Hey all,
I am a newbie to the pipes. Recently bought a half set and the drones have EZ drone reeds in them, which are working fine, but I find them a little on the quiet side. I am wondering who I might contact about a set of cane reeds for the drones? Also, are these somewhat standard? I play a D set.
Arbo
Try contacting a few pipemakers that live closest to you or there are a few reedmakers on the forum and they may be able to help.
RORY
I make cane drone reeds. I’ve not played The Ezee reeds, so do not know their volume compared to cane. I am suspicious that you might not see a great difference in volume with cane reeds. Any feedback from those who have played both? The volume is largely a function of bore diameter of the drone. Smaller bores = less volume, while larger bores = more volume. Tonally, I find cane to be a richer sound, with more harmonics than synthetic reeds, with more of a purr than a buzz. Cane can be a bugger to keep in tune if you have great humidity variations. Cane can be great in the right environments, but a real headache in the wrong ones. That is why many makers supply synthetic reeds with their sets. PM me for more info.
Thanks Ted,
you answered some of my questions in another thread.
donpiper
Ive tried them all! cane rocks! Teds reeds are excellent , highly recommended.
EZ dont have the overtones that I search for, they are OK , but reeding a set of drones to respond as you want them to can take a lot of experimentation! I certainly consider them to be quieter but thats a subjective impression IMO they lack ‘edge’ which can be useful or an inconvenience!
I haven’t used Ezdrone reeds but my current reeds are ebony dowel body with cane tongues.
Not just as toneful as cane or elder guills but not far off and very steady after 10 minutes of warming up. And they handle climate change very well too. I’ve played in 48 US states, 9 European countries and Australia in the last 2 years and they’re always worked fine.
I am suspicious that you might not see a great difference in volume with cane reeds.
Cane may be a slight bit louder. The opening of an EZ drone reed, under the tongue, is very small compared to that of a cane guill. But to counter balance that (there’s ALWAYS a counter balance factor with reeds!) a standard cane guill bore for, say a Rowsome style drone bore, would be narrower in diameter than EZ drone reeds, from what I’ve seen anyway.
So narrow bore/large opening = +/- wide bore/small opening.
QED (quiet easy drone) 
The volume is largely a function of bore diameter of the drone. Smaller bores = less volume, while larger bores = more volume.
Teds right here.
Although, technically you could make the reed tongue stiffer which could make the reed a bit louder but the tone will suffer and the tuning will vary with pressure so it’s best not to try that. Remember the drone will always dictate how the reed will want to play and not the other way around.
So there you go, I’ve confused everyone again!!
Best thing to do is get Ted or a nearby reed maker to make you a set of cane guills and try them out. They’re not to expensive and they’ll last forever.
Tommy
i’ve got both and imho the EZdrones completely miss the point. They are easy enough to tune and can produce a steady tone but they are quiet and have none of the “buzz” or tonal dynamics most pipers would look for from their drones. Until a decent synthetic reed is invented I don’t see why anyone would waste time and money with the ezees. (their GHB drone reeds are another story mind you… top quality!)
I use/make cane drone reeds for bari and tenor, but for the bass I turn a wooden body and make a cane tongue, sometimes a hardwood tongue, sounds electric.
Hey, Tommy (or anyone who knows the answer) – is there a history of ebony drone reeds or was that your own invention? Just wondered what brought you to ebony.
(Hope this isn’t too dumb of a question; I’ve just never heard of them before!)
Hope you’re well !
The cane change with weather variations, the ebony (guayacan in my case) doesn´t, at least in a noticeable amount, and I have to add that guayacan wood has almost the same density than ebony.
The maker I´ve first known that made ebony bodies for drone reeds is Tim Britton.
A Hungarian pipe maker I know has made composite reeds longer than anyone I know (about 50 years), including Tim B. He has used ebony, ivory and all sorts of wood and plastic for turning bodies. He said Bakelite, with a cane tongue, gave him the best tone. He slopes about 1/8th of the tip of the ramp about 1 1/2 degrees, so he can use a flat tongue, sort of like how a clarinet mouthpiece is made.
Finally got to hear some ezee drone reeds. They are somewhat more quiet than cane reeds with a bland tone. You can tune the note, but sonically they gave no joy to the owner. He got fitted with a new set of cane reeds so I was able to compare them in the same drones. The rich harmonics of the cane reeds contribute to the perceived louder sound of the cane reeds. I have heard better sounding composite drone reeds from a number of makers. I find the tenor ezee reed to be too large of a bore and the owner had reamed the reed seat to fit the reed better. There was little clearance for the tongue in the drone stock. The whole reed seems too large, but it is made so it could play the intended note anyway. Some will have a heck of a time fitting that reed into their drone or stock, depending on the make.
The EZ drone small-pipe reeds are the same bore but different lengths, interchangeable. Over the years Ive picked up a fair selection and Ive no idea which are which!
I use a funny combination of EZ drone Border pipe reeds in my 1920s Cocus Henderson 7/8th Reel pipes, with the A440 extensions made by MG. excellent fit , Cane Bass.
A synthetic reed that Im fond of is the bagpipes galore SSP reeds, like little shephard 1st gen reeds. Very lively and cheap/cheerfull and like the others, can work in UP, operative word ;’ can’!
As Ted points out some of these reeds can be a bit large or just not really suitable. If you want an artificial reed with a 3mm bore the aluminium ones of ebay have a 3mmm bore tenor for yr information or , .. the best; cane.
In particular the Tenor reed, I really like cane, Teds Reeds are great[ did I already say that ?] and Im partial to a Cane Bass so a synthetic Baritone that doesnt wander in pitch as a reference point makes life a bit easier.
Thanks for the replies all. I have contacted Ted and I am going to give his set a try.
Arbo
My thanks as well, especially to Ted & tompipes for the explantions,
and to Marcelo Muttis & fiddlerwill for sharing their experience.
best wishes to all
donpiper
You will be very pleased with Ted’s reeds. Very trouble free and steady. The tone, or course, is great as well. He is also great to do business with and is very accommodating. Those of you that have never talked to Ted in person are missing out on one of life’s, certainly piping, pleasures.
I shall have to make a point of calling him then!
Arbo
I found an article on Tim Britton’s drone reeds (including specs) here:
http://www.skep.com/britton/articles.htm
click on the link for - Making Tim Britton’s “Wood/Cane Composite” Drone Reeds
donpiper
Has anyone ever used the song of the sea
drone reeds made from the square brass tubing?
I am in the process of making a set of composite drone reeds based on these:
http://www.uilleannforum.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=4&t=1830
The song of the sea article was mentioned at the above link, but I couldn’t find it (dead links etc.)
I will post my impressions when I get them working and have played them a bit.
Don’t hold your breath though, this may take some time!
donpiper