drone reed stopping

[rorybbellows]

A common probelm I think , but any suggestions how to stop a cane bass drone reed stopping under pressure ?


RORY

[magroibin]

Cane has a memory. (Which is more than I can say for myself most days.)
So, given the "memory" effect you want to train the tounge of the cane to be curved. You do this by gently pulling up on the tounge to give it a sort of "J " shaped curve.
After that it's a matter of adjusting the bridle to the desired position as well as just playing it in over time.

Paul

P.S. I also use wax or scraping to get the reed to play stable over pressure but that's another thread...

[patsky]

Before you go messing with the reed make sure that there are no leaks
in the drone; all sections must be air tight.


All the best,
Pat Sky

[mirabai]

Many people use wax on the end of the tongue or a hair under it but either will almost always make it very unstable in the direction of getting sharper with increased pressure. Springing the tongue sufficiently to make it stay in an arched position is the trick combined with proper bridle placement as always. Go for dead steadines first, responsiveness second, returning to steadiness again, etc.

Tim

[boyd]

Flicking the tongue [of the drone reed] a time or two is often all that it takes to get it behaving properly....I'll bet the technique is described and illustrated in Dave Hegarty's book, if you've never heard of this


often the reed seems to "learn" where to sit after a few corrections....[don't ask!]


B

[Kevin Popejoy]

The last time I had a balky bass drone quill I propped open the tongue with a paper clip over night. A bit of physical therapy. It was happy after that. k

[mirabai]

the same can be done quicker by arching it and not subtley. This is explained in my book as well, a new improved version of which will be out shortly.

Tim