New brass drone reeds

ausdag · Post by **ausdag** » Sun Jan 16, 2005 3:50 pm

reedman wrote:Nice playing ausdag, who's chanter is it your playing on the MP3
The drone's sound OK,but not so bright a sound as with cane reeds,

Thanks Reedman. It's an Adrian Jefferies early model (1991) chanter.

Yeah, not the most ideal tone, but a hell of a lot easier to blow than any cane reeds I've ever had in over the past 12 years. Nor have these particular drones themselves been ideal. One day I'll get around to making my own.

With my current physical problems, ease of pressure is the priority while I get over my aches and pains.

Cheers,

DavidG

Antaine · Post by **Antaine** » Sun Jan 16, 2005 3:52 pm

see...i wonder if there's not a way to modify the scottish drone reeds to work with uilleann drones...this looks like it accomplishes basically that, tho

ohoh...here's one that i meant to ask...anybody ever think of cannibalizind the reeds in an inexpensive harmonica? for use in drones?

wharfedalecarving · Post by **wharfedalecarving** » Sun Jan 16, 2005 6:00 pm

Srfmowmam,
This method of using brass tongues was used some years ago by Northumbrian pipers. Brass tongues are steady (although some might think abit too "harsh" in sound) but one of the problems NSP'ers noticed was that over time the reeds develop verdigris (that green stuff you often see on brass and copper) between the tongues and the body. The only effective way to be rid of it is to strip down the reed and clean it. Then the whole process would start again. However, have you considered balsa wood bodies with brass tongues? Hobby stores sell it and it's cheap enough to experiment with.
I haven't tried it in my Uilleann pipes yet as everything is working fine and dandy. I have however completely changed the cane drone reeds in my NSP's (in all 4 drones). I used balsa bodies and metal tongues(0.02mm). A great sound and those who heard them could NOT tell the difference. I let Colin Ross in on the secret 'cos he's a great guy and he made my pipes. So my secrets out :roll: And you can bet your bottom dollar that if this gets out some folks will offer the odd snide remark about using "non traditional" material

(Adrian??).
Ah well, so what? The pipes are steady in ANY atmosphere and the tuning range of the drones is now beyond the scope of the chanter. So if my Uilleann drones start to show signs of distress I'm without doubt opting for "alternative" reed material.
Good luck with your experimentation. oh aye, thanks to John Arnold for giving me some good tips on drone reeds.
Joseph

Joseph E. Smith · Post by **Joseph E. Smith** » Sun Jan 16, 2005 6:16 pm

Another substitute for brass could be stainless steel tubing or aluminum...but be sure to keep the aluminum from coming in contact with the wood of your pipes for a prolonged period of time.

John Dally · Post by **John Dally** » Mon Jan 17, 2005 11:17 am

Ray Sloan uses Bass Clarinet reeds for the cane on his brass bodied drone reeds. You can download his booklet on the subject for free from his web site: http://www.ray-sloan.com

.020" thickness equals 0.5mm, which is what I've been using. I tried lighter stuff, .010" (0.25mm), but it was too light. Now I'm going to try John's 0.8mm to see how that works.

FWIW, Ronnie MacShannon in Glasgow makes the Ezee drone reed for all sorts of Scottish pipes. It's a plastic tongue on a wood fiber compound body. He might make reeds specifically for uilleann pipes. I used his reeds in my GHB for years, but now prefer carbon fiber tongued reeds because they take less air and have a warmer tone.

If anyone knows where you can get 0.8mm or 0.5mm carbon fiber please let me know. Thanks.

Tony · Post by **Tony** » Mon Jan 17, 2005 11:37 am

John Dally wrote:....If anyone knows where you can get 0.8mm or 0.5mm carbon fiber please let me know. Thanks.

