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Glad to hear you're getting closer! The combination of bore work and a new MPC I made (separate thread) to be used with a soft reed made my instrument play in concert pitch over 2 octaves with almost no effort. Looking back, it was hard to play before these changes. And I was shooting in the...

Wow, the sound at 0:09s is exactly the sound that I hate:) (The player really needs to read the score for that??)

"Romania weaponized the tárogató, and it shows in the playing style, which sounds to my ears like a cross between a giant kazoo on steroids and a buzzsaw cutting through tin sheeting" ^^ Possibly the most fitting description. Thanks for articulating it for me Toby. A little correction though...

Thanks Groovekiller. I agree with your advice on experimentation. Cool history there, I learned some things! John and Toby have discussed mouthpieces and reeds in other threads, so it's all good. The ultra soft reeds with open mouthpieces seem to be a Romanian thing, but more generally a Balkan...

John, I understood perfectly what you meant of course, it's all in good fun! I don't think Groovekiller was referring to you specifically. I do know the general trend of encouraging using harder reeds to train solid embouchure. I will gladly take your advice on anything related to reed...

So I got my box of RICO 1's from amazon on Friday (after I was told that nobody makes #1 reeds). I slapped one on my new mouthpiece (http://www.woodwindforum.com/forum/showthread.php?4834-New-MPC-made-based-on-Cody-s-experiments), and it was instant delight! I believe I have a perfect match...

Thank you Toby. I gotta say, your insight has been instrumental in this. Last night I made a small tweak still, removing some wood about 1.5 cm from the tip of the baffle. I needed to bring down the pitch somewhat. I also opened up the throat a tiny bit more. It's amazing how it affected the...

Thanks John. I'm obviously in the middle of oiling both mpc's, as you can tell from the photo. I use almond oil with a few drops of tea tree oil. The new one soaked up some oil overnight, so I figure it's good to go today. I briefly considered boiling it in paraffin wax (liquefied of course)...

Pictures. The one on the right (metal ring on the outside) is the new MPC. The one on the left is the original.

That is exactly how I worked my way down to the right pitch. ...or unless you're willing to experiment:) It's really fine. I should have mentioned this as a 3rd goal, but my full intention is to use 1.0 reeds and have a MPC that is a good match for that. I'm there with this one. I should also...

So I finally took into consideration all issues discussed here regarding pitch, timbre, and playability, and made myself a new mouthpiece for my taragot. I wanted to address 2 specific issues: 1. Pitch. My taragot can play in pitch with a #2 reed, but it takes effort (unnecessary embouchure...

Violins don't stand out as-is?

Last year I spent a week playing with folk musicians from Hungary who came to visit, and they liked to play in about 443 also. So I had to re-tune my small cimbalom (90 strings:smile: ). My understanding is that the trend, over the centuries, is to continuously move up.

Interesting. 99% of the time, the taragot is used in folk music, where there is no such orchestral standard (usually things are in 440). In some villages, musicians tune up higher (higher string tension=more volume), but it's not exact science. I guess Hungarians are trying to target the...

I was fully prepared to buy a new taragot from Mr. Toth, had I not cancelled my HU trip last month. The 1st site shows pretty reasonable prices for new instruments. About as much as I'd expect to spend. I noticed though that they're tuned in 442Hz? I wonder what the idea there is (instead of...

Oh yeah, I'm good about oiling. I just realized though that a February gig in NYC might have been the culprit - after the show we were in a rush, and I just did some quick cleaning + drying of the bore before packing up and hitting the road. Normally I let it sit after playing before putting it...

Instrument is now fixed. Total of 3 cracks. It's amazing how well the 406 can seep into the thinnest cracks. I also wrapped several turns of strong thread (with superglue) around those sections before putting the rings back on (shimmed with fabric). This thing is a Frankenstein now...

The short octaves: I did the unthinkable (to an instrument I spent $1250 on), and widened the top part of the upper joint bore. I took measurements across different parts of the instrument and calculated what the taper should be (1:17something). Back then I was under the impression that it...

Captain, That was EXACTLY the case with my instrument. I'd have to squeeze the crap out of the reed in order to get anywhere close to correct pitch in the 2nd register (but still flat). The lower register played in pitch with quite relaxed embouchure. That was prior to my upper joint...

So I haven't played my taragot in about 6 weeks. It sat in its padded case (made by me), taken apart, cleaned and dried properly. I took it out now and noticed that all the rings are loose (they were on tight, shimmed with fabric). And of course, there are at least 2 cracks in those sections...