bridle pressure points

Uilleann Pipes
1

When a bridle is fitted to a reed where should it be applying pressure on the reed , the middle ,the edges or evenly all the way round

RORY

2

I would say any presusre ! :confused:

3

It really depends on the design of the chanter, the design of the reed, and the philosophy of the reedmaker.

I’ve seen reeds with bridles intended to do one or more of the following:

  1. close the reed

  2. open the reed

  3. keep the reed from opening or closing


    I’ve seen bridles designed to do the following:

  4. put equal pressure all the way around the reed

  5. put pressure just on the sides of the reed where the bridle turns around the edges

Unless he has changes his approach, Benedict Koehler seems to believe that the work of the bridle is best designed or required to ever so slightly open the reed. I sense that this is true with my very own reeds of his make but find that the bridle has to exert pressure around the whole reed while doing so. Confusing enough? :confused:

4

I would be interested to see what others have to say. I’ve tried a few makers reeds and I agree with Glands… I think it’s best to ask the reedmaker what the intent is.

Mackenzie sent me two different types to try. Moving the bridal toward the tip of the reed closed the lips on one design and opened it on another. His usual setup has the bridal closing the reed lips slightly but moving it up opened the lips. The bridal is curved slightly to give even pressure.

I had a Kirk Lynch reed that the bridal appeared to only touch the flats of the reed and not the side edges.

Gallagher reeds also open when the bridal is raised. It’s curved slightly for even pressure.

O’Grady reeds I’ve tried had a very thick bridal that clamped down on the reed closing it and pulling up opened the lips.

Childress uses a wire wrapped bridal that shouldn’t be moved too much. Slight pressure on the flats closes the reed and pressure on the ends opens it.

5

Kirk Lynch reed:

6

Childress reeds:

7

Gallagher:

8

Boisvert (Greenwood) reed:

my personal favorite…

9

My Joe Kennedy reeds are of the type that put pressure on the sides of the reed. Moving the bridle toward the tip opens the lips.

djm

10

Benedict Koehler says that the bridle should have to do little if any work. If necessary, it should work slightly to open the reed, so that means it should have a slight pressure on the edges of the reed head.