reed voicing

[fred v]

I have a an EC and a couple of reeds sound noticeably louder than others. Is there a way to correct this or to make others louder?

Thanks,

Fred V

[JackJ]

Carroll Concertinas has a short video on the subject that might be helpful.  

[Dissonance]

It is worth pointing out that both fixes in the video have the potential to change tuning of the reed somewhat. 

 

1. Narrowing the reed gap often can result in a sharper reed. (I suspect it might have something to do with work hardening the reed by bending it).

 

2. A less flexible valve = flatter note.

 

 

[alex_holden]

10 hours ago, Dissonance said:

1. Narrowing the reed gap often can result in a sharper reed. (I suspect it might have something to do with work hardening the reed by bending it).

 

I don't think that explanation is right, because it goes flatter if you raise the set higher again. The difference is usually quite small, on the order of half a cent or so.

[d.elliott]

8 hours ago, alex_holden said:

 

I don't think that explanation is right, because it goes flatter if you raise the set higher again. The difference is usually quite small, on the order of half a cent or so.

 

Certainly re-voicing a reed makes it flatter, not ever sharper. The degree of change can be a couple of cents, even more, subject to the amount you have to change the reed tongue gap. It is worse if the voicing loss is due to reed tuning. If it's a running repair circumstance you could get away with it.

[fred v]

Thanks guys. I'll look at the reed height. Some of my valves are also not laying flat so I'll try the scotch tape trick. I may have to replace them.

[d.elliott]

Scotch tape on the valves in a traditional concertina reed construction, are you sure?

[Dana Johnson]

After tuning 6000 reeds, I am inclined to agree with Alex, with the exception being that the flattening on raising or sharpening on reducing the set depends a lot on the length of the reed, with longer reeds being less affected than small reeds. I re set a G6 reed on a friends concertina that was set ( probably at the factory ) so high it took a ton of pressure to sound at all.  When set to the proper height where it responded quite well, it was 20 cents sharper and needed to be retuned.  In most cases  for reeds that are responsive, I generally don’t see more than a couple cents variation.  I always check the set before any tuning and often find that returning a reed to its proper height is often all that is needed.  Given the number of things that can affect pitch, the reed isn’t always the culprit.

[Doug Barr]

On 8/13/2021 at 4:55 AM, d.elliott said:

Scotch tape on the valves in a traditional concertina reed construction, are you sure?

I hate to admit it but I once tuned a old 20B Lachenal that was in a high pitch with liquid correction fluid.  Worked great!  I would paint a small bit on the tip to bring down the pitch.  It stayed on,dried quickly,  easy adjustable, and completely reversible. I could experiment  with temperaments and not harm the reeds. 

 

Lets hear your "repair" stories.

 

Doug

[d.elliott]

Doug, if there were an emoji for the 'evil eye' I would deploy it about now.

 

In my very early days of repair, I struggled to find a leak in a set of bellows. At work, we has been leak testing a large vessel with smoke bombs, it worked.  I decided to fill the annoying bellows with smoke from an incense cone. I did not find the leak that way, but the instrument was sweet to play.

[Richard Mellish]

21 hours ago, Doug Barr said:

I hate to admit it but I once tuned a old 20B Lachenal that was in a high pitch with liquid correction fluid.  Worked great!  I would paint a small bit on the tip to bring down the pitch.  It stayed on,dried quickly,  easy adjustable, and completely reversible. I could experiment  with temperaments and not harm the reeds. 

 

Lets hear your "repair" stories.

 

Doug

 

18 hours ago, d.elliott said:

Doug, if there were an emoji for the 'evil eye' I would deploy it about now.

 

What's so bad about Doug's method? It may seem inelegant but as he says it is reversible, whereas making the reed thinner near the fixed end is permanent.

 

(However this is a bit of thread drift from the subject of voicing.)

[Auldfellowmelad]

The sad thing is valves can be an issue as well, a very thin valve will give a note with a hard edge to it (and the valve probably curls or malfunctions later). I see a lot of concertinas with all of these very very thin curly valves, agh, its no good.