I did a search ( p’raps could’ve been better, but I did spend some time at it), and I didn’t find much on the subject of wayward tenor drones, meaning what I’m dealing with is variation both sharp and flat, not just one or the other. What I have are brass body/styrene tongues with rubber o-rings for bridles. The bass and bari reeds are great now, nicely balanced with the chanter, I think. As for the tenor, though, I’ve tried moving the bridle, weighting/unweighting/re-weighting the tongue, rushing the drone (which worked for a while). Any thoughts and musings for me to draw on? I realise that one possibility is to set the chanter to play more easily, but that tends to destabilise the other two drones as they’re set up now. With the chanter set where it is now, when I get best stabilisation of the tenor, the result is too loud.
Again, thoughts or musings much appreciated. Thanks in advance.
I am assuming that the reeds are made by David Boisvert? He’d be the first person I’d contact regarding you tenor drone issue. But I think that you are going to have to spend a good deal of quality time adjusting the bridle (and perhaps how far the reed is seated in the drone) to get the desired result you are looking for.
Thanks, Joseph. At this point I’m just hoping for all possible hands-on suggestions and possibilities, hoping that I can tackle this and learn something more about the mystey of drone quills, especially the tenor. I’ve been informed that the tenor drone can be especially contrary. The Boisvert emergency option is certainly in the bank, but I’m hoping for a bootstraps angle this go-round.
I understand 100%. But I can’t imagine why (David and I had a long conversation about this last May) that folks in the Twin Cities do not consult the onliest pipemaker in the Twin Cities, heck, the whole state for that matter, regarding issues of reeds and pipe-related problems. I am certain that David would have a quick solution or two for you if you give him a shout.
If I may make a suggestion, perhaps you could arrange a drone reed making session with your local pipemaker. Its true that you should learn to make your own reeds, and learn how to keep them going, but if you could learn how to make your own and learn how to adjust them under the care of someone with experience you could be twice as far ahead at the end of it (providing he is willing to spend the time with you … for a price … if you ask nicely).
Hi Nano, you live in an ideal spot to get hold of Phragmites australis reeds, which will provide diameters for all your Drones. You can even make an ecological contribution to the North American biome by harvesting the non-native varieties. http://www.wiscwetlands.org/phragmites.htm
From now on is the best time to harvest (your looking for the stems to have turned from green to brown). For your tenor drone you want reed internal diameter slightly smaller than the first section bore (external bore of reed close fit about right). The wall thickness is important as if too thin the sides may collapse. The wall thickness of these reeds is greatest in the lowest sections. Here in the UK small thin reeds (for Tenors) tend to grow in drier locations around ponds and lakes, the thicker ones in standing water.
Collect by cutting as low as possible and remove the top half and seed head (if its got one). Dry the reeds indoor for a week or so and cut into sections.
Cut the reed about sections about 1/4’’ below the node (this makes the blocked end). The sections are usually about 6’’ long, giving you plenty to play with.
You’ll get plenty to experiment with so be bold. This is a great way to learn about Drone reeds.
You might try replacing the tongue with cane (keeping the brass body). That way you can play with the thickness of the tongue (sounds vaguely dirty, doesn’t it?) until you find something that works for you.
Thanks for the Phragmites australis tip. I’ve seen it growing around, and I’ll keep an eye out.
It’s not that I don’t want to contact Dave (as a matter of fact, I will be doing so this month, Providence providing; I want some additional faux ivoire touches added on here and there for a bit of that extra cosmetic polish. Yes, I’m vain.). I’m just hoping for people’s experience on the subject, for example sanding tongues and where, how this affects things, why one would be better off not to do so, etc., etc.
I do want to be self-reliant where feasible. Say something goes wonky, and I’m away in the boonies with no other recourse.
Anyway, what I’ve done is move the bridle so the chanter plays harder and louder. This has solved the general problem. It’s louder than I would have preferred, though, but the chanter sounds happier that way, and the drones are reasonably stable at the pressures going on. Still, there’s a little bit of variance in the tenor drone although it’s tolerable, so if anyone has any input, I’d greatly appreciate it.
While you’re messing about, try reducing the size of the drone outlet. This can quiet a drone, and sometimes stabilize it as well. Of course, it can also send things out of whack, but it’s easy to reverse.
You can scrape styrene tongues just fine. Use a reed scraping knife and be careful. I find it works better though to cut a narrower tongue to begin with though, or both that and find a thinner guage styrene. Or just get a thick tongue and start scraping if you have the feel for it.
Usually you scrape at the tip of the tongue to lighten it if the reed doesn’t want to sound. Scrape at the base of the tongue to weaken it and raise the pitch.
If your drone reeds are already unstable I’m not sure you would want to take any more off. Better to find a balance by moving the bridle up to strengthen the tongue, which raises the pitch, so then you add bits of wax to the tip to flatten the pitch again. Work back and forth between the wax on the tip and the position on the bridle until you find a point where the reed stays stable when you’re playing in the second octave, and when you are changing back and forth between both octaves.
Thanks. That’s what I’ve been doing with the bridle/weight thing, trying to get to that sweet spot. I think I’m almost there, as a matter of fact. The issue of sanding or scraping is something I want to avoid if possible, but I want the knowledge in my pocket just in case.
Billh, thanks for your tip! I wound up a strip of paper and inserted it into the tenor drone outlet. In my case, the tenor drone stabilised some more, and its tone was brought into balance with the rest. Much appreciated.
I get confused trying to put things into words. My main point is that, if the drone reed is already unstable then it is probably weak, so taking more off will probably do more harm than good. Better to find a balance between bridle and wax on the tip.
Update: Weight-and-bridle adjustment combinations exhausted, I got rid of all weight and moved the bridle to a low position and took some sextuple-ought emery paper to the tip section of the tenor quill’s tongue, repeating as stability increased, which it did. Before this, the quill was kind of “flobby”-sounding and wandered in pitch no matter what I did, but sanding stiffened things up by the result of a thicker base/thinner tip ratio (that’s my assumption, anyway), and the tenor drone is quite stable now and has a bright tone as well. As in all things Uilleann, YMMV.
It was nice to be finally able to forego mucking around and just PLAY for a while.
My main point is that, if the drone reed is already unstable then it is probably weak, so taking more off will probably do more harm than good. Better to find a balance between bridle and wax on the tip.