Wow, thanks for all the work in doing this. Fantastic comparison! Definitely differences, but inconclusive for me as a novice. The Ezees seemed to be smooth and balanced and the Shepherd Standards have the buzzy harsh harmonics that can sound nice. I think the sound choice is going to be based on the pairing with the chanter.
Thank you for doing this. It must have taken quite a bit of time to get all those sets of reeds set up. Very useful exercise... some real differences in the sound qualities.
This was very interesting and thank you for posting this. The question you always get asked by new pipers is ‘what are the best drone reeds’? This is always a very subjective question as it is dependant on the preference of the individual and the drones you have. Your video will be very helpful for those wanting a chance to hear d the different choices through a well known and largely owned set of pipes. Of course, adding the chanter to the drones always adds the final tonal dynamic to how a set of reeds behave and how sonorous the tone is as an overall blend. My favourites in your set, to my ears are the redwood and both eezedrone for both tonal balance and blend across the drones. Having tried all these reeds at length over the years, I have found both eezedrone and redwood go very well in my pipes generally. Other sets I’ve had have favoured highland HR reeds and MG. Kinnaird original and Edge reeds (not tested) are also fine too. This is the dilemma though, to each set of drones and the pipers own preference, there are no bad drone reeds in the choice available on your test, though there are some I wouldn’t use in McCallum pipes that I would in other drones. Kilts and More are very good doing this sort of comparison as I’m sure it, and other videos they do help pipers make a more educated choice. Many thanks!
Excellent video. The best comparison I've seen on RU-vid. Thanks! I was surprised that the Ezee Drone Increased Absorption were quieter than the standard set. Many people feel the Increased Absorption are bolder and match standard tenors with an Increased Absorption bass. Nice to see this.
Thank you for your feedback. We are very pleased that you like our video and that it can help you. Many greetings from the bagpipe school. www.bagpipe-tutorial.com
Fantastic video - thank you! Would be equally fascinating to see how they interact with your chanter. What I've found is that different reads sound very different depending on the pipes. The best sound for my modern Naills are very different to what I use in my Hardie-Hendersons! For me, the Canning carbons give the most mellow sounds - no buzz and lovely subtle harmonics; though at the cost of volume
Thank you very much for your feedback. Our video is simply intended to provide a rough overview. Every reed sounds different in different bagpipes. Then it also depends on the chanter. As you can see, there are many different combinations and possibilities. We hope our video has given you a little insight into the differences between drone reeds. Thanky www.bagpipe-tutorial.com
Great video. Thanks. I miss the Steady Drones Reeds from Bagpipe Galore. But since Kilts & More dont have them for sale, thats ok. And a set of cane reeds would be nice to compare with the rest.
Very interesting, I would have expected more noticeable differences between the reeds. Some I felt have a nicer strike-in sound, I particularly liked the double-tone strike-in of the Hendersons. In truth I thought they are all good with some +/- 2dB differences in sound loudness. My own set-up is the Ezee drones with the inverted base and I didn't hear anything that would make me want to swap them out. Thanks for doing this test.
