Do we know where the “puck” resonator comes from? The earlier “union pipes” (upto early 19th century) seemed to be based on Pastoral pipes with straight slide-sections and tulip-styled ends. The earliest “puck” resonator I’ve seen was on the Vandaleur set (1835). I haven’t seen puck resonators on any other type of bagpipes.
Early Pucks were not Resonators. They were just solid disks with an IN and an OUT.
I assume the ‘Resonator’ was a developement that arrived with the Taylor or ‘wide bore’ pipes around the turn of the 1900’s. The idea must have been to get more noise out of the Bass drone , a noise I do not care for!
When I received my first set of drones from a prominent maker in Ireland back in 1990, the bass drone had a solid disc. Not knowing any better, I thought the maker had taken a cheeky short cut and didn’t bother to make a ‘resonator’ proper. I didn’t question him though as I couldn’t be bothered hand writing a letter, driving to the post office to buy a stamp and then wait three weeks for a reply to ask about it (no email in those days) and the sound was very nice anyway. A few years later I realised he was just following a long tradition, as Geoff states above, of solid discs with an in and out. It’s basically how I make mine now these days too. I tried doing the resonator thing, but didn’t care for the sound.
The puck end on the bass drone is my favorite one though. It’s about looks as well as sound.
Status anxiety - a sad infatuation with the teeth of Elephantidae as ornament…
MS
Anyone with a brass resonator puck? Solid or hollow?
I used to have a half set with a hollow brass puck. It always sounded fine to me; the tone was much more heavily affected by what kind of reed I had in rather than what was on the end of the drone.
Anyone with a brass resonator puck? Solid or hollow?
I have a Denis Crowley set with a silver-plated brass puck. It is the puck of Gondor… just huge. It has an ivory ring insert as well.
Other than acting as resonators, I’ve seen a few “pucks” and “tulips” which have apertures that are smaller than the air in-takes. I presume that this is to create some back pressure on the bass drone?
Here is one from Spencer Hamann that combines beauty as well as function. It does a lot more than any other bass drone I’ve seen.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d3W3yK_4U1c
Think this demonstrates the function of a puck quite well.
Richard
Perhaps it says more about the size of the exit hole .
An interesting demonstration never the less.