Selby Drone Reeds
JOHN MITCHELL
has been developed and will be available soon.
Niel Selby of Northern Scotland is a mechanical Wiz with
chanter and drone reeds and has just recently developed his
own original design of drone reeds.
The body of the reed is a hard fiberglass based composite
that can be machined to precise tolerances with little
effect by temperature. This is good news as the reed bed
can be milled to an absolute straight surface and will
never be warped by moisture.
The tongue is thicker but not as wide as the standard
synth reed tongues. This means the reeds take up
very little air, but they still put out a nice vibrance.
The reeds are being tested now, but so far the results
are very favourable. They are universal for any drones
as they are very easy to adjust. The bridle doesn't seem
to be too sensitive as experienced with the standard
Synth reeds, and the tuning screw has more length for
better pitch adjustment. This combination offers more
flexablity in terms of tuning and volume.
In initial tests, drone lock was achieved quickly and
once the pipe had settled after 10 minutes, the drones
remained in tune for over 40 minutes of continuous playing.
No word on price just yet, but I will know more in
a couple of days.
Cheers
John
BTW the Selby Bass Drone Reed works nicely too, so there
is no need to mix and match other bass reeds!
http://www.geocities.com/macmitchell
Sent via Deja.com http://www.deja.com/
Before you buy.
Zudupiper
>synth reed tongues. This means the reeds take up
>very little air, but they still put out a nice vibrance.
Not unlike Zu reeds.
>and the tuning screw has more length for
>better pitch adjustment.
Not unlike Zu reeds.
>BTW the Selby Bass Drone Reed works nicely too, so there
>is no need to mix and match other bass reeds!
Not unlike the Zu bass reed.
Zudupiper
>once the pipe had settled after 10 minutes, the drones
>remained in tune for over 40 minutes of continuous playing.
>
Of course they're going to do that if they're competently set up. That's more
a validation of your chanter reed than it is a validation of the drone reeds.
Why are people always inventing new mousetraps, instead of learning how to work
the ones we curently use?
Zu
Zu
Doug Campbell
> Why are people always inventing new mousetraps, instead of learning how to work
> the ones we curently use?
>
> Zu
Arent' the ones you currently use the new ones you invented?
DC
Zudupiper
Yes, but that's more for my own convenience. I took a basic Wygent and
optimized everything I could, so Zu reeds are more of a custom setup than
anything else. You can't go to a store and buy Zu reeds. They're not
mass-produced. They're more like a retrofit service, and I'm an aftermarket
reedmaker, not an OEM.
I never learned how to adjust and work with synthetic reeds until I started
rebuilding them. It took well over a year and a lot of trial and error, but
now I can make just about any synthetic reed work because I know how they
operate.
There is an appalling lack of knowledge about synthetic drone reeds out there.
What I meant was, with Wygent, Ezee and Henderson you have 3 essentially
identical designs. Some people swear one is better than the other 2 and vice
versa. Probably one is slightly easier to tweak than the other.
If you know what you're doing, you can get good sound and good efficiency out
of just about anything. Most people don't, so they go off and buy the latest
brand of synthetic reeds that come on the market.
My point was, that if more people knew how to work with synthetic reeds, there
wouldn't be a need for 3 versions of the same thing. And that doesn't even get
into the double-tongued Wygents or the Selbies or what have you.
No one reed is the be-all/ end-all, like my learned colleague Mr. Mitchell
would have you believe. Knowing how to manage synthetic reeds *IS* the be-all/
end-all, not a specific product.
Zu
(who normally doesn't post this late, but a power nap this afternoon threw my
schedule off)
oshpiper
zudu...@aol.com (Zudupiper) wrote:
> Yes, but that's more for my own convenience. I took a basic Wygent
and
> optimized everything I could, so Zu reeds are more of a custom setup
than
> anything else.
Your next step may be to fabricate your own.
Bore out the reed, mill another flat and tone hole on the reed body, and
slap another tongue on it and see where that takes you. Then throw away
your plastic shimstock tongues and get some G-10.
Pat
JOHN MITCHELL
Interesting, so how do you explain cane drone reeds.
That was the only choice a player had up until 4 years
ago. They were the be-all/end-all reed for centuries.
The Selby Drone reeds are not just a retro fit of
some tonge stuck onto a reed body.
First, the tonge itself has a precise molded bend in it.
This puts upward pressure on the bridle, so that you can adjust
the reed strength as needed. I don't know the chemistry of
the polymer that Neil is using, but the material has excellent
memory properties. Also the reed body is different in terms
of length and internal bore.
