Der Sackpfeyffer zu Linden - Bagpipe - tenor drone modification

Modification of the tenor drone

Hier geht's zur deutschsprachigen Version
Go here to the German version

To tune a tenor drone a fourth lower like described here two steps are required:

1. An aluminium tube is shoved into the lower section.

The aluminium tube has the following measures:

outer diameter = 6,0 mm
inner diameter = 4,0 mm
wall thickness = 1,0 mm

It's available in DIY centres and special shops.

The tube must be long enough to fill the part of the lower section completely that has a uniform inner diameter but it must not project into the part of the lower section that has an extended bore to arrest the reed! To insert the aluminium tube into the bore rigidly it's winded round with some layers of insulating tape. These layers of insulating tape will be thick enough if the tube can be inserted with strong pressure into the bore without using any tool.

2. The tongue of the reed will be weighted with a little piece of soft wax if it's impossible to tune down the reed enough without this step.
I recommend to use plastic reeds because the natural reeds possibly don't hold the tuning into a tenor drone that has been modified like described here!

Because no glues etc. are used this modification is not destructive and therefore reversible!

Through this modification the tenor drone that sounds just on the fifth sounds softer altogether. This is a positive side effect because a too penetrative drone that sounds on the fifth would disturb the whole sound of the bagpipe. Moreover the air consumption decreases a little bit.

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