Care and maintenance of the Leiken practice chanter reed
Leiken practice chanter reeds were designed to be as user-friendly and maintenance-free as possible. However, to keep your reed in the best condition, these tips will keep your reed in great shape for a long time to come.
Leiken practice chanter reeds were designed to be as user-friendly and maintenance-free as possible. However, to keep your reed in the best condition, these tips will keep your reed in great shape for a long time to come.
- When installing your reed, hold the reed just above the hemp binding and insert the reed into the seat so it fits firmly and gives an airtight seal, adding or removing hemp if necessary to achieve this. The reed must also be handled from this position when removing the reed from the chanter. Never twist the reed from any other point as this will likely destroy the reed. While the blades are plastic, they are still vulnerable to mishandling.
- After play, disassemble the chanter to allow it to dry and remove the reed. Saliva can be corrosive, and keeping the reed in a constantly wet environment can greatly diminish it's life span. If your chanter is wooden, letting your chanter dry in this fashion will also prevent it from cracking. Some pipers hang their practice chanter by the sole end completely assembled (so it hangs upside-down) to drain the excess. This process will take longer for it to dry, and is not recommended as readily as hemp may swell during this time (whether the hemp's lubricated [coated] with wax, petroleum jelly, cork grease, etc., or not), causing other issues such as rotting hemp, cracking or checking of the wood, and a stuck joint. Swabbing out the pieces with the appropriate bore brushes or mops will also help safely dry your chanter and keep the bores clean.
- The Leiken practice chanter reed is specifically designed to take a minimum amount of air for comfortable play. However, if the reed is too strong for any reason, it is recommended to use a dental band (wound around from the bottom end of the reed a maximum of two times and placed just above the binding around the blades) to soften the reed's strength and/or to sharpen the pitch without permanently altering the reed.
- If the band doesn't sharpen the reed (if this is required) and the reed can't be sunk into the reed seat any further, then it is advised to cut no more than 1mm from the tip of the blades at a time (no more than 2mm is recommended) until the pitch desired is attained. Remember, once it's cut, it can't be put back on, so proceed with extreme caution. After cutting, very light use of fine-grit sandpaper on the tips of the blades (no more than a few touches per blade) is suggested to keep the reed at a comfortable blowing strength as intended.
- If the reed is too easy and/or too quiet, very gently pinch the reed from the sides of the blades where the blades meet the binding and hold it for about five seconds (ensuring the gap between the blades is not more than 3mm as you pinch), then even more gently pinch the tops of the blades together (not from the sides this time) for less than a second to reorient the blades. Be very careful when doing this to avoid damaging the reed.