Bagpipe drone reed

A bagpipe reed has a tongue adjustor for biasing the reed tongue to adjust the amount of air consumed by the reed without altering the pitch of the reed. The tongue adjustor exerts pressure on the tongue without penetrating either the tongue or the body of the reed. The tongue adjustor may be carried by a tongue retaining collar.

This application claims foreign priority benefits from Canadian Patent Application 2,815,303, filed May 8, 2013.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

This disclosure relates to the field of reeds for wind instruments, particularly to drone reeds for bagpipes.

BACKGROUND

Bagpipes are made in a variety of shapes and sizes. The basic form of a bagpipe includes a chanter, usually equipped with a reed and having up to eight finger holes allowing a melody to be played; an airtight bag; a blowpipe, also known as a blowstick, which is usually equipped with a one-way valve, through which the player blows air into the bag; and one or more drone pipes extending from the bag, each drone pipe fitted with a reed that produces a tuned sound to harmonize with the melody produced by the chanter.

Traditionally, bagpipe reeds have been made from natural materials, such as cane or bamboo, but more recently synthetic reeds have been produced from materials such as plastics, wood, composites, polymers, and light alloy metals such as aluminum and brass. The basic form of a bagpipe drone reed is a hollow tube body, sealed at one end and open at the other end, with a bleed aperture passing through the wall of the tube. A tongue is attached at one end to the body, with the free end of the tongue extending over the bleed aperture and free to vibrate in response to air flow through the bleed aperture. The effective length of the tongue may be altered by moving a bridle along the length of the body of the reed, altering the length of the portion of the tongue that is free to vibrate in response to air flow through the bleed aperture. The bridle is typically a loop or ring of material, such as a loop of cord, rubber, or a rubber O-ring, that snugly encircles the body of the reed and the tongue. Shortening the effective length of the tongue raises the pitch of the reed, while increasing the effective length of the tongue lowers the pitch of the reed. The reed may further include a pitch adjuster at the sealed end to allow for additional tuning to bring the reed optimally in tune with the instrument.

To enable vibration of the tongue, there must be a space or gap between the underside of the tongue and the upper edges of the bleed aperture. This may be provided by a curvature in the tongue, in a portion of the reed body underlying the tongue, or in both the tongue and in a portion of the reed body underlying the tongue. The distance between the underside of the tongue and the upper edges of the bleed aperture determines the amount of air consumed by the reed. Individual players have different airflow requirements, with some players requiring what is referred to as soft reed allowing relatively low airflow and other players requiring what is referred to a hard reed allowing relatively high airflow. It is desirable that the airflow of the reed be adjustable to allow for optimization of the reed for individual players. Typically the gap between the tongue and reed body would range between about 0.2 mm and about 0.5 mm, depending on the reed and material of the tongue. The stiffer the tongue material, the smaller the gap required for the same amount of airflow into the reed.

GB2394593 discloses a reed body having a screw that can be used to adjust the curvature of the body of the reed and the divergence from the tongue and the reed body, thereby determining the pitch of the reed. Curving the body of the reed allows the airflow to be adjusted while simultaneously adjusting the pitch of the sound produced by the reed. GB2341968 discloses a reed body comprising one or a pair of bleed orifices, each orifice covered by a tongue, wherein each tongue is curved away from the body of the reed, or the tongue is planar and the reed body is machined to introduce a gap between the tongue and the reed body. Further, the tongue(s) on this reed are reversible allowing them to be used in either the traditional orientation with the tongue secured to the reed body towards the end of the reed body that is closest to the drone or in the inverted orientation, with the free end of the tongue towards the end of the reed body that is closest to the drone. Inverted reeds are thought to have better strike-in than traditionally oriented reeds and may have slightly different sound quality than traditionally oriented reeds. Neither of these designs allows the airflow of the reed to be adjusted independent of the pitch, making it challenging to adjust the reed to match the airflow requirements of the player and the pitch requirements of the instrument.

Another reed design is set forth in DE202004018696. In this design, the tongue is secured to the reed body by a pair of screws and the curvature of the tongue is adjustable by exerting or reducing pressure on a leaf spring overlying the tongue by tightening or loosening one of the screws. This allows for the airflow of the reed to be adjusted independent of pitch, but precludes use of the tongue in the traditional orientation.

While each of the bagpipe reeds discussed above is suitable for its intended purpose, there remains a desire in the art for a bagpipe reed with adjustable airflow that is simply adjusted and readily tunable.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

According to one aspect of the invention there is provided a bagpipe reed comprising:

a body comprising an outer wall, an open end, a closed end, and a hollow interior portion extending from the open end to the closed end, said body further comprising a tongue seating portion on an exterior side of the body, said tongue seating portion comprising a tongue seat;

a bleed aperture passing through the outer wall of the body in communication with the hollow interior portion of the body;

a tongue receiving depression, said tongue receiving depression located within the tongue seating portion of the body and spaced apart from the bleed aperture in the longitudinal direction; a tongue having an upper face and a lower face, said tongue seated on the tongue seating portion of the body and overlying both the tongue receiving depression and the bleed aperture; and

a tongue adjustor movable to apply pressure to the upper face of the tongue within a portion of the tongue overlying the tongue receiving depression, said tongue adjustor maintained outside the body of the reed,

wherein pressure applied by the tongue adjustor to the upper face of the tongue forces the portion of the tongue overlying the tongue receiving depression into the tongue receiving depression, thereby biasing a portion of the tongue overlying the bleed aperture away from the edges of the bleed aperture and increasing the distance between the edges of the bleed aperture and the lower face of the tongue.

