This past weekend a friend and I hosted the first annual (hopefully) "Bellows By the Bay" small pipe workshop in San Leandro, California ( near SF). We feel it was a great success due to the expertise and enthusiasm of our instructor E.J. Jones.
Small pipe tuition in California is almost nonexistent and we feel very lucky indeed!

At the end of the weekend I noticed I have a very shrill whistle coming from my chanter thumbhole, heretofore not heard. It's a Moore boxwood (A). Any suggestions? I've cleared the reed and chanter for dust, debris, etc.

Thanks in advance and happy holidays!

does it happen all the time, or just certain situations? If the latter, what are they? Are you sure you're not unleashing the upper octave? [see Common Stock for june 2012]. This can happen if you're leaking the back lill even very slightly ...

Hi,
Things to check
as suggested by peterpiper make sure ALL your fingers cover their respective holes properly as leaks on the bottom hand can cause octave jumps when opening and closing the thumb hole

are all joints sealed properly

then check with another reed to eliminate reed problems

if it disappears then try
is the reed split anywhere (check with a magnifying glass)
has a bit of muck got between the blades
is the reed airtight at the sides
does it seal into the reed socket (needs to be airtight too)
has a corner been sanded down too much or a sliver knocked off by accident

good luck and take care

Dave