These are just a few of the drone reed “styles” that you’ll find. Andrew Lenz has an outstanding page on synthetic reeds and I encourage others to visit his Bagpipe Journey site. Traditionally, drones were powered by cane reeds. The cane came (Arundo donax) varies in quality from year-to-year depending on the growing season. I’m going to talk exclusively about cane reeds elsewhere.
The advantages of synthetic reeds are primarily two-fold; steadiness and moisture tolerance. Aside from water building up on the tongues of the reeds, neither body nor tongue will absorb water. impacting sound or behavior. Sound, behavior, efficiency, and steadiness varies from brand to brand.
- Sound – I always refer to the sound that’s on my shoulder. There is nothing today that equals the sound of cane (on my shoulder) however step back a few feet and the difference is less discernible. Should you be concerned about this? Probably not. Your audience, even at the very top, may not be able to distinguish the sound of cane vs some synthetic reeds depending on the quality of your drones and your set-up.
- Behavior – Synthetic reeds may not strike-in as smoothly as cane reeds. Some are inclined to squeal on start-up or when little air is traveling through them. Having said that, there are “tricks” you can employ to greatly improve strike-ins.
- Efficiency – Some are better than others. Much has to do with the piper’s skill in adjusting reeds properly. Of course, the same can be said of cane reeds, however on average, cane reeds are very easy to make air-efficient.
- Steadiness – Here is where some synthetic reeds enjoy a huge advantage. I find those reeds employing carbon fiber and/pr fiberglass to be very steady and will outshine cane by a wide margin. Floating in and out of tune is less an issue to synthetic reeds than with cane.
- Maintenance – Once set-up, synthetic reeds require little else. If moisture develops on the tongue or body, a simple wipe will restore steadiness. They can be taken apart for more thorough cleaning if required.
Some pipers will mix ‘n match drone reeds to get the right blend for their bagpipe. Tenor reeds using polycarbonate tongues are a favorite when matched with either a cane bass or a bass using a carbon fiber tongue.
A short story… In the late 1980’s I was playing with Clan MacFarlane. A few guys tried the original black Ross reed (pictured above) and discarded them as the sound was “crude and unrefined” relative to the cane sound we were used to. When the Victoria Police won the world using these reeds throughout the band, we revisited that decision. We discovered that some of these reeds produced a very good sound where others not-so-much. This had to do with the selection of the cane tongues. We learned how to sort through tongues and how to set the reeds up. It wasn’t long before the majority of players in the band had switched over. Funny what a new point-of-reference and a bit of research will do!
