soprano drone too loud

Uilleann Pipes
1

Hello,
My soprano drone is too loud so I wonder what I can do about that
Carel

2

Howaya Carel,

I had the same question regarding my tenor drone a few months ago. Solved the problem with a tiny bit of wire in the bore. There are tons of fixes though. Look up the subject “Tenor Drone Too Loud” and see what comes up.

Toodles,

Patrick.

…I just looked it up, here’s the discussion:
http://chiffboard.mati.ca/viewtopic.php?t=18138&highlight=tenor+drone+loud

3

Thanks Patrick

4

Hi Carol Can I suggest that you have a go at making your own Drone Reeds, it’s really not that difficult.
I use locally available Common Reed Phragmites australis and have recently been looking at Reed Canary Grass Phalaris arundinacea.
I play GHBs and I use my own Drone reeds all the time now.
John S

5

thanks John, I will do that

6

General rules:

The larger the ID of the drone, the louder the drone. To quieten, try putting a rush inside the reed or use smaller id cane/brass tubing or whatever you use for the next one you make.

The more open a reed, the louder. Adjust reed so it will play at the pressure chanter needs, but it will cut off if overblown.

You could try rushing various places in the drone bore itsself, but that will usually cause more problems than it cures. An easy reversable one is to close the oulet hole of the drone slightly.

BTW, a rush is a piece of guitar string, weed whacker string, and such things, perhaps even a strip of scrap cane or cattail weed.