Mina san konichiwa!
I’m having a hell of a time with my drone reeds at the minute, so much so that I’m thinking of getting some plastic or composite reeds for them, has anyone here tried them and to what degree?
Oh yeah and where do I get them? 
I’m in Yamagata, so its only going to get worse as the year heats up!
Makoto ni arigato sama
Pol.
There are many pipe makers out there who also make composite or synthetic reeds. I find that the composite drone reeds (brass/styrene) work very well and are quite stable in any form of weather…except possibly extreme cold.
David Boisvert:
www.greenwoodpipes.com
Bruce Childress:
www.bcpipes.com
You may even consider making your own. Eddie Damm of ‘Song of the Sea’ has instructions available for sale @ $5.00 (US) or there about:
www.songsea.com
I hope this helps you out some.
Bouliさんこんにちは
My O’Grady drones have a brass body,plastic tangue reeds and they sounds good .I have not touched them since I adjusted to balance with my little hard blow chanter reed more than a year ago. They are very very stable.
I don’t know if O’Grady reeds fit your drones but you can also buy from him.
My Boisvert Drones coming soon will also come with a artificial reed.
Pol,
Who made the drone reeds you’re using now? Is it humidity that’s getting to them or lack thereof? I never made it up to Yamagata but it seems like it would be fairly mild in comparison with much of the rest of the country at this time of year.
While living in Mie Prefecture, I never really had any trouble with my drones, but lost two chanter reeds to the perils of the Japanese climate. Whoever thinks Japan’s changes of season to be subtle is most definitely on crack. One day in April it’s freezing cold and very dry, the next day it’s blisteringly hot and nearly humid enough to swim through the air. Repeat backwards sometime in mid-October…
Not fun for reeds…
If I ever do go back to Japan, I think I’ll definitely have to learn how to make my own reeds on location…
Go ji-ai kudasai,
CD