I’m back from Swannanoa! Here’s what I learned:

My bellows design works well

No leaks, everything is good.

Things I need to improve:

• The ring around it leaves a mark on my forearm
• The elbow pad really needs to be attached to the body
• I could tweak the shape a bit, to try and make it more ergonomic

My check valves are just great

At the Spanish Peaks piping retreat, my biggest problem was leaks. I have completly fixed that issue: there are no leaks in my bag.

My biggest remaining valve problem is the groaning noise, which I think might be happening because the butyl flaps aren’t flat.

My chanter plays sharp

It seems my David Daye reed and chanter are both flat, so when I put a more “normal” reed in it, it plays sharp. This explains why the three Pakistani reeds I fixed up are all playing sharp.

It’s pretty normal for chanters to vary a lot, which is one reason why the reed maker typically needs the chanter. This is not something David did wrong, but it does seem like making a flatter chanter is a good idea.

Reedmaking isn’t as hard as I thought it was

This isn’t to say it’s easy, but it turns out I’ve already got at least one playable reed made from the Pakistani ones I ordered; I may have three. Finishing Pakistani reeds feels like a workable approach to getting cost down.

I still want to get into making my own reeds. It may not actually be as difficult as I thought it was: My main issue appears to be that my chanter is just quite sharp.

I need to rethink joint wrapping

Specifically:

• The pipers I spoke with had a strong negative reaction to the idea of using O rings to make the seal. It’s a superior technique, but if it’s going to be off-putting, I won’t do it. I can only challenge so many notions at once.
• My tolerances are way too low: people are not accustomed to needing so much force to pull apart and put together joints.
• 9-play waxed twine may be off-putting, too.

So it’s looking like embroidery floss and petroleum jelly may be the way to go for the joints. I’ve already got this worked out well for the Axianov flute, so it’s not going to be a big problem to redesign the joints to work that way.

There’s interest

There is for sure interest in what I’m doing. Even though there are plastic pipes for sale, nobody’s trying to hit the price point I am, and for sure nobody’s trying to give the plans away like David did.

People have begun asking if I can make different pitched chanters and different pitched drones and different pitched regulators. I can in theory make all three, I just need time to get them going.

Next steps

0. Start practicing now that I have working instrument :)
1. Make a flatter chanter that works with my SD reed, which I verified plays well on another piper’s chanter
2. Make a bag
3. Attach the bellows elbow pad to the bellows with something better than electrical tape
4. Rethink the bellows fabric retention band that’s messing up my forearm
5. Drones!