I will be standing next to the kaba gaida player right there specifically on Sunday evening at the center house. Where will you be?

Looking forward to meeting you and hearing you play! Thanks!!!!

Lots of qs.
The chanter is what is going to determine what reed to use. The chanter is tuned to respond to a certain key. So you must first find out what key your chanter is in, then find the reed that fits that key. In the absence of a human being, one possibility is to have someone like me, if there were some one like me, send to you a xerox of his d,e, and f chanters, then you can compare size and hole spacing and that is a good bet.

A reed needs time to settle.

The chanter may need some small adjustment to blend with the reed.

You pressure on the bag alters the tone as well as your finger placement.

There are 4 of us that play every other week. We all have "E" kaba gaidas. We all tune to a tuning machine to all sound close before we play together and then we do not adjust our reeds unless there is a big change.

Typically, it is the flea hole that is used to get the sharp for a certain note of the scale (or flat if you are going down). So, to me, it is another note of the scale, depending on which scale you are playing. Although it is used for pulses and vibrato, there is also the thumb hole which adds more drama and feel and rhythm to the music.

But for now, if you are beginning, you should not be so caught up in ornaments. It should be on learning the melodies with no ornaments, as well as learning your scale. Not to memorize the fingering, but to know what notes are associated with each one - to read notes, write notes, play notes and to sing notes. But thats another lesson. :)

The flea hole is not complete without a small tube running inside the chanter. Typically it is made from a feather quill, a rolled up piece of a beer can metal, or a brass tube. IF you do not have a tube, your chanter will not be true to scale. the tube is inserted into the hole and is about 5/7 across the diameter of the chanter. Like about 1/2" or so. It must be cut and adjusted so it stays in the hole, and is the proper length to sound the notes in the scale.

What you must do is find a bulgarian that does this, or knows about it, and he will set you on the right path.

:)

I just shove those little threads up and down verrrrrrrry gradually ... no unwinding and definitely no glue. Once re-positioned, they're not likely to move back their original positions by themselves.

I know exactly what you mean about reeds that choke out or fall into the overtone. For me, some drone reeds will choke out completely, but two different tricks will free them up ... if your arms are long enough, reach down and briefly smother the hole on the end of the drone pipe. You might have to do this a few times in rapid succession. Also, sometimes a few infuriated strikes with the right hand at the top of the drone pipe, roughly where the reed is, will dislodge a "stuck" reed tongue. Although I'm NOT recommending this ... ah, what the hell, you did say that you've survived the hurdy-gurdy ... although I'm not recommending this, the overtone problem frustrated me enough that I unwound the threads and re-tied them ... time-consuming and very trial-by-error (you can't re-tie too tight OR too loose or the whole thing's useless), but I have rehabilitated a couple of my reeds by doing this.

I moistened the entire reed from top to bottom ... shaft, tongue, threads and all. I guess, the way I look at it, the beeswax seals the reed wood and keeps it from expanding from 15 or 30 minutes worth of hot. humid, vodka-infused breath. Maybe I'm way off-base with this, but it makes sense to me.

Hey, try this: whittle a wine cork down to the point where it will fit in the end of your drone pipe. Now, practice by only playing the chanter. This will allow you to practice your melodies and your fingering AND slowly build up your lung-power at the same time. As you start buidling more endurance, practice a little more with both pipes each day. Worked for me. I may be a lousy gaida player, but I can practically play the damn thing under water for the better part of an hour.

What's amazing to me is that many gaidari SMOKE several packs a day!

Hey, incidentally ... do you have any problems with spouses, significant others, family members, friends and neighbors? My wife doesn't let me practice after 10pm, and she prefers that I put it away when people come to visit! And friends and acquaintances tend to spot it laying on a chair in all its deflated glory, point with trembling fingers and hiss between clenched teeth, "Sweet merciful jeezuz, what is THAT?!?"

I need more Macedonian and Bulgarian friends ...

Good luck. Let me know if any of this works. We're in this together, my friend.

You are probably correct on this. Only problem is, my chanter is SO low quality, with NOTHING in the flea hole, it barely shifts the pitch of the lower notes AT ALL when opened. As a matter of fact, when I first bought this gaida and started playing, I couldn't even figure out what that little hole was even for! Every other gaida player I've spoken to has also had to resort to putting something in the flea hole ... but maybe it's just a question of chanter design and quality, or personal preference, or something.

Dirk, while I've got you on the line, lemme ask you a question ... because the drone is tuned two octaves below the fifth on the chanter, I've been assuming that this is the basic key that one can play songs in ... Only problem is, that doesn't allow for much of a melodic range ... just a few notes above and a few notes below the fifth. Am I incorrect here? I was always assuming that the key of the song and the drone pipe "have to" be the same note, but now I'm wondering ...

Thanks.

I believe that I said everything that I had to say as tactfully as I could. In the meantime, please limit your posts to things that you actually know something about. Nothing personal. If you're really interested in learning about Bulgarian music and the gaida, in particular, may I suggest Timothy Rice's 'May It Fill Your Soul'? A bit overly academic at times, but an excellent source of info. Or are you equally unable to take a book recommendation from "a person who has the message-board etiquette of a steaming fresh turd"? Your loss, then ...