Anita Evans
Tue, 10 Apr 2007 03:57:22 -0700
Philip Gruar wrote: > Another contribution. > > To go back to the original point nade in this thread, I like to think my G reeds sound as good, or better than my F ones - certainly not harsher or harder - and to achieve this it is certainly necessary to thin them more, and go for what is in fact a weaker reed than is acceptable in an F reed. The shorter length makes it stronger and less prone to collapse. Also, of course it HAS to be thinned more to avoid squeakiness. Do the other pipe-makers agree? > In simple terms, I try to visualise a 'v' when I'm scraping F reeds, and a 'square' when I'm scraping G reeds. I'm thinning them more evenly across the entire width of the reed blade, and about half way down towards the bridle. With the F, I would work nearer the bridle, but only a narrow section which is the point of the 'v'. A lot of work has been done on the acoustics of reeds, using stroboscopes and various other methods. I seem to remember Sean Jones did an talk at a Bagpipe Society Blowout, including showing interesting images of the 'wave' effect on the lips of the reed when it sounds. I wish I had more details to hand - perhaps someone else can help? -- Anita To get on or off this list see list information at http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html