Wire Bridle for Reeds

Tony · Post by **Tony** » Sun Mar 07, 2004 2:45 pm

I agree with Nick. If you are using a wire bridal the reed has to be really, really close to playing without one so your adjustments are minimal.

Currently, there's a Sloan set on eBay and the picture below was included. It looks like two wire bridals. The one midway around the scrape and the other at the top of the wrapping.

What do you guys make of that ??

I've double wrapped a reed with a rubberband to cure a squeak. It seemed to work fine.

jqpublick · Post by **jqpublick** » Sun Mar 07, 2004 2:48 pm

AlanB:

Uh... a shrink wrapper? A set of plastic breasts? Churches? Could it be something left over from Dim Sum? Steamed rice in bananna leaves? I think I see Mr. Happy in the corner there. OOH, I know, it's Victor Hugo's dessicated remains!!

Mark

okay, so I'm a little bored at work

AlanB · Post by **AlanB** » Sun Mar 07, 2004 3:35 pm

Tony,
I'm not sure if that isn't just the light on the binding.

I have heard/seen some reeds made with a trad bridle and a wire one further up the scrape. I think that's just an emergency procedure to make a reed speak that was made with the lips too closed. I don't think it's a good idea to go way up there, it alters the shape of the lips and cause the reed to beat oddly (I always imagine you're entering the bombarde zone if you apply tension way up the lips).

I was taught to make reeds that were just a little too hard to blow w/out a bridle, so the bridle acts mostly as tensioning with a wee bit of tuning allowance. Otherwise, you cramp 'em and they break or sound crap, or you have to use the bridle to open them, and they're a bit stiff and also prone to cracking.

Good work Mark! But not quite

Alan

Lorenzo · Post by **Lorenzo** » Sun Mar 07, 2004 4:29 pm

I agree with Alan. Something's wrong with that Sloan reed picture. It
doesn't work that way. Sliding the bridle that high would also retune
certain notes of the reed...meaning the reed wasn't right to begin with,
or the chanter.

By way of firsthand inside experience, it would be well worth it for
someone to figure out what's going on in the background of Alans reed
picture, even if it takes you days, or sending the picture off to NASA for
clear enlargements. I'm thinking it has to do with something Nirvana,

But then again, the glass on the table top gives a perfectly flat surface,
and what looks like fine grit sandpaper might be used to place on a flat
surface to sand the edges, or shape the tails, judging from the give-away
stage of the reed, and sawdust on the paper.

oleorezinator · Post by **oleorezinator** » Sun Mar 07, 2004 5:43 pm

when you get slapped with the divorecel papers you'll be asking yourself,
'wire bridel ????"

srfmowman · Post by **srfmowman** » Sun Mar 07, 2004 6:40 pm

I saw a reed with ~3/16 inch bridal made of copper sheet with the ends cut past each other at ~ 30 degree angle __/ /__ . I thought it looked neat, so I gave it a try. The wider bridal seemed a little easier to adjust open or closed and I liked the idea of a little wider area of contact on the reed. I tried the wire bridal route, but I think they need a more delicate hand than mine. I just ended up trashing reeds.

Alan- It looks like garden starts in the background. Tomato,potato,peppers?

Kevin L. Rietmann · Post by **Kevin L. Rietmann** » Mon Mar 08, 2004 2:56 am

What's up with this, Nick?

AlanB · Post by **AlanB** » Mon Mar 08, 2004 3:02 am

srfmowman wrote: It looks like garden starts in the background. Tomato,potato,peppers?

Bloody hell!! Good work.

Send us an email srf!

Alan

Kevin L. Rietmann · Post by **Kevin L. Rietmann** » Mon Mar 08, 2004 5:33 am

So where'd the happy face cartoon guy in the upper left go?

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AlanB · Post by **AlanB** » Mon Mar 08, 2004 6:15 am

He's still there. It's part of an art sculpture I'm making, should be in the Tate Modern within 1 month......

Alan

nwhitmer · Post by **nwhitmer** » Mon Mar 08, 2004 7:20 am

Kevin,

Finally I'm applying skills learned in pipemaking to make something really useful - a backscratcher.

Nick

Lorenzo · Post by **Lorenzo** » Mon Mar 08, 2004 9:07 am

Kev wrote:So where'd the happy face cartoon guy in the upper left go?

Details lad, it still there...to the left of the label on the bottle and left of the reed,
just a lot smaller. Blends in with the other yellow (banana in a carton?)

You had me fooled, Alan, a total illusion, but my own AB reed is still
working like magic.

tommykleen · Post by **tommykleen** » Mon Mar 08, 2004 9:42 pm

I have wire bridles on my (Rogge) reeds. I really like their adjustability. I find that when things get wonky in the wintertime here, the slightest sliding of the bridle does the trick. This does not seem to physically stress the reed as much as one might think owing to the parallel sides of the blades in this style of reed. I should note that I do not "humidify" my reeds/pipes. This sliding on an essentially pre-stressed reed may have a different effect on other, humidified reeds.

t