Trouble shoot

Chanter Reed Troubleshooting

The tables on this page contain a guide to possible problems you might encounter with your chanter reeds and solutions to those problems. This information is designed as an 'at a glance' reference. For detailed information on chanter reed adjustment please see the Chris Apps Chanter Reed Adjustment Booklet. The book, together with a mandrel, will give you everything you need to make the most of your investment.

	Possible reasons
Problem	mouth too wide	mouth too small	too much cane on reed	reed too vibrant	reed too long	reed set too high in seat	reed set too deep	possible fault in chanter
Reed too strong	X		X
Reed too easy		X
Top hand too sharp		X	X				X
Top hand too flat	X				X	X
Flat F	X				X
Sharp high G		X	X
Croaky high A				X
Double toning F	X	X			X		X	X

Problem	Solution
mouth too wide	close mouth by pinching
mouth too small	open mouth with mandrel
too much cane on reed	scrape or sand tongues
reed too vibrant	sand tip of reed at angle
reed too long	shorten reed at tip
reed set too deep	re-hemp and raise
reed set too high in seat	set reed deeper in seat
possible fault in chanter	contact Chris