First ones I ever saw were ‘Red-Hackle’ brand GHB PC reeds, for a long time these and the little white ones with black hemp were the only ones I knew of. Maybe early-mid 1970;s.
Then I heard that disposable phone cards were being used in Zampogna (before I began that instrument). Early 90’s?
So another thread got me thinking…How/ (who when where & what) did this idea get started? Comp DR’s have certainly improved exponentially since “Red Hackle’s”, and imho we owe the recent resurgence in some pipes directly to composite reed development. wot sez yous all?
The first time I heard about plastic (particularly yoghurt jars) as a potentially suitable material for reeds was in the early 1980ies - that was when I started playing, obviously some research must have been done before that time.
AFAIK one of the first who elaborated composite reeds for “real” bagpipes (not practice chanters) was Otto Tacke (R.I.P.), who developped very usable plastic reeds for Hümmelchen/Smallpipes and Cornemuse du Centre/Schäferpfeife, and who also played an important role in the development of composite drone reeds.