Crozier Carbon Drone Reed Instructions

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The Table below gives a quick reference guide to making adjustments

Crozier Carbon Drone Reeds combine a synthetic reed body with a carbon fibre tongue. Introduce the Crozier Drone Reeds one at a time to allow comparison of their pitch and tone to the reeds currently being played. When inserting Crozier Drone Reeds into the drones, add or remove some black waxed thread for a secure fit. Be sure that the reeds are firmly seated and straight, so as not to contact the inside of the drone stocks. The above quick reference chart lists all the adjustments and their effects for a desired set up. It is recommended that minor adjustments be made as they all have a significant effect on tone.

PITCH ALTERATION

To Raise The Pitch

1. Inserting the reed further into the reed seat and/or pushing the tuning plug further into the reed will raise the pitch, increase the volume and strengthen the overall tone. The tuning plugs can be inserted to any depth in order to help achieve a compromise between pitch, volume and tonal requirements. The bass tuning plug can also be used to help eliminate gurgling or rattling sounds that might be experienced with certain makes of drones.

2. Shorten the tongue by sliding the bridle towards the tuning plug end of the reed, this will produce a higher pitch along with a quieter and smoother tone.

To Lower The Pitch

1. If the reed is fully inserted into the reed seat and/or the tuning plug is fully inserted into the reed, by pulling them out partially or as far as possible will result in a lower pitch with a quieter and softer tone.

2. Lengthen the tongue by sliding the bridle towards the reed seat end of the reed, this will produce a lower pitch along with a louder and stronger tone.

ALTERATION OF STRENGTH

To Increase The Strength

Lengthen the tongue by moving the bridle back toward the reed seat end of the reed, this will lower the pitch and cause the reed to be slightly stronger in both blowing pressure and tone.

To Weaken The Reed

Shorten the tongue by moving the bridle towards the tuning plug end of the reed, this will weaken the reed, raise the pitch, and also give a quieter and smoother tone.

PROBLEMS AND SOLUTIONS

Drones Stopping Under Normal Blowing Pressure

1. Ensure that the reeds are seated firmly and straight and are not in contact with the inside of the drone stocks as this can cause a reed to stop very easily.

2. The most common cause of a reed stopping is that it is too weak can be remedied by increasing the strength, refer to the section “To Increase The Strength”.

Drones Not Striking In Properly

1. The reeds are leaking by having the tongue off centre and/or foreign particles lodged between the tongue and the body surface. These types of air-leakages can cause squealing and air loss, it is recommended to periodically check reeds for such problems and clean when necessary.

2. If any of the above solutions don’t appear to be the cause of the striking-in problems, it may be that you have the tenor drones tuning too low, or the bass tuning too high. The latter is particularly a problem with having the middle section of the bass drone tuning too high on the bottom section. There are specific reasons why this is so and you cannot always go by hemp line positioning for tuning. There are many different makes of bagpipes which have varying lengths and dimensions of internal bores that greatly affect the relative pitch and tuning positions. Bass drone striking-in problems can also be remedied by installing an air flow control device i.e. drone valves, they will adjust the air flow to the reed and eliminate any striking-in difficulties.

Unsteadiness In One Or More Drones

The prime cause of unsteadiness is usually due to fluctuations in air pressure, if the air pressure was absolutely constant, then no matter what reeds you play, the result would be a steady tone. All pipers vary the air pressure to some degree which is primarily caused by the arm not equalling the blowing pressure and not “unsteady blowing” as it is often referred to. Drone reeds are in most cases much more stable than chanter reeds i.e. will remain more constant in pitch with increased or decreased air pressure. To improve the steadiness or stability of a drone reed, the vibrating part of the reed must be strengthened and/or shortened. This can be done by sliding the bridle towards the tuning plug end of the reed to shorten the tongue, and/or strengthening the reed by following the instructions in the section “To Increase The Strength”.

Gurgling Or Rattling Sound From The Bass Drone

This can be a simple matter of moving the bridle back towards the reed seat end of the reed to make the tongue longer. Make sure you do not have the middle section of the bass drone tuning too high on the bottom section as this can also contribute to the problem.

Drones Not In Balance With Each Other

Ideally the pitch of the three drones should alter in unison with any variation of air pressure and this is what is generally referred to as having steady drones. There should be one unified tone to harmonically blend with the chanter, and to achieve this you must have all three drone reeds matched for strength and pitch. To test for this, place a stopper in the chanter stock and blow up the drones, exert greater than normal air pressure until one of the reeds cuts out. This reed is the weakest of the three and should be strengthened to equal the others to give you greater steadiness and unison of tone. After establishing equal strengths with the reeds, you may be left with differing pitched tenor reeds. This can be compensated for by utilising the tuning plugs and bridle positions to balance the reeds for pitch. You should end up with reeds that are matched in strength and pitch which will give you a more unified steady drone sound.

SPARE PARTS

Replacement parts such as plugs, bridles and 'O' Rings can be obtained via your place of purchase.

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