Superior CANE (Europe or California)? ELDER ? Reedmaking?

[Eric F.]

Hello,

I am starting with Reedmaking and I would like to understand truly the difference of Spanish/French cane and Californian and Elder, for making chanter reeds. My goal is to learn to make my own reeds with next sound characteristics: Full + Rich sound but with mellow-sweet-softer&warmer colors. I saw a video on You Tube where Finbar Furey said that Californian cane is not the right stuff? Why he said that? I heard that many now prefer Joseph Sampson Californian cane. From first impression which I get when I wached NPU DVDs, I would like to follow the Benedict Koehler style of reedmaking more then others. Does he usualy use Spanish cane for his reeds and is there anyone in Europe who realy knows Benedict techniques wery good to show me? Can I use it in combination with Finbar Furey WET method - puting cane in water? And Which are the best sources for Superior cane in Europe?

And for the end=Why there is no more people who make their reeds from Elder? Brendan Ring somewhere wrote that Elder is the key for less problems in reedmaking and more refined and richer sound. I know that process is more time consuming, but if the results are realy better, then it should be worth of extra effort.

Thanks a lot

[billh]

Hi Eric,

In the beginning it doesn't matter where your cane comes from as long as it isn't extremely hard.

Benedict says that good reeds can be made from almost any cane, soft or hard, provided you "listen" to the cane and adjust your thicknesses and scrapes to achieve the correct stiffness. Benedict does NOT recommend wetting the cane slips. Good european cane can be gotten from Medir or Glotin, though you must be careful to insist on very soft cane - tell them you are making dry-blown bagpipe reeds. I have used the NPU cane successfully for years, though I use California cane also. There are a couple of people in Europe who follow Benedict's method, and perhaps one or two more (like myself) who have adapted Benedict's method to their own preferences.

It's possible that a highly skilled reedmaker can achieve better results with California cane (some do, some don't), but I think it's probably a waste of scarce, expensive cane for a beginner to start out that way.

Elder chanter reeds, like all wooden chanter reeds, require a modified technique and more difficult preparation. IMO it makes little sense to make things more difficult at the beginning...

The main key to success in learning reedmaking is practice, practice, practice... you also need to get good feedback on your techniques from reedmaking workshops, etc. WCSS offers a weeklong course in reedmaking, and there are summer classes offered by NPU at Henrietta Street this year as well.

regards,

Bill

[brendan ring]

Hi Eric
I agree with what Bill is saying. When I first started making reeds( about 27 years ago!) the advice given to me was make about 100 of them and then you'll be OK. All your first reeds will be rubbish, so as Bill says don't make it more difficult than needed. As for elder, I just said it was an alternative, not necessarily better than cane. You would stand no chance with elder without first developing your skills with cane. As for reedmaking, there is a certain amount of experience that can't be taught. It comes only from years of work and also knowing your chanter very well. However, pipers who make there own reeds have a huge advantage, so dive in!

[Brazenkane]

I'd like to 2nd and 3rd w/ the "hear Hears" of both Bill and Brendan. BK against me using his gouge/shooting board method . First off, unless you fabricate a gouge like he has, you ain't gonna find one available. The same goes for his shooting board set up. Secondly, I would have had to relearn entirely how to gouge, which'd have been another set back. He said there's no reason one couldn't use a traditional shooting block and cylinder and still go for the dip, plus gettting a smoother finish on the inside.

However, I still tried! For me, it was a big waste time and money. I (finally) took the advice, capitulated,and went back to what I knew. I incorporated his approach, a small bit of Tim Britton's approach, parts of someone else's approach, and what I've come up with... all of which has only come after more than hundreds of reeds and many years of tries. That sounds daunting, but DON'T LET IT discourage you. The best reed makers were beginners at one point, and YOU have the advantage of having access to experienced reed makers here on this forum!

Brendan rec.'d the choosing the reed making course at WCSS week. That would be a superb investment of your money. By the end of the week , total newbies were had completed a reed from start to finish!!!! Though I knew how to make reeds, I still took the tuition, learned so much, and wouldn't trade it in for ...well.... I just wouldn't trade it. I made great friends and all the heads stopped by the portable to say hello, not to mention Dave Hegarty and Jim Wenham's instruction was top shelf. Finbar McLaughlin was there the year I participated. For those of you who don't know; Finbar is a great pipe maker, and reed maker. He can complete a reed faster than most people can gouge a slip. He is an incredible resource.

Simply put: Wanna learn about reed making? Go study for a week at WCSS!