I have made up a set of composite drone reeds according to the plans by Ed Damm http://www.songsea.com/syndronestopvalveplans.html and they have not worked for me at all. (They DID seal things up enough to where I could actually here the chanter and reg sound together so that was quite a treat). They sound when you blow into them, but under bag pressure they shut off completely.
I have also seen the process by John Arnold http://www.uilleann.org/Reeds-Synthetics.html and Timmy Brittons Rolls Royce version. I think those are all the online plans I have seen…
Has anyone made all of these? Are there any opinions as to which design might work better than the others? Thanks in advance…
If they are shutting off under pressure you need to try a couple of things:
Make sure that the drone reed at rest has a slight curl at the end of the tongue, i.e. it should be open about a couple of hairs’ breadth, not completely closed. If you are using a plastic tongue, try dragging the back of the knife up the tongue from base to open tip - once. This should help put a slight curl in it. Let the tongue rest a few minutes to find its final shape, then test.
Try a light sanding at the tip of the tongue, one or two swipes with the sandpaper only. Test. Try a couple more. Test. etc.
The tongue has to be in ready-to-go mode for it to sound. If its already closed off it won’t work under pressure.