Band - tune to what?

[The Pipe Guy]

Just wondering, how does your band tune? Do they tune to the P/M even though that pitch varies from practice to practice, or does the P/M set the pitch and everyone is expected to be on that pitch every time?

[Patrick Dean]

Rick,

We tune to the PM every time, even though there is a slight variance from practice to practice. He plays a lot of gigs during the week, and generally his tone is good. Some of our lesser experienced players do have a problem getting up to (or down to) his pitch every practice, but it's no biggie to get the band sounding ok fairly quickly.

Personally, I think stipulating a pitch, and trying to get there every practice would be a huge headache, given the changes in temperature and humidity from day to day.

[Mike Szarka]

At least in a higher-grade band, the main variation will be due to the weather/room conditions. All the players will keep their band chanters in chanter protectors and very rarely raise or sink the reed between practices except when the reed is new. Only a piece of tape might get shifted here or there. The pipes will all have been played for maintenance during the week (but not overplayed without changing chanters). With a matched set of chanters, they should all change together reasonably well.

Mike

[BillW]

In our band, since I do the tuning, everyone tunes to me...sort of...

After the band is warmed up, I check the tuning of my pipes, and compare myself with the PM & PS to see if we're the same. Through a lot of effort, I've been able to set chanters so that after a 10-15 minute warm-up, most players are pretty close. Keeping the reeds in the chanters with reed protectors helps cut down on the need to move reeds since they're not constantly being removed from the chanters.

Generally, drones will be tuned, and chanters may need a minor adjustment here or there...usually nothing more than a slight lift or sink here or there or a little tape.

Keep in mind that we're a lower grade band, which the majority of bands are, compared to Gr. 1 & 2 numbers. Other bands may have different techniques, but this is what works well for us.