【Chanter Reeds】
For the concert pitch chanter, you can use 4mm I/D Brass tubing ,52mm in length. The staple is flattened about an inch and the opening of the eye is 1.5 to 1.6mm inside. I also use hand rolled staple tapering from 4.2mm to 3.65mm. The blank is 14.8mm at wide end 13mm at narrow end using 0.5mm copper sheet. There is a slight difference in the tuning in the upper 8ve. I am always trying to find a better measurement,so the above measurements will be updated.
The cane I use is midium hard Spanish cane about 25mm in diameter. The slip is about 12.8mm in width and 100mm long(I usually add a mill or two to this so I can chopp off the tip a bit) .Ido not care too much about the thickness and width, but it seems to fall into the range of 1.3 to1.5mm in thickness. I use 70mm,75mm,8omm sanding cylinder depending on the diameter and hardness of the cane, but mostly 75mm.
The head is tapered for about an inch and shaped to give a gentle bottle shape.Tone chamber is curved from 15mm from the tip,cleaned up with a 38mm cilinder. The staple is inserted to the head for 23mm that makes the total length of the reed about 79mm. I wind up only to the end of the staple and fit a wire bridle just above the binding. I usually change the insertion of the staple rather than chopping off the tip of the reed to forcus the upper 8ve, and the length of the reed will fall in the range of 78 to 80mm depending on the cane quality and the internal volume of the reed that is made.
【Drone Reeds】
I use a wooden body,cane tung composite reed as my standard but usually make an additional cane quill for the bass drone. The cane reed gives a far superior buzz especially with the hollow stock.
『リード作りの技術を学んで始めて完全なパイパーになることが出来る』 と良く言われます。
リード作製を学んでリードの調整方法を身に付けたパイパーの上達速度はリードについて理解の無いパイパーとは比べ物にならないでしょう。
しかしリード作りは奥の深い、決して完全に理解し得ない分野です。『リード作りに費やした時間をパイプの練習に充てられていればどれだけのパイパーになれただろうか』というジョークも良く聞かれます。
ある程度の演奏を身に付け、「リードがどう振舞うべきか」を理解したら、全てのパイパーがリード作りに最低でも一度はチャレンジするべきだと思います。
リード作りに必要な工具、材料の販売も行っています。