northumbrianpipers.org.uk

W&D again and again! love that exclamation mark!.

Have now made a good few of these things! - Reeds! - so what makes up a good one! I have again enquired about what is a good reed and there are a number of opinions out there. I seem to be in a place where whatever I have made and put into the pipes I am initially happy with and then I play!! The tinkering begins - open tip slightly; close a bit more; shave another fraction off here or there;..... its better!....even better!! ....no thats got worse!.... worse still!!.........oh Yeah! thats it! ....no its gone again!.
At what point do you stop tinkering; if indeed you tinker at all!. And how do you know you've got a good/great one!. Is it all subjective and what do you aim for! - again to the absolute beginner like myself its tough to get this sort of info. from anyone!. Some say (like Clarkson!) that a good one must have a good rasp to it and it must sound bright! like a bell blowing a raspberry!! maybe!. Others say a "nice" soft tone which sings and would be welcome in any household even the house of Lords is the standard to aim for!. Forget clarkson for the mo.!.
Ok - so which is it? how do you know you've got a good one? and what does it sound like?.

W&D

All reed makers have been in this position, I certainly remember what it feels like. You need a good reed as a reference; one you have bought or made. Then you know what to aim at.
Then you make your reeds systematically,so that when one sounds fairly good, you make another the same and then try to improve it . If that doesn't work, then you still have the first reed to fall back on. And if you are serious about it, you just need to make lots of reeds.
The reedmaking section on our website has a soundfile of the crow of a reed.
Keep going, the world needs reedmakers!