Friday afternoon I received my delivery from G1 in Scotland:
- 1 cane reed for my smallpipes
- 2 practice chanter reeds (red plastic)
- a mouthpiece for my blowstick
Wider bore for better blowing
The mouthpiece was supposed to be an oval piece with a bigger bore, but instead a regular round hole shape was shipped. The purpose behind the new mouthpiece is to have a wider bore and make it easier to blow. This idea comes from my Pipe Major back in Scotland, Craig Martin, with the University of Strathclyde Pipe Band. It is a little less fancy/decorative as my the blowstick mouthpiece I have been using, so we will see if it makes a huge difference.
Smallpipes to jam with again
The reed was ordered specifically as it is the recommended reed for the brand of smallpipes that I have: Fred Morrison’s Reelpipes. Now that I have a good reed for the chanter (the part that is played with the fingers), hopefully I will be able to join in on the jam sessions on Saturday without blowing away the other musicians, and in a key that can be played with them.
Practice Chanter reeds as backup
Lastly, I also ordered 2 practice chanter reeds. A practice chanter rarely sounds very good as it is really just for practice as the name implies. These new reeds take a bit more air, and have a bit more of a harsher sound that the one I have been using. It also has some added volume. It will be interesting to see how/if the sound can incorporate easily with the other guys at the Bangkok Pipe band practice on Tuesdays.
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