Can someone provide me with a method of quieting the Reg reeds without using substitutional materials (bronze,platstic)?
I recently made some reg reeds for my D and C sets.They seem to work quite nice(in tune and moderate pressure)but its bright and overwhelming the chanter a bit. I thought there was a method like adding blue tack or something to the lip but couldn’t find them.
Thanks in advance.
Makoto
Blue Tack works, or a bit of masking tape. That works too. Blue Tack is easier to remove though
You may find the sound is not as overwhelming to the listener as it is to the player, consider that first.
Ronan Browne suggested closing down the airway a bit that leads to the reg reed, i.e. limiting how much air gets to the reed, by partially blocking it with blue tac.
djm
at last year’s Langan Weekend, Benedict Koehler suggested placing bits of sponge or sponge like material (the name of which I forget) on your regulator pins. As I don’t have regulators, I haven’t tried this myself, but his explanation was theoretically sound. He liked the fact that the sponge is not a solid mass, therefore allowing for a more subtle impact on the air passing down the regulator space. Something like that. Quite fascinating really. Enjoy your experiments.
Thank you everyone for the great inputs. It seems that this is a common problem 
I’ll try them and let you know how it works.
Tried in numerous ways to block airways leading to reeds to limit air supply.
The pressure needed is STILL the same.
So ehr.., that doesn’t work!
Ah!!! didn’t think about this!! I will ask someone to judge or record some tunes to check the balance. I usually play with a fiddler tuned down to C and must check the balance with the fiddle too.
The best way to quieten regulator reeds is to make the reed out of inferior soft cane. When I am making chanter reeds, many times I get a muffled reed and I save this for the regulators. Trying to quiten the regulator by stuffing it with bits of junk also interfeers with the tuning.
Pat Sky
I have had a similar experience.
I had a chanter that I always thought was way too loud, but quietening the reed wasn’t possible without gurgles appearing on notes. Somebody tried it out a a pipers’ meeting and it sounded fine from a listener’s point of view.
I usually practice alone in a room. A chanter that sounds loud when practicing can be dulled in a session with all those bodies to soak up the sound. ( Yes, my playing does kill people.)
Mukade
Soft one. I will check my box full of SPANISH cane (hope they were from California 
)and pick up a soft one and make a try. My new reg reed in my D set sounds like as if it is a chanter reed 
How about leaving the edge thick to make the reed dull?
By my way of thinking, this is the best solution… of course, it means you’ll have to make your own reeds but I feel everybody ought to know how to do this.