Hi Bob,
As an amateur reedmaker, I will weigh in first with some comments and let
the experts correct me (in the hope that I will learn something).
A reed that has to be opened with the bridle in order to play properly is
probably a weak reed to start off with and, in my limited experience, has a
poorer tone. Living in Quebec, my reeds have to stand a great fluctuation
in temperature and humidity between summer and winter playing and I find
that the more robust the reed the better the result. I go further than
that. The standard dowel for sanding a reed slip has a curvature of 1 inch.
I use a 7/8 inch dowel which produces a tighter curve on the slip. This
means that the reed always has a tendency to be too open and has to be
closed down with the bridle, the advantage of which is that the reed never
closes up in adverse humidity/temperature conditions. The result is a
stable reed with a good, strong tone.
Pipers living in the UK probably never have to worry about these conditions
because they live in a damp, temperate climate with relatively little change
in humidity throughout the year. How those of us in North America envy
them!
Just my 2 penny worth,
Richard
----- Original Message -----
From: "Bob Salter" <[email protected]>
To: "nsp list" <[email protected]>
Sent: Saturday, April 10, 2010 5:59 AM
Subject: [NSP] Which is better........
Which gives better tone? A fairly open reed which has to be closed down
with the bridle or a fairly closed reed which has to be opened with the
bridle.I appreciate that the reed should best be made with an ideal lip
opening so the bridle is more or less an afterthought but given that
there is no perfect gouge easily available(I use a 25mm radius Kirschen
from axminster), it may not always be possible to achieve this.
Bob
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