I hope to be able to place an order soon for a 3/4 set of uilleann pipes from C.J. Dixon. After I get it, I am interested in making reeds for it. I have heard from various sources that elder is a very good material for making reeds. I was wondering if, in the opinion of experienced reedmakers on this forum, if for my first time, I should just use cane or if it would be a safe thing to try making them out of elder.
Elder drone reeds can be nice for flat/narrow-bore sets. They are definitely out of the mainstream for concert pitch, and elder chanter reeds are very rare things indeed. Frankly I wouldn’t recommend it for starting out, for several reasons: the benefits are doubtful for chanters in my opinion (if indeed anyone thinks there are any… Brendan Ring is reputed to use them but I know of no one else who does); they are probably harder to make than cane reeds; and you will greatly reduce the number of people who can potentially help you.
It’s also widely believed that sets designed for cane reeds may present challenges to being reeded with elder, and vice-versa. Keep it simple for starters 
Well … I wouldn’t say that you shouldn’t try elder, but it’s much easier to make drone reeds from cane, as it can be splitted and with elder you have to cut quite a lot (i.e. everything). It also needs more cleaning etc before it can be used.
I’m using elder drone reeds and some others do too! They have a nice mellow tone, but are tricky to adjust.
So if you’re keen on getting into it, go out and harvest some elder before spring comes and the wood starts to grow. But don’t be disappointed when it’s a tough start. Good luck!
/Thies
Don’t wait to get the 3/4 set before you start making reeds. Start now so you will have it mastered when the set comes in.
Bill,
The reputation is true: I play a Brendan Ring half-set, which arrived first as a practise set with two elder chanter reeds, and then later three drones with cane reeds. I was living on the west coast of the US at the time, and it was my first set of pipes. Within a few weeks, the chanter reeds (I got two) had opened up to the point where they would no longer play. Up to that point, I recall them being very loud, and hard to blow - but that could just have been my inexperience; the unpleasant squawking sounds made by a beginner tend to sound louder than the musical ones made by skilled musicians.
At the time, I think Brendan hoped that elder reeds would travel better than cane (that’s what he wrote in the note that accompanied my pipes), and who knows, perhaps they did. I don’t know whether his opinion on that has changed, I think he lurks here occasionally, perhaps he’ll chime in. In any case, I ended up having to replace the chanter reeds with cane, courtesy of BK. I have some spare drone reeds, which I interchange with the originals, in accordance with the weather, phases of the moon, etc.
From what I read in the Piper’s Review recently, Brendan’s still making elder chanter reeds, so they must work quite well for him, at least in north western Europe maritime climates.
-Frank
Hi Frank,
Sorry about the reeds! I think really that reeds need to be made in the area in which they are to be played and may not travel very well irrespective of what they are made of. I still prefer both the sound and feel of an elder reed and have not made a cane chanter reed for ten years. However, it’s personal, I’m not out to convert! But plenty of experience making cane reeds is needed before attempting elder, it is more difficult.
Elder works great for reeds, both drone and chanter, although I had not tried an elder chanter reed until Brendan demonstrated how good they were in France last summer. This is my elder reed made by Chris Bayley:
Chris made this from elder heartwood, turned on the lathe and then finished like a regular chanter reed. It is very stable, in both tuning and tone, gives a nice crisp sound and works very well with elder drones. Overall you get a slightly louder playing reed for the same playing pressure, which is good for sessions and competing with gaitas
William Taylor used elder. Pat Hennelly grew and used the elder from his backyard.
Composite drone reeds is another way to go. Very stable.
I’ve heard that about Taylor drone reeds, but all the putative Taylor chanter reeds I’ve seen have been cane.
This is Newbie here, where can I get pre cut lengths of cane tubing for the drone reeds? I know where I can get tubes for the chanter reeds or I can
get slips of cane from pipe makers. I figure that maybe cane is a better place to start out with.
Just out of curiosity, where can I find instructions on making the drone reeds?
You can get it from Medir in Spain. It is much more expensive than chanter cane stock though. NPU sell Dave Hegarty’s Reedmaking book(let); and there are a lot of others out there.
Dave Hegartys book is available free as a download from NPU in pdf, but you have to sign up for membership, which does cost.
Drone reeds are essentially easier to make than chanter reeds, but good drone cane is not available in huge amounts. Perhaps to work away at chanter reeds to get a feel of working with cane first? Then perhaps you’ll not run out of drone cane in 5 minutes.
If you want a good resource for making reeds, buy the NPU Reedmaking DVD.
I have made working reeds from this recipe. You may wish to experiment with the thickness of the styrene you use.
YMMV.
I think I see what you are getting at Alan B. Maybe if I can make a good chanter reed, I will definitely be able to make good drone reeds
Sorry for this OT post but I thought I’d post here instead of opening a new thread..
Does anybody now who supplies NPU with cane? It’s from Spain isn’t it? I can’t imagine that they grow their own.
I think what he may be getting at is, you can play without drones, but playing without a chanter is just silly. 
IMHO, every piper ought to know how to make a reed… or at the very least, understand how to go about it. It takes a while to get a reedmaker or pipemaker to make a new one for you… what with the time your chanter spends touring the world via the national or international postal system. If you can make a working reed, you can play until such time when you can afford to send your stick out for a new reed. And if you can make good reeds (takes time, but anybody can do it), then you’re set. 