Good news! I'm apparently registered with the EUSPBA! I'll be starting to register for competitions this week. Right now, the plan is to try and do one per month starting in March.
I dragged everything out to my practice spot on Monday with the intention of doing a chanter shootout to figure out what I want to use for competition this year. Long story short, the shootout was over before it began. I brought all four of my current wooden chanters with me, but the only one I played was the new (old) Naill. I picked up a plastic Naill solo chanter back around 2003, at the behest of my teacher. Unfortunately, while I liked the sound, neither he nor I could get it to tune. In retrospect, it probably needed a little carving. However, I didn't have enough experience to know that. A few weeks ago I lucked out, and ended up with a 2007-ish wooden Naill (e.g., the newer version tweaked by Jack and Terry Lee) for a little less than half the going rate for a brand-new Naill. As soon as I got it reeded up, I knew it was the one. Even mouth-blown, it was easy to tell that it was more harmonic than any of my other chanters.
I spent about two hours playing the Naill with a MacPhee reed and - like my Kron - it just seems to work for me. However, the Naill balances with my drones better, and interacts with them more, than the Kron does. The Naill is now #1, the Kron (at #2) is my backup chanter, and the McC2 is relegated to 3rd place, with the McCallum Mk. 1 at a distant 4th. I may end up selling the McC2 and Mk. 1 sometime this year.
I dragged everything out to my practice spot on Monday with the intention of doing a chanter shootout to figure out what I want to use for competition this year. Long story short, the shootout was over before it began. I brought all four of my current wooden chanters with me, but the only one I played was the new (old) Naill. I picked up a plastic Naill solo chanter back around 2003, at the behest of my teacher. Unfortunately, while I liked the sound, neither he nor I could get it to tune. In retrospect, it probably needed a little carving. However, I didn't have enough experience to know that. A few weeks ago I lucked out, and ended up with a 2007-ish wooden Naill (e.g., the newer version tweaked by Jack and Terry Lee) for a little less than half the going rate for a brand-new Naill. As soon as I got it reeded up, I knew it was the one. Even mouth-blown, it was easy to tell that it was more harmonic than any of my other chanters.
I spent about two hours playing the Naill with a MacPhee reed and - like my Kron - it just seems to work for me. However, the Naill balances with my drones better, and interacts with them more, than the Kron does. The Naill is now #1, the Kron (at #2) is my backup chanter, and the McC2 is relegated to 3rd place, with the McCallum Mk. 1 at a distant 4th. I may end up selling the McC2 and Mk. 1 sometime this year.