Adjusting Regulator and Drone Reeds

[flooter1979]

How do you adjust regulator and drone reeds? I find that my drones and regulators are a bit too opened compared to the chanter (for my liking). I would to quiet down the regs and drones rather than opening up the chanter more.

Is this just a case of closing down the reeds? If so, what about the regulator reeds that may not have a bridle?

PS- it's a B set, and one of the regulator reeds is synthetic (copper)

yer pal,
flooter

[flooter1979]

PS- the ideal set would be real "buttery" as far as drones and regs. I once played a Seth Gallagher boxwood C set that was sooooooo very chilled out and mellow as far as drones and regs. The balance across the set was impeccable. That is what I am looking for. I would almost compare the regs to a keyboard - you pressed them and they just sang beautifully.

[djm]

You can quiet drones down by narrowing the airways that feed them. For regs you would have to close down the aperature at the reed lips, which may have some effects on tuning.

djm

[billh]

...

PS- it's a B set, and one of the regulator reeds is synthetic (copper)

Actually probably it's phosphor bronze.

You should be able to close it with the bridle, but very carefully! Those metal reeds can be touchy to adjust, it's easy to bend them and then they're useless unless you know how to burnish them back into shape.

Bill

[flooter1979]

there's no bridle on it.

[boyd]

Who's the maker of the pipes?

What about the reeds?

Boyd

[flooter1979]

Seth Gallagher made the pipes, which are class. The balance across the set is kind of off. That's why I thought the reeds needed adjusted. Seth made one of the reg reeds (synthetic), and Brian Bigley made a cane reed for the other. The drones and chanter sound great.

[tommykleen]

I have seen bronze reg reeds bridled with O rings. Give it a try, watch out for crimping the metal as has been warned above.

Some folks put a blob of blutac on the regs (right near the bottom of the scrape (or where the scrape would be in theory on a bronze reed) to quiet them down.

[tommykleen]

Hey! I have another reg reed adjustment question: I have a sinking note on my High C on the tenor reg. How do I keep it from sinking? If it were a chanter reed I would open up the lips a bit. Same go for reg reeds?

T

[giggleswicksam]

Certainly worth a try, it often works - get ready for it to throw all the others out though!

[fancypiper]

You can re-set the opening of the drone reeds by heat. I use an alcohol lamp and one or two o rings to close down the drone reeds.

I made some bridles for the phosphor bronze reg reeds using the tie off of a coffee bag.

I had to burnish my reeds as well as adding a bridle and I have them surprisingly close for just messing with it today.

I am pretty close for this as my chanter reed staple:

Eye : 0.062"
Top ID: 0.480"
Bottom ID: 0.520"
Length: 1-15/16"

As far as the burnishing of the phosphor bronze reeds, I used a 2000 wed/dry grit sandpaper and moving the reed side to side seems to open the reed a bit, whereas the traditional forward and back motion tends to close the reed down.

To close the reeds down for easier blowing, the method I used was to cut the wire-core plastic-coated closure from a coffee bean bag. Mine has two parallel wires separated by about an eighth inch of plastic. I cut a length and carefully bend to form a bridle.

I use an alcohol lamp and some O rings to close down my drone reeds. Hold the reed high enough above the alcohol lamp that it will soften/melt the wax. That is the temp that you need to close the tongue down against the lay.

You can also "sleeve" the drone reed with a smaller tube in order for the reed to take less air.

For the reg reeds, do the easily reversable things first before resorting to burnishing. I ended up having to burnish mine as well as making bridles.

Now, how can you possibly play those darn regs? My back hurts!

[Islandpiper]

OK.........the answer to this is no doubt buried in the old threads and I just can't find it: My bass drone plays very sharp, no matter what I do. I have pulled the slides as far as possible. I have added a small lump of sticky wax to slow it down. to no avail...... I pulled the bridle back onto the reed pody to make the tongue as long a possible. No go.

Should I begin making a new reed? Should I make a little extension socket for the base end of the reed to essentially make the air-column longer?

Any suggestions that don't cost REAL MONEY will be appreciated.

Thanks in advance. Islandpiper

[djm]

It depends on the existing type of drone reed you have.

- If it is cane, then you could try for a new one of the same size as you have now, only cut a longer tongue.

- If it is cane and the existing tongue is as long as possible you need to get another piece of cane that is a bit larger than the existing cane but is longer and/or wider.

- If it is a composite reed you may only need to re-build it with a longer tongue.

- If it is a composite and the existing tongue is as long as possible, you will need to get a barrel that is a bit longer and/or wider.

Composites can be all sorts of things: brass tube, cane, hollowed wooden dowel for the barrel; cane, wood, brass, plastic for the tongue. Experiment.

djm

[Joseph E. Smith]

Now seems like a good opportunity to plug David M. Quinn's The Piper's Dispair, 3rd edition. There are highly detailed instructions for the manufacturing of all the reeds in an Uilleann Pipe, including regulator reeds. For reed making, this book is the cat's pajamas.