made a fantastic reed for a sessionmate's Rowsome chanter. I'm borrowing my friend and teacher's old practice set now, but he'll need it back at some point for another student that he'd actually charge. So, I can't complain. Song of the Sea is about a 3 hour drive for me, so that would work. By the way, does the reedmaker you spoke of ever venture to these parts?
Corin
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Joseph
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Corin,
I don't think he gets to the east coast that much. He lives in the LA area, and yes he is in fact the renound Mr. O'Donovan "worker of miracles". He actually does most of the reeding for Michael Hubbert's pipes. Michael Hubbert's webite can be found at http://homepage.mac.com/photomorphose/hubbert.html
I think O'Donovan is an amazing reed maker and an even better guy. In fact, I am thinking of naming my first born after him (if I ever do get married and actually have a son....gotta find a woman first)....ha ha.
Larry, I didn't mention his name out of courtesy. While the man should get all the credit and accolades, I don't want him all of the sudden getting swamped with calls from around the country from people seeing if he can reed there pipes. The poor guy is busy enough.
Thank you for the kind word, I hope to get down for a meeting soon too. Just very busy one Sundays. I hope you are well also and that the pipes are going good.
Joseph
I don't think he gets to the east coast that much. He lives in the LA area, and yes he is in fact the renound Mr. O'Donovan "worker of miracles". He actually does most of the reeding for Michael Hubbert's pipes. Michael Hubbert's webite can be found at http://homepage.mac.com/photomorphose/hubbert.html
I think O'Donovan is an amazing reed maker and an even better guy. In fact, I am thinking of naming my first born after him (if I ever do get married and actually have a son....gotta find a woman first)....ha ha.
Larry, I didn't mention his name out of courtesy. While the man should get all the credit and accolades, I don't want him all of the sudden getting swamped with calls from around the country from people seeing if he can reed there pipes. The poor guy is busy enough.
Thank you for the kind word, I hope to get down for a meeting soon too. Just very busy one Sundays. I hope you are well also and that the pipes are going good.
Joseph
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J-dub
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I have an O'Grady halfset that I got this summer (from Song of the Sea). I am very happy with the set, although I have had a similar experience to those mentioned. The back D was also weak and a little unstable initially but improved as the reed was played-in. I also find that adding a "rush" to the staple bore improved the pitch and stability of the second octave greatly, improved the back D and made the pipe more user-friendly overall - greater note stability, more responsiveness.
Actually, I have four of Neil's reeds and they are very consistent. I have not had to resort to shortening the reed to overcome back D instabilities. Actaully, Neil's reeds play remarkably well (post staple tweaking) in the dessicating enviroment of Salt Lake City. I would think that it is pretty arid in Bakersfield as well, Joseph? It is worth noting that when I went from the 8% humidity of Salt Lake to the 70% humidity of the northern California coast this last summer my reeds (not surprisingly) were unplayable for two days! When they finally became playable low and behold the back D would sink like crazy (suggesting that the lips are too thin). Back to Salt Lake and good as gold. I think that Neil's makes his reeds quite thin, especially at the lips, necessitating a little trimming to adjust to a particular humidity and/or slight variation from reed to reed. I'm not sure why Neil makes them this way. I would think that it is not very dry in Newfoundland, but maybe Neil has wood heat
Overall I recomend Neil's pipes. Any pipes will require the user to do some fine tuning and tweaking. I don't think that what I or Joseph have had to do is unreasonable or out of the ordinary; it's all part of the learning curve. I should add that the drones were very easy to set up, even for a novice such as myself. They are well balanced, very stable and blend nicely with the chanter. I have had several people remark about how nice they sound (but maybe it's because they stand in stark contrast with the quality of my chanter playing
Good luck! John.
P.S. Corin, If you don't mind me asking, where in Maine do you live? My wife is from Orono and we occassionally get back to visit. It would be fun to get together and do some piping next time I'm in your neck of the woods.
Actually, I have four of Neil's reeds and they are very consistent. I have not had to resort to shortening the reed to overcome back D instabilities. Actaully, Neil's reeds play remarkably well (post staple tweaking) in the dessicating enviroment of Salt Lake City. I would think that it is pretty arid in Bakersfield as well, Joseph? It is worth noting that when I went from the 8% humidity of Salt Lake to the 70% humidity of the northern California coast this last summer my reeds (not surprisingly) were unplayable for two days! When they finally became playable low and behold the back D would sink like crazy (suggesting that the lips are too thin). Back to Salt Lake and good as gold. I think that Neil's makes his reeds quite thin, especially at the lips, necessitating a little trimming to adjust to a particular humidity and/or slight variation from reed to reed. I'm not sure why Neil makes them this way. I would think that it is not very dry in Newfoundland, but maybe Neil has wood heat
Overall I recomend Neil's pipes. Any pipes will require the user to do some fine tuning and tweaking. I don't think that what I or Joseph have had to do is unreasonable or out of the ordinary; it's all part of the learning curve. I should add that the drones were very easy to set up, even for a novice such as myself. They are well balanced, very stable and blend nicely with the chanter. I have had several people remark about how nice they sound (but maybe it's because they stand in stark contrast with the quality of my chanter playing
Good luck! John.
