I have been working with ‘composite’ drone reeds (metal body/cane tongue) in my Uilleann Pipes since around the mid 90’s. I find there are a couple of advantages over the more traditional ‘guill’. They are easily maintained and re-tongued. They are more stable when the temperature and humidity change e.g. in a session. Being shorter […]

Materials that you will need: A Bass saxophone reed or Bass Clarinet reed soft grade. A tenor Sax reed is also acceptable for tenor and baritone drone reeds but it will need a little more working on if making Bass drone reeds. A Stanley knife blade, or similar. A hammer. A reed body. Thread. Fine […]

The following guidelines apply generally to tuning all kinds of drone reeds. a) The shorter the tongue the higher the pitch. b) The thinner the tongue the higher the pitch. c) The longer the tongue the lower the pitch. d) The thicker the tongue the lower the pitch. e) The pitch can be lowered by […]

There are generally only five problems that commonly arise. 1. ‘Clapping’, i.e. the reed closes shut with the result that there is no sound 2. Poor tone, funny noises or double toning. 3. Squealing as pressure is brought to bear on the reed. 4. No sound but a lot of air. 5. Tuning problems i.e. […]