I made some drone reeds from cane I collected last fall. I tried making some last fall with the tubes and I could not get them to be steady and they used so much air that I couldn’t pump fast enough with 3 going. I put them on the shelf until a couple of weeks ago when I made some more. They are very steady, but they use about triple the air that brass and styrene reeds do. They have pretty identical gaps between the tongue and the bed. I have to pump about every 3 seconds with the chanter and 3 drones going. With the synthetics I would pump every 5-6 seconds with the chanter and 5 drones going.
Is this normal for cane reeds? I have only had synthetics in this set since I have had it as the cane that came with it curled up and died in the big dry. If this isn’t normal air usage, how do I slow it down? I like the tone of these reeds but I’m working awfully hard.
I don’t use cane reeds any more, but my experience of them was that the lift to the tongue should only be at the tip, not all the way up the tongue, and that the opening at the tip should just be a hair’s breadth. If yours are open more than this it would explain why they are taking so much air. You can try to tie the tongue shorter with a bridle to lessen how open it is and then flatten it with wax at the tip of the tongue, or just start over.
If the drone tongue is “spring” too high, i.e. too open, you can re-set it by closing it with finger or thread, then every-so-gently waving a heat source under the base. A quick wave a few inches over a small candle is enough to reset the tongue.
Worth a try, But watch out, it takes less heat then you think.
Hi John, it maybe that your reeds are a bit leaky. To test this you have to blow the reed and tap your finger on the end to seal it briefly. This stops the reed and ther should be no airflow once stopped.
If you find leakage role the reed between your palms repeatedly testing occasionally until (hopefully) it stops leaking.
Another reason for drones taking too much air is the actual size of the tongue, i.e. a tongue cut more deeply into the guill will be heavier and will need more air. Most of the advice says to only cut about 1/3 into the guill. You might try reducing this to 1/4 of the thickness and see what this does. Also heavier density cane is stronger and harder to blow, so this could also be a factor. Have you done a “dunk test” on the cane?
I’ve had another thought John; how are you sealing the end of your reeds?
What I do is leave a small section of the tube above the not, this forms a cup to take the beeswax I use as sealant.
Either way the test above will let you know if there are leaks.
Hey all,
Here is what I have checked so far:
The ends of the reeds are sealed with beeswax.
The reeds seal down when I pop the end of the drones.
I haven’t done a “dunk” test, but the Phragmites is definitelysofter and more flexible than the cane reeds that came with the set.
The tongues are all between about 1/4 and 1/3 the diameter of the reed.
Tongues are all weighted with putty.
Reeds are fairly easy to blow.
Reeds are fairly open, when they were more closed they would only whistle instead of vibrating.
I’ll see if I can reset the tongues to a smaller gap and still get them to sound or I’ll start fresh.
Thanks
John