Synth. dronereeds for UP by pipedreams

[jon1908]

I think john 1908 means that the total width of the reed is nealy 10 mm so that it might not fit into the bore of the tenor drone.

Just to clarify, the issue here is one of overall size, i.e. the total outside diameter of the reed body is too large for the size of bore in the mainstock. I too have had to remove the rubber sleeves from the reeds to enable them to sit tightly in the reed seats of my drones ( Ginsberg Rowsome style). As soon as there's a warm day, I'll be in the workshop and boring out the stock. A 1mm widening can easily be accomodated by the stock and a few extra turns of hemp on the drone tenon.

I'll measure the outside diameter of all the reeds for everyone's information.

[tradbanjoman]

just recieved a set of ezidrone reeds 10 mins setup and they are rock steady.
i removed all the rubber from the ends replaced it with hemp and they fit my drones nicely.
I will be offering them as an option in my pipes at no extra cost.

[The Sporting Pitchfork]

I dislike the sound of any synthetics - especially in the tenor. Don't like the thought of modifying reed seats either. That tenor is definitely not going to fit, at 10mm... If you must try composite type reeds, there are other designs that are more likely to give decent results in the tenor.

Cane reeds can take awhile to settle in - months, even, but once settled I've known some cane quills to be stable in all sorts of weather.

Agreed. It stands to reason that if your drone reeds are not behaving well due to climate issues, issues with them would likely pale in comparison to whatever horrid things your chanter reed is doing, and there are no magic plastic reeds to fix that...

Still, different strokes for different folks, I guess...I'm sure the Ezeedrone reeds sound just fine, but they're not for me.

[pancelticpiper]

Cane reeds can take awhile to settle in - months, even, but once settled I've known some cane quills to be stable in all sorts of weather.

I see that you're in Ireland. It's easier to hold out for cane in a place where the humidity is relatively constant. Your "all sorts of weather" is very different from the sorts enountered in other places.
Here in SoCal the humidity, usually around 60%, can drop to less than 10% in a matter of minutes. Locals who are aware of it sense the taletale signs: first you hear a distinctive rustling of the leaves high up in the trees- dry leaves sound different than normal leaves. You'd better put your pipes in a plastic bag and put them in their case now! Because moments later you feel the warm dry breeze hit YOU. If this air hits your chanter reed it's toast. I've had more than one chanter reed immediately and permanently collapse.
My own chanter reed was made of local cane and can survive and play fairly well in humidity as low as 20% (unlike Irish-made reeds). However, I have to stop using my drones in low humidity because the drones become very unstable. The pressure between different chanter notes, which does not affect the drones at 60% humidity, makes the drones vary wildly in pitch at low humidity.
So synthetic drone reeds are almost a must for many pipers who live in extremely dry parts of the world.
However, I'm a tad skeptical about EzeeDrones for uilleann pipes for two reasons 1) the company so far has had little experience with uilleann drones and 2) uilleann drone designs vary so much from maker to maker.
They've succeeded, through long experiementation, in coming up with a great GHB reed which works well in a wide variety of GHB makes. For Scottish smallpipes, they ended up developing a number of different reed designs to suit various makes, and if you have a smallpipe not made by one of these makes you need to send your drones to them to be fitted. Eventually, with more experience, they will probably develop a range of uilleann reeds so that a variety of makes can be fitted.

[jon1908]

Now that the holidays are out of the way, I've finally managed to sit down and measure the reeds. All dimensions are in mm and are 'out of the box', apart from removing the rubber 'seats' which I've replaced with PTFE (plumbers tape) as they are a 'snug' fit in my drones. I'm posting these as an indication to tothers who may be considering buying a set of these and want to check that they'll fit your pipes without taking the drill to them!

Tenor - Overall Length - 60 mm Overall diameter - 9.3mm Seat length 11mm Seat diameter 4.9mm

Baritone - Overall Length - 84 mm Overall diameter - 9.3mm Seat length 11mm Seat diameter 5.04mm

Bass - Overall Length - 100 mm Overall diameter - 9.65mm Seat length 13mm Seat diameter 6.3mm

I'd say that your bores in the stock should be at least 1 - 1.5 mm more than the overall reed diameter to allow for the tongue vibrating. I've had difficulties with the tenor reed not having enough room, I've bored it out to 10mm but it is still catching.

As a first impression though, they are a good steady alternative to cane reeds and shouldn't be affected by temperature/humidty issues. O.K. they don't have the tone of a good set of cane reeds, but they'll do me until the elder I've cut dries out.

[billh]

Cane reeds can take awhile to settle in - months, even, but once settled I've known some cane quills to be stable in all sorts of weather.

I see that you're in Ireland. It's easier to hold out for cane in a place where the humidity is relatively constant. Your "all sorts of weather" is very different from the sorts enountered in other places.