The combination that Neil has worked out is quite unique
in terms of sound properties, as these reeds are as close
to reproducing the famous cane reed sound characteristics.
They even stike in the same way as a cane reed, so their
not just another Synth drone reed with a steady sound,
otherwise players wouldn't have bothered replacing
their Eezies with the Selby.
And unlike Zu reeds, they will be available to every player
and pipeband that's looking for a good drone sound.
Again, these reeds are quite versitile making them ideal
for pipeband use. It's plug and play, but as always they
can be easily adjusted to the players preference. The key
is the bridle is not sensitive, just like the cane reeds were.
I'm not sure what Neils plans are for Sales and Distribution,
but more information should be available by the end of the
week.
Jim, I'll get back to you about Neil's plans for retail.
Cheers
John
Ken MacKenzie
<sunn...@hotmail.com> wrote:
> zudu...@aol.com (Zudupiper) wrote:
>>
>> No one reed is the be-all/ end-all,
>
>Interesting, so how do you explain cane drone reeds.
>That was the only choice a player had up until 4 years
>ago. They were the be-all/end-all reed for centuries.
>
Four years ago? I've been using synthetics on and off since c.1970.
where you been John?
Ken
ccc31807
>>Bore out the reed, mill another flat and tone hole on the reed
body, and
>>slap another tongue on it and see where that takes you. Then
throw away
>>your plastic shimstock tongues and get some G-10.
>
like mine it
>works about as well as shimstock. Maybe marginally better, but
not better
>enough to put up with the expense and having to mill it or sand
it to exact
>thickness.
>
>But I've heard good things about G-10 retongues.
WHAT IS G-10 AND WHERE DO YOU GET IT?
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Zudupiper
>slap another tongue on it and see where that takes you. Then throw away
>your plastic shimstock tongues and get some G-10.
I've tried G-10, in various thicknesses, and for applications like mine it
works about as well as shimstock. Maybe marginally better, but not better
enough to put up with the expense and having to mill it or sand it to exact
thickness.
But I've heard good things about G-10 retongues.
Zu
Zudupiper
>That was the only choice a player had up until 4 years
>ago. They were the be-all/end-all reed for centuries.
And people learned how to manage cane reeds. People don't seem to have those
skills today, or are afraid to tinker with synthetics. Knowledge, not a
specific brand name of reed, is the be-all/ end-all.
>First, the tonge itself has a precise molded bend in it.
Doesn't matter how the bend gets there. It DOES matter what kind of bend it
is, and where it is.
>This puts upward pressure on the bridle, so that you can adjust
>the reed strength as needed.
Yes. Same as with any reed.
>Again, these reeds are quite versitile making them ideal
>for pipeband use.
Any goddamned reed is versatile if you know how to work with it.
Out of curiosity, what's he using for a bridle?
Zu
Bill Davidson
>
>
Then why does your *Zu-reed* (bass only) gurgle (only on strike in) like we
have a mouthfull of Lavoris no matter we do? We have moved the bridle to every
extreme we could, but yet it persists.
I tried asking you this privately but got no response.
Bill Mac Dhaibhidh
Zudupiper
Mark Lee sent me some a while ago. I think it's an aerospace material, and has
something to do with glass-impregnation. Expensive too.
Mark or Madman could tell you more...
Zu
oshpiper
zudu...@aol.com (Zudupiper) wrote:
> >WHAT IS G-10 AND WHERE DO YOU GET IT?
>
> Mark Lee sent me some a while ago. I think it's an aerospace
material, and has
> something to do with glass-impregnation.
It's a continuous-woven glass fabric laminate in an epoxy resin. It's
not expensive, but you have to buy an enormous amount just to get it
sent to you. The hard part is finding it in the correct thickness and
then finding a business that will sell it retail.
Pat
Royce Lerwick
<sunn...@hotmail.com> wrote:
> zudu...@aol.com (Zudupiper) wrote:
>>
>> No one reed is the be-all/ end-all,
>
>Interesting, so how do you explain cane drone reeds.
>That was the only choice a player had up until 4 years
>ago. They were the be-all/end-all reed for centuries.
That's nonsense. They've been using synthetic reeds of all materials
for hundreds of years--and probably even in the GHB. In any case,
there is no "Cane" drone reed. There are an almost infinite variety of
"Cand" drone *reeds* in all shapes and sizes and seasons,
regions/types of cane, and several cut methods as well. Cane was
highly individualized and specific to every set of pipes it was
installed in. There was no "cane" be-all-end-all, there isn't now and
never was. Either one maker's cane reeds didn't work at all or well
and another maker's would, or one maker had to provide a wide variety
of lengths and widths of reeds and you'd have to sort through till you
found them in matching sizes for your specific pipes. More often than
not this meant literally rummaging through a big box on the counter of
random diameter-cane split for drones that the maker just cranked out
as fast as he could. Then when you found the OD/ID you needed, you'd
have to cut it to length.