Try a hobby shop for small quantity sheets, rod or flat stock.
Here are a few links for larger quantities:

http://www.robotcombat.com/marketplace_carbonfiber.html
http://www.machv.com/cafiplsh.html
http://www.geminicomposites.com/product ... heets.html
http://www.silverimageracing.com/cat_ca ... sheets.cfm

As far as I can tell these are real carbon fiber sheets and not 'carbon fiber' look adhesive vinyl.

mirabai · Post by **mirabai** » Thu Jan 20, 2005 11:10 am

I've been making composite drones reeds for 30 years; wooden bodies turned on the lathe with cane tongues. I much prefer them but because of the lathe work I've never promoted others making them for themselves. I've been interested in brass on brass ones but haven't taken the time to do it.

The cane is still succeptable to weather although less so. I've been experimenting with soaking them in Watco Danish Oil Finish with good results. After the reed is finished and adjuted successfully, I take it apart, soak the cane and body for a few minutes, wipe off the excess and put it back together.

The plastic on brass can work but, as always, they ned to be carefully adjusted for steadiness and reponse, arching the plastic just so. bridle, etc.

Tim

wharfedalecarving · Post by **wharfedalecarving** » Sun Jan 23, 2005 8:52 am

Joseph, you wrote "...but be sure to keep the aluminum from coming in contact with the wood of your pipes for a prolonged period of time".

Why? what does it do

Is it detrimental to the wood

Regards,
Joseph

AlanB · Post by **AlanB** » Sun Jan 23, 2005 9:23 am

mirabai wrote:I've been making composite drones reeds for 30 years; wooden bodies turned on the lathe with cane tongues.

Tim

Tim,

Hi. If you were to be making these for someone whose pipes weren't made by you, would you base the dimensions of your wooden body by the length of tongue (from existing reed or whatever), or would you go for some 'volume' measurement??

Alan

mirabai · Post by **mirabai** » Sun Jan 23, 2005 10:49 pm

tongue measurements are a bit complex- not just length. I'd probably just pop one in and see what happened and go from there.

Tim

fancypiper · Post by **fancypiper** » Tue Jan 25, 2005 3:16 pm

With my Spanish cane, the tongue thickness I find works best is (I use the bark side of scrap pieces):

Tenor: 0.020"
Baritone: 0.025"
Bass: 0.030"

Sometimes I have to weight the end of the tongue if it plays flatter with increased bag pressure, or scrape the free end if it goes sharper with increased bag pressure.

srfmowman · Post by **srfmowman** » Tue Jan 25, 2005 4:26 pm

Hey all,
I finished a new drone reed for my A/G drone. It has a cane tongue/brass body. All my other reeds are plastic on brass.
The cane tongue is not as "pure" a note as the plastic tongue, a wider harmonic I guess. The 2 tongues do not differ in "buzziness". Frankly, when this drone is going with the D drones I can't really distinguish the difference in tone from the crowd. Sounds nice, it's steady, it works. I'm OK with that.

Cheers,
John

mirabai · Post by **mirabai** » Tue Jan 25, 2005 6:12 pm

fancypiper wrote:Sometimes I have to weight the end of the tongue if it plays flatter with increased bag pressure, or scrape the free end if it goes sharper with increased bag pressure.

Although there's a place for everything, I favor bridle placement and arching to weighting.

Tim

fancypiper · Post by **fancypiper** » Tue Jan 25, 2005 9:19 pm

Different strokes for different folks.

I find that when the bridle is as far back as is possible, it is much easier to add a dab of poster putty than make another, thicker tongue.

If it shuts off under pressure when sharpening with the bridle (but the air usage is right with it further back), a few scrapes is again easier than re-training the curve. The next humidity change is much easier to handle.

I am not the young, strong muscled fellow that you are, Tim. I am getting old and puny.... and lazy??

misterpatrick · Post by **misterpatrick** » Tue Jan 25, 2005 9:26 pm

Brian Lee wrote:One of our local pipers is making his own syth. drone reeds. I'm working on a brief write up for the site, but in the mean time, hopefully a few images may help.

How is that write up coming along?

As a reed novice I'd love to see a "how-to" document. I've looked at a few of them that have been referenced on C&F, but they seem a bit different from the nifty brass version you've got there.

I know, I know I should just mess around with 'em. I'll start doing that soon too.