I haven't always lived in Ireland, and have indeed had experience with more radical humidity changes, and with quills that can handle swings from 30% to 80% with relative ease (not all of them can). I haven't lived with the Santa Anas, though.

Still, I think that reeding for 10% RH swings in a climate that regularly experiences 60% RH is not the way to go. Humidifiers (in the pipecase and also in the bellows, in extreme situations) would seem to make more sense. Otherwise I think the compromises in sound quality and playability are likely to be too great.

I have NOT personally found composite reeds to be more weather-stable than good, stable reed quills, though many people report otherwise. It's worth noting, too, that in theory plastic tongues should be more sensitive to temperature changes, since the stiffness of the plastic is strongly temperature dependent. In theory they should indeed be less affected by humidity changes than a hygroscopic material like cane, but as I said I haven't really experienced such a strong difference (even when I lived in the Bay area of California).

Bill

[Hans-Joerg]

These Ezeedrone Reeds have arrived today. I inserted them into this narrow bore D set by Mr Geoff Wooff. No modifications necessary. After some adjustments (according to their video) they play lovely and steady. Quite recommendable!
Hans

[Brazenkane]

I dislike the sound of any synthetics - especially in the tenor. Don't like the thought of modifying reed seats either. That tenor is definitely not going to fit, at 10mm... If you must try composite type reeds, there are other designs that are more likely to give decent results in the tenor.

Cane reeds can take awhile to settle in - months, even, but once settled I've known some cane quills to be stable in all sorts of weather.

Agreed Bill! It has taken time fro my elder reeds to settle but they work . always! I'm using Tim Britton's wooden dowel (w/Cane tongue) reeds for my concert set. They are exceellent, and they are ridiculously (in the treu sense of the word) mailiable. If you bend them too much one way, they can simply be bent back. They are very "clean" sounding and you could jump on the bag and they don't budge pitch-wise.

[pancelticpiper]

It's worth noting, too, that in theory plastic tongues should be more sensitive to temperature changes...

I was talking about extremely low humidity- I didn't say anything about temperature.
I've been playing uilleann pipes and Highland pipes in our Southern California weather for 30 years- I know precisely how humidity affects cane reeds and synthetic reeds. The cane reeds, as I said, become very unstable in extremely dryness, so the relatively slight changes in bag pressure that the chanter requires makes the drones vary wildly in pitch.
The Bay Area, by the way, has a nearly constant extremely high humidity- it's like comparing a tropical forest to the Sahara.

[Mac Uí Loingsigh]

So the half-set I have been waiting on for the last year is set to be ready for collection next week and the maker has offered me synthetic drone reeds for 100 quid sterling extra. As I live in Dublin the humidity factor isn't an issue, but I was wondering about their performance and sound. Apparently they are easier to play at first and are more stable than regular cane reeds. Can anyone confirm this/give me some advice?

Thanks

Ian

[Mac Uí Loingsigh]

Ps. Although I have been playing the pipes for one and a half years I am a total newcomer to the exciting world of the drones.

[Ceann Cromtha]

I recently purchased a set of these for my Nick Whitmer drones and the tenor drone will not fit into the corresponding hole in the main stock. The bass and tenor fit with some minor adjustments and sound fine. I tried them in my BC Childress drones and all three fit and sound fine.

[mayo_piper]

Did you peel off the rubber at the base of the tenor drone reed? I have heard this helps with the fit.

Slan,

[Ceann Cromtha]

Did you peel off the rubber at the base of the tenor drone reed? I have heard this helps with the fit.

Slan,

Thanks for the tip. I did have to peel the rubber end off the baritone reed, but this wasn't the issue with the tenor reed. The problem was that the reed itself would not fit into the hole in the main stock after it was seated in the drone itself. The only remedy would be to enlarge the hole for the drone -- something I wouldn't be willing to do.

[somebodyonline]

I wanted to thank everyone for posting infomation about synthetic drone reeds on this site. With that information, I measured my Gallagher full set, still wasn't sure they would fit, but ordered them anyway. Ezdrone customer support was great, and I got them in a few days. All of them fit without alternations, except I had to take the plastic off for the top tenor drone, as described elsewhere in this topic. With some movement of the rubber bridle as described in the Ezdrone instructions, I was able to get a good stable tone from all three drones quickly. Ends up that my bottom two Quinn cane reeds are just as stable and louder, and better balanced with the rest of the set, so I went back to using them. The tenor drone had been a problem for me, so the Ezdrone reed in that has solved my problem of pitch changes while I'm playing. I found the Ezdrone reeds to be a pleasant sound, and if louder, I'd play all of them. Next, onto asking Seth for a set of drone reeds, and compare them to the Quinn reeds I'm currently using. Thanks again, everyone for the info, no more playing through sound systems with unstable reeds! -Brian