I’m not happy with how Ina MacKenzie is resting in my brain, so I might just play this new hornpipe I picked up the other day, Newmarket House. Very fun and fairly easy. Gellaitry pipes, Crozier Carbon tenors, Kinnaird bass, Husk chanter reed, and a SOS chanter that is out of tune because I didn’t bother to move any tape.
Newmarket House and Alan MacPherson of Mosspark
I’ve never thought plastic tongued tenor reeds did very well in reproducing the sound of cane. They sound nasal to me and don’t have the ‘sparkle’ of more exotic tongued tenor reeds in matching the sound of cane. Case in point:
Soren Larsen’s set of Henderson’s with cane bass, Ezee tenors first then cane tenors
Soren noted that the cane reeds were manufactured by Ronan Latry. Not that the overall sound with the Ezee’s is bad, just noticeably lacking in my opinion.
In that, I’ve had indications from many people that the Gellaitry’s are a bit bass dominant, so in thinking the Crozier Carbon had rather loud tenors, I switched them out for my Kinnaird tenors, leaving the Kinnaird bass. Oh well, I’m sticking with the Kinnaird tenors for now. I love it!
Gellaitry’s with Kinnaird bass and Crozier Carbon tenors first then Kinnaird tenors
Yeah, Ezee tennors are a bit lacking, but mostly missing that buz and some harmonics that the cane tennors produce. But hendersons usually have a lot of harmonics in them… Also, Doesn’t it usually matter on what year the Hendersons are? Because different era’s of Hendersons produce a different sound then most, do they not?
These are 1970’s Henderson’s, very similar in sound to my 1950’s, we think.
Hmmmm… Interesting! Have you ever considered trying cane yourself? Or at least a cane bass… Just curious…
The most important difference in Hendersons from different eras are the dimension of the bores in the drone bottom sections. There could also be a slightly different design in other drone parts even within the same era of time, but these differences are not so important for the overall Henderson sound. Patrick and mine Hendersons have pretty much the same bore design in the bottom section, that’s why they sound so similar. Rab Wallace from the Piping Centre has the same kind of Hendersons. Hendersons from earlier eras have wider bored bottom sections providing a slightly more full and colored drone sound.
A note on Ezeedrone and cane tenor reeds: The tenor cane reeds I used are new – with much more playing cane reeds will tend to give the same sound as Ezeedrone reeds – I guess that’s why Ezeedrone tenor reeds are so popular with pipers competing at the high level. So Ezeedrone tenor reeds with a cane bass or a carbon fiber bass drone reed in a set of Hendersons or Lawries will be a good combination.
I would be very interested in another sound clip once you feel you have them broken in, I’ll just have to retract my comments! :oops:
Yes, I played cane reeds for a while. Liked em, until I sprung them two far, and they were extremely strong, but I also needed a new chanter reed at the time, so it was debatable. Yeah, I think my Dunbars would sound pretty good with that combination… Ezee tennors? Husk Cane bass? Hmmmmmm… I’ll have to try once I get my Crozier cane bass to settle.
Problem is to find 2 tenor cane reeds that go well together. The biggest problem is to find 2 that move together regarding tuning. It’s much easier to get the Ezees working and create the oneness in sound and tuning that you’re after.So you will have to invest in a lot cane reeds to get some that you’re happy with. Buy 2 Ezeedrone tenor reeds and you got it!
Yes, true.