Royce
ccc31807
>It's a continuous-woven glass fabric laminate in an epoxy
resin. It's
>not expensive, but you have to buy an enormous amount just to
get it
>sent to you. The hard part is finding it in the correct
thickness and
>then finding a business that will sell it retail.
I am totally ignorant of drone reeds, cane and synthetic, and
certainly not interested in experimenting on my own. My only
experience in this was cutting up some plastic soft drink cups
from Mazzios, McDonalds, and KFC into tongues to see if any of
them would work on Shepherd bodies. (None did.)
It's simply curiosity that leads me to ask the following:
1. A few months ago, there was a series of posts on tongues used
in two cycle engines. Does anyone know if these blades were
tried on drone reeds, and what the results were?
2. Who is the manufacturer of G-10 and what are it's industrial
applications?
3. I've gotten several sets of tongues from Peter Crisler cut
from shim stock and have successfully used these in Shepherd and
Henderson reed bodies. Is there any other type of material
available at retail that will work in these applications?
4. Finally, what is the most EXOTIC material anyone has used for
a reed tongue (brass, stainless steel, perhaps even peices of
cane cut from clarinet or saxaphone reeds) that actually works?
me...@skyway.usask.ca
>3. I've gotten several sets of tongues from Peter Crisler cut
>from shim stock and have successfully used these in Shepherd and
>Henderson reed bodies. Is there any other type of material
>available at retail that will work in these applications?
Strip styrene (from hobby store -- think it's used in
making models -- white stuff anyway) works (sometimes) on Shepherd
drone bodies
chris
<snip>
oshpiper
ccc31807 <ccc31807...@hotmail.com.invalid> wrote:
...
> It's simply curiosity that leads me to ask the following:
> 1. A few months ago, there was a series of posts on tongues used
> in two cycle engines. Does anyone know if these blades were
> tried on drone reeds, and what the results were?
I believe that's the material Mark Lee has been using on some, if not
all, of his drone reeds.
> 2. Who is the manufacturer of G-10 and what are it's industrial
> applications?
Plastics manufacturers. Electronic circuit boards, etc.
> 3. I've gotten several sets of tongues from Peter Crisler cut
> from shim stock and have successfully used these in Shepherd and
> Henderson reed bodies. Is there any other type of material
> available at retail that will work in these applications?
Probably, I kept my choices narrowed down to material that works better
than what is currently being used, is available, and is not too exotic
to machine.
> 4. Finally, what is the most EXOTIC material anyone has used for
> a reed tongue (brass, stainless steel, perhaps even peices of
> cane cut from clarinet or saxaphone reeds) that actually works?
"Exotic": Mark Lee's drone reed tongues in my estimate.
"What actually works?" Plastic shimstock will work. But, I wanted
something better. What do I mean by better? Very subjective. That's
why I tinker with all the variables and not just simply tongue
replacement. I feel G-10 is a better tongue material than shimstock. I
also try to bounce my experiments off of my piping instructor in order
to get a more experienced opinion.
Chris Eyre
ccc31807 <ccc31807...@hotmail.com.invalid> wrote in message
news:0c055cc0...@usw-ex0101-008.remarq.com...
> 4. Finally, what is the most EXOTIC material anyone has used for
> a reed tongue (brass, stainless steel, perhaps even peices of
> cane cut from clarinet or saxaphone reeds) that actually works?
It is possible to make really good reeds by cutting small 2cm tongues from
the side of any ordinary aluminium drink can. Take an ordinary cane drone
reed, superglue the tongue down, flatten out a new bed on the other side,
cut a little hole and attach the tongue. I played them for two years using
them for solo and band work. Several pipers in the band are still using
them. They beat every other synthetic reed I'd ever tried for quality,
steadiness and reliability - until I got my Rockets. They can be rather
fiddly to get them set up just right initially, but once set, I rarely
needed to touch them again for months.
Chris Eyre
Zudupiper
>> a reed tongue (brass, stainless steel, perhaps even peices of
>> cane cut from clarinet or saxaphone reeds) that actually works?
I had a pack of playing cards from a casino, the kind that's laminated in
plastic or made of plastic or something. I cut up the jack of spades and made
practice chanter reed blades with it. The reed worked, too, for a few minutes
until moisture permeated the edges.
Zu