The tone from the bagpipe chanter is ultimately what is going to make or break the sound from the highland bagpipe. There is no exact key that the chanter sound should relate to, but most people accept that it is in or around the key of B flat

Individual bagpipe players tend to set the pitch of the chanter by ear. The further into the reed seat that you push the reed, the sharper the overall pitch you will achieve from the pipe chanter. If you push it in too far, your chanter will sound too sharp. Equally, if you do not push the reed in far enough, the chanter will sound too flat.

There will also be variation in each reed, so it is really just a question of trial and error, until you get the sound you are happy with. If you find an individual note is too sharp, then you can partially cover that hole with black tape (even cellotape will do) and by reducing the size of that particular hole, you will flatten off that particular note.

There is no way to sharpen an individual note, so  if anything, it is better to sink the reed well into the reed seat until you have a good balanced tone, but if you end up with a couple of notes on the sharp side, it is then easy to tape them, thus flattening their sound, and therefore achieving the ultimate aim of a balanced pipe chanter.

Once you have achieved this, you tune your drones to the Low A of the pipe chanter and you will have the correct sound from the highland bagpipe.