Air usage of reeds

Uilleann Pipes
1

Inspired by a post by Geoff Wooff on the regulators thread, where he states the following:

So, in the end a chanter reed that is correctly finnished for a full set will take so little wind that in a practice set you’d play for quite a while without needing to use the bellows.

I became interested in, what makes a reed use less air to play. If I play my chanter only, I still have to pump very regularly, so I would like to change this.
Quite often I have read about scraping the reed at the sides. But how much would you scrape away there, just a small line or a broader surface? Also, are there any more techniques one could use to make the reed easier to play, would thinning the lips work?

2

Have patience it is midnight here.. perhaps tomorrow…

3

The middle of the V scrape area is kind of the backbone of the reed. Leave it alone if possible. Scraping each side (not the edges) of the center section limbers up the action a wee bit, the lips as well. It’s far too easy to get both the edges and the lips too thin, then you have real problems. Use EXTREMEM CAUTION. Only experiment on your own if you can afford wasting a reed, otherwise learn from your reed makers. There are charts online explaining all this.