P.S. Corin, If you don't mind me asking, where in Maine do you live? My wife is from Orono and we occassionally get back to visit. It would be fun to get together and do some piping next time I'm in your neck of the woods.
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meemtp
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John,
I live in Portland. I always love to get together with folks for some tunes. We have a great session here as well if you get the chance. Of course we have 2 pipers there already! I'm not much on the pipes myself actually. I don't have a set of my own, which is why I was curious about the O'Grady. The prices through Song of the Sea are closer to my price range than others at this point. Being able to go pick them up is a plus too. Just started on a friend's spare set, but I play fiddle, flute and whistle well. If I got the O'Grady, I'd probably have this guy in York re-reed it, but there's talk of him getting out of reedmaking, which would be a shame. He makes fantastic reeds. Also makes nice bellows too.
I love the sound of pipes and fiddle together. Too bad there's no way to play both at the same time!
Corin
I live in Portland. I always love to get together with folks for some tunes. We have a great session here as well if you get the chance. Of course we have 2 pipers there already! I'm not much on the pipes myself actually. I don't have a set of my own, which is why I was curious about the O'Grady. The prices through Song of the Sea are closer to my price range than others at this point. Being able to go pick them up is a plus too. Just started on a friend's spare set, but I play fiddle, flute and whistle well. If I got the O'Grady, I'd probably have this guy in York re-reed it, but there's talk of him getting out of reedmaking, which would be a shame. He makes fantastic reeds. Also makes nice bellows too.
I love the sound of pipes and fiddle together. Too bad there's no way to play both at the same time!
Corin
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Joseph
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John,
The climate here in Bakersfield is indeed very arid. The humidty can be very low during the summer ussually 15-20% even sometimes 10%. However, we have wet winters and the humidty goes up the 50's and 60's. So from October to April its comfortably humid, 40's to 60's. But from May to September the humidty drops and it becomes very dry. This of coarse can reek havoc on your pipes. There is another piper here in town (there's only two of us as far as I know), we were talking one day about the humidity problem and he stated that his pipes were playing great (mid-March) but that he feared and dreaded the summer coming.
John, I aggree with what you stated about your observations of Neil's reeds. Neil's reeds do function well when it dry. My own reeds stayed in tune pretty well, although my back D still remained weak whether dry or humid. I also agree the reason for this is that Neil does makes his reeds quite thin at the lips. I don't know the reason for this either.
Anyway, it has been cool to be able to discuss this with all of you.
all the best
Joseph
The climate here in Bakersfield is indeed very arid. The humidty can be very low during the summer ussually 15-20% even sometimes 10%. However, we have wet winters and the humidty goes up the 50's and 60's. So from October to April its comfortably humid, 40's to 60's. But from May to September the humidty drops and it becomes very dry. This of coarse can reek havoc on your pipes. There is another piper here in town (there's only two of us as far as I know), we were talking one day about the humidity problem and he stated that his pipes were playing great (mid-March) but that he feared and dreaded the summer coming.
John, I aggree with what you stated about your observations of Neil's reeds. Neil's reeds do function well when it dry. My own reeds stayed in tune pretty well, although my back D still remained weak whether dry or humid. I also agree the reason for this is that Neil does makes his reeds quite thin at the lips. I don't know the reason for this either.
Anyway, it has been cool to be able to discuss this with all of you.
all the best
Joseph
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JamieKerr
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I too, suffer from a sinking back-d on my O'Grady chanter, although it isn't a persistent problem. I had always related the problem to too much pressure on the bag. What is the process of adding a rush to the staple bore? What material do you use? How is this done? I'd like to try it out.J-dub wrote: I also find that adding a "rush" to the staple bore improved the pitch and stability of the second octave greatly, improved the back D and made the pipe more user-friendly overall - greater note stability, more responsiveness.
Anyone?
Thanks!
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Kevin L. Rietmann
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Kevin L. Rietmann
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Kevin L. Rietmann
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daveboling
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Perhaps Kevin has had personal experience with Niel's pipes and could provide us with a more mature, point-by-point listing of what he found lacking? I was under the impression that wholesale slagging of pipers and makers was generally frowned upon here without more explination than a couple of cutesy emoticons. A picture may be worth a thousand words, but from Kevin's past posts, I expected something more than finger painting.
dave boling
dave boling