belfast_harper
119 posts
Feb 28, 2010
5:11 AM
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I want to make my self a low C marine band.
Is the best way to do this by tunning the reeds down with a file, or would it be better to add weight to the end of the reeds using solder?
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wheezer
150 posts
Feb 28, 2010
6:50 AM
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Taking enough metal off a reed to lower it a whole tone would I think weaken it severely. Solder will work where you have the room for it but you might have problems with the high octave reeds.
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Oisin
467 posts
Feb 28, 2010
7:24 AM
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Hey there Belfast Harper....I asked Dave Payne this same question last year as I wanted to tune a G harp up to an A. He told me that I'd be lucky to be able to get it up to Ab without ruining the reeds so you might be able to tune it down to a Db.
Oisin
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ZackPomerleau
773 posts
Feb 28, 2010
8:26 AM
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I know of some people who tune C's to D's so I don't see why it isn't possible.
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belfast_harper
124 posts
Feb 28, 2010
8:46 AM
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I think Rupert Oysler says that you can tune reeds up and down by a whole step in his DVD, and I have seen people playing customised low C marine bands before.
I just wanted to check that they were tunning them down with a file rather than adding weight to them before I start attacking my low D with my draw scraper.
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Andrew
910 posts
Feb 28, 2010
8:54 AM
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Tuning it down by filing would involve filing the necks of the reeds near the rivet.
I'd weight them, but solder may be a very crude method (how will you apply it with precision? How long will it take to get exactly the right amount on each reed?), as there will be big differences between the 1 reeds and the 10 reeds. You may need to paint the 10 reeds or something, in order to add weight.
Sorry, I've just noticed that I'm basically saying the same thing as Wheezer. You could try paint or Tippex.
It's going to be hellishly labour-intensive.
Weighting the end of a reed won't have the same effect as increasing the length of a reed or of spreading increased weight evenly along a reed's length - all the extra weight at one end would give the reed much more angular momentum than the other two options, for example. It might be fun to try it, but rather you than me!
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Kinda hot in these rhinos!
Last Edited by on Feb 28, 2010 9:03 AM
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belfast_harper
125 posts
Feb 28, 2010
9:11 AM
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I am hoping that I don't have to weight the ends,I would rather tune the reeds down using a scraper.
It is just something that I thought I saw Brendan Power do on a TV documentry before, but I don't know if it is a common technique or not.
Last Edited by on Feb 28, 2010 9:12 AM
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barbequebob
548 posts
Feb 28, 2010
1:07 PM
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Either way you want to accomplish it, there's no quick fixes here and they all have potential drawbacks.
If you file the reed way down flat, you'll need to remember even MORE so that breath control is gonna be a humongus factor because removing a lot of metal WILL weaken the reed and make it more prone to getting blown out quick, and that's something you cannot avoid.
Using solder on the reeds to do the job is also extremely labor intensive and you would need to take a s**tload of woodshedding time on a crappy or worn out harp to practice this technique on, plus having a rotary tool and some sort of chromatic tuner is VITAL.
On top of that, the solder needed would be silver solder and buying a seperate tube of flux is needed, plus the iron has to be THE LOWEST HEAT POSSIBLE.
Again, tuning down involves removing a HUGE amount of metal and that's a HUGE risk of severly weakening the reed.
What does this comedown to? No easy solution and each one comes a price to pay.
There are Low C's already available easily, so why make a lot of work for yourself??? Buy one of these because you need TONS of woodshedding to master either technique, especially the solder technique and it is not for the average player.
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Sincerely,
Barbeque Bob Maglinte
Boston, MA
http://www.barbequebob.com
CD available at http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/bbmaglinte
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