According to another aspect of the present invention there is provided a bagpipe reed comprising:

a body comprising an outer wall, an open end, a closed end, and a hollow interior portion extending from the open end to the closed end, said body further comprising a tongue seating portion on an exterior side of the body, said tongue seating portion comprising a tongue seat;

a bleed aperture passing through the outer wall of the body in communication with the hollow interior portion of the body;

a tongue receiving depression, said tongue receiving depression located within the tongue seating portion of the body and spaced apart from the bleed aperture in the longitudinal direction;

a tongue having an upper face and a lower face, said tongue seated on the tongue seating portion of the body and overlying both the tongue receiving depression and the bleed aperture; and

a tongue adjustor movable to apply pressure to the upper face of the tongue within a portion of the tongue overlying the tongue receiving depression, said tongue adjustor engaging the tongue in a non-penetrating manner,

wherein pressure applied by the tongue adjustor to the upper face of the tongue forces the portion of the tongue overlying the tongue receiving depression into the tongue receiving depression, thereby biasing a portion of the tongue overlying the bleed aperture away from the edges of the bleed aperture and increasing the distance between the edges of the bleed aperture and the lower face of the tongue.

The tongue receiving depression may be positioned closer to the open end of the body than is the bleed aperture.

The tongue receiving depression may be located on an exterior surface of the body overlying the hollow interior portion of the body.

The tongue adjustor may be carried by a collar, said collar being arranged to receive the portion of the body that comprises the tongue receiving depression.

The collar may comprise a tongue receiving channel for receiving the tongue and inhibiting lateral movement of the tongue when said tongue is received within the tongue receiving channel.

The collar may comprise a collar positioning member arranged to engage the body and enable positioning of the collar at a predetermined position relative to the length of the body.

The collar may comprise a tongue seat engaging portion for engaging the tongue seat and thereby preventing rotation of the collar about the longitudinal axis of the reed body.

The tongue adjustor may be a threaded member, for example a threaded member that passes through a wall of the collar. More particularly, the threaded member is a precision screw.

The tongue adjustor may alternatively comprise a cam.

Preferably the tongue is a solid tongue devoid of apertures.

Various embodiments of the invention will now be described in conjunction with the accompanying drawings in which:

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Throughout the following description specific details are set forth in order to provide a more thorough understanding to persons skilled in the art. However, well known elements may not have been shown or described in detail to avoid unnecessarily obscuring the disclosure. Accordingly, the description and drawings are to be regarded in an illustrative, rather than a restrictive, sense. Further, where considered appropriate, reference numerals may be repeated among the figures to indicate corresponding or analogous elements.

An embodiment of a bagpipe reed of the disclosure is depicted inFIGS. 1,3,4,5, and6. A second embodiment of a bagpipe reed of the disclosure is depicted inFIG. 7. The reed100comprises a reed body200and a tongue208. The reed body200is substantially tubular having an open end and a closed end, with a hollow chamber402extending from the open end to the closed end. An exterior side of the reed body200comprises a substantially planar surface portion that is a tongue seating portion which allows a tongue208to be seated on the reed body200. The part of the tongue seating portion that is in contact with the underside of the tongue208, when said tongue208is seated on the reed body200, is referred to herein as a tongue seat. The reed body200further comprises an elongated bleed aperture210that passes through the wall of the reed body200and is in communication with the hollow chamber402within the reed body200. The hollow chamber402allows air to flow through the reed body200, with air entering from the bag of the bagpipe through the bleed aperture210and exiting through the tenon202into the drone102. The tongue208overlies the bleed aperture210and is substantially planar, though the tongue208may optionally comprise a slight curvature along its longitudinal axis to maintain the tongue208slightly elevated above the edges of the bleed aperture210. When the instrument is played, air passes under the tongue208, through the bleed aperture210and into the hollow chamber402of the reed body200, pulling the tongue208towards the edges of the bleed aperture210and causing the tongue208to vibrate, thereby controlling airflow into the instrument and producing sound.

The reed body200may be made of any suitable material as will be understood to one skilled in the art. Examples of suitable reed body200materials include, but are not limited to; plastic, wood, composite, aluminum, and brass. Similarly, the tongue208may be made of any suitable material as will be understood to one skilled in the art. Examples of suitable tongue materials include, but are not limited to; carbon fibre, glass fibre, plastic, wood, cane, bamboo, aluminum, and brass.

