I’m posting something ON TOPIC. I realize that’s not my norm, but hey, vive la différence.
Anyway, so, the bass drone reed supplied by the Maker (Wooff) suddenly seems to have gone sharp. I did some chanter reed adjustments per the Maker’s instruction (slight opening of the lips, ridding myself of the heartbreak of autocran) and the bass drone didn’t like the higher pressure. The baritone and tenor are happy as clams. I flicked the tongue, and now it’ll play some . . . but it’s very sharp. Like, I can barely tune it unless it’s all the way out.
Do you think I flicked off some of the wax? There was a big blob on there. I made my own bass reed, but I think my cane is QUITE OLD AND DRY, and it’s not the best reed ever. Not super stable, but it’s not played in yet and likes to close.
Stu, did you do a search on this board for related threads? I’m sure this has come up many times.
Is there a bridle on the bass drone reed? Have you tried moving it down (away from the tip)? Are you sure the drone reed is seated well? - maybe some thread or wax to make sure it seals properly. Sometimes taking a very sharp knife and scraping a bit at the root of the tongue will lighten it enough to sound. Sometimes this has to be balanced by adding a weight at the tip of the tingue, thus the blob of wax.
One thing for sure, many people run into problems with reeds from Ireland. We just don’t have the temperature and humidity combination those reeds seem to like. That’s why people make drone reeds out of composite materials, and each combination has its school of proponents.
Another option is to move to the Northwest coast, where conditions are similar to Ireland. Its a bit of an expense, but aren’t your pipes worth it?
Oh…be ever so careful. Scraping, flicking, ect., can be irreversible sometimes. Adding/subtracting weights on the tip is pretty harmless…adding weight lowers pitch. Scraping the base of the tongue also lowers pitch, but that won’t help if your reed is closing up. The tongue may need lengthened. I assume your bass drone slider is all the way extended.
Unless things have changed drastically, he isn’t fond of them. He told me he thought that drones had to be designed for elder reeds, or designed for cane . . . and he designs his for cane.
And Lorenzo, yeah, you’re right about flicking et al. I might try a little more weight. The bass drone is all the way extended and the reed is playing about a C (for a B set). It’s quite strange that it suddenly went so sharp.
Long flight in high dry climate, chief. Cane can shrink and expand again, warp and straighten out again, back to normal, all by itself. Give it a few weeks. Find out what temp, humidity, etc., it takes to restore old Ireland back in her.
My feelings exactly. I plan on letting them just sort of relax for a bit, while I play the chanter and get used to B-ness. Actually, I can’t tell you how happy I am about the feel of the B chanter . . . I love it. It’s perfect for my hands (which are rather big).
The best drone reed ever made will become a bit wobbly at times. You need to learn to snap the tongue gently, with confidence, so you don’t break them in the process. A well made reed won’t break from having its tongue snapped, if it’s that fragile it won’t be stable under changing climate anyway.
I had exactly the same thing happen to the reed in my Wooff B bass drone. It happened in New York as winter (horrible dryness) started to set in. I ended up with a lot, and I mean a LOT!!! of putty on the tongue of the reed and it kept getting sharper until I could adjust it no more. I made a whole bunch of reeds for it, about 20, until I got one that I was happy with. I had been playing the new reed happily for about a year, then a couple of months ago (winter was coming and with it awful dryness again) I was looking through my tins and decided to try out Geoff’s reed again, it was still sharp, very much so, especially after I took all the stuff off it. I rolled it between the palms of my hands and then snapped the tongue while holding it shut at the back and to my amazement it worked beautifully, so I have been using it again and it is strong and stable and in tune. I always wonder if I could have gotten it going before I put it away or perhaps it needed to lie down for a while and calm down, it was quite young when it lost it (18 months or so) I now have 2 reeds for the bass drone.
Mo-ho-hoooooooooooore!