The pitch of the sound produced by the reed100can be adjusted by altering the effective length of the tongue208. To assist such adjustment, the reed100may optionally comprise a bridle206. The bridle206encircles the reed body200and applies pressure to the tongue208, bringing the portion of the tongue208that is in contact with the bridle206into contact with the reed body200and thereby anchoring the portion of the tongue208that is in contact with the bridle206to the reed body200; altering the length of the portion of the tongue208that is elevated from the reed body200and therefore free to vibrate to produce sound. With the reed oriented as shown inFIG. 3, the portion of the tongue208that is to the right of the bridle206is free to vibrate. Moving the bridle206to the right would shorten the effective length of the tongue208and raise the pitch of sound produced by the reed100, while moving the bridle206to the left would increase the effective length of the tongue208thereby lowering the pitch of the sound produced by the reed100. Changing the position of the bridle206also adjusts the amount of air consumed by the reed100. For a reed100in the orientation shown inFIGS. 3 and 4, moving the bridle206to the left would increase the gap between the tongue208and the edges of the bleed aperture210, thereby increasing air consumption by the reed100while moving the bridle206to the right would decrease the gap between the tongue208and the edges of the bleed aperture210thereby decreasing air consumption by the reed100.

A disadvantage of using the position of a bridle206to adjust the airflow of the reed100is that this does not allow the airflow to be adjusted independently of the pitch. Accordingly, in a non-illustrated embodiment, the reed100does not comprise a bridle206.

The reed100further comprises a tenon202at the open end of the reed body200for inserting the reed100into a reed seat of a drone102. The reed100may further comprise hemping or another material, such as a waxed cord or a rubber sleeve, wrapped around the tenon202to enable the reed100to form an airtight seal with the reed seat of the drone102. The closed end of the reed100, which is the end opposite the tenon202, comprises a tuning screw404, optionally housed within a housing212. In other embodiments, the reed100may comprise another type of tuning adjustor, such as an adjustable tuning plug, in place of the tuning screw; or the reed100may instead comprise a fixed end without a tuning adjustor. When the reed is equipped with a tuning screw404, the tuning screw404allows a user to alter the pitch of the sound produced by the reed100by adjusting the length of the hollow chamber402within the reed body200. This can be accomplished by adjusting the position of the tuning screw404to shorten or increase the length of the hollow chamber402. Shortening the hollow chamber402increases the pitch of the sound produced by the reed100while lengthening the hollow chamber402decreases the pitch of the sound produced by the reed100.

In an embodiment, the reed100further comprises a tongue retaining collar204comprising a tongue adjustor214. The tongue retaining collar204is arranged to encircle a portion of the reed body200while overlying an end portion of the tongue208, thereby maintaining the tongue adjustor214over the end portion of the tongue208. Further, the reed body200comprises a tongue receiving depression302that is located within the tongue seating portion of the reed body200, flanked longitudinally by the tongue seat, and recessed relative to said tongue seat. The tongue receiving depression302is positioned to underlie the tongue adjustor214and is longitudinally spaced apart from the bleed aperture210, with a portion of the tongue seat positioned between the tongue receiving depression302and the bleed aperture210.

The tongue adjustor214is movable inwardly relative to the reed body200, such that movement of the tongue adjustor214towards the reed body200applies pressure to the upper surface of the portion of the tongue208overlying the tongue receiving depression302, urging said portion of the tongue208towards the surface of the reed body200and into the tongue receiving depression302. As pressure is applied to the tongue208by the tongue adjustor214, the portion of the tongue seat that is situated between the depression302and the bleed aperture210acts as a fulcrum, causing the end of the tongue208overlying the bleed aperture210to move upwards away from the edges of the bleed aperture210; increasing the distance between the underside of the tongue208and the edges of the bleed aperture210and consequently increasing the air consumption of the reed100. Conversely, the tongue adjustor214may be moved outwardly relative to the reed body200to reduce pressure on the upper surface of the tongue208, thereby reducing the distance between the underside of the tongue208and the upper edges of the bleed aperture210. A comparison of the reed100with the tongue208in an unbiased position and with the tongue208biased due to pressure from the tongue adjustor214is shown inFIGS. 5 and 6.

In an embodiment, the bore of the tongue retaining collar204is slightly smaller than the outer diameter of the reed body200, allowing the tongue retaining collar204to receive the reed body200in a friction fit. The tongue retaining collar204may be made of any suitable material as will be understood to one skilled in the art. Examples of suitable tongue retaining collar204materials include, but are not limited to; plastic, aluminum, and brass.

In the embodiments depicted inFIGS. 8 to 10, the tongue adjustor214is a set screw, though another type of pressure applying member could be employed, so long as the pressure applying member allows pressure to be applied locally to the portion of the tongue208overlying the tongue receiving depression302and the pressure applying member is finely adjustable to allow a user to adjust the gap between the underside of the tongue208and the edges of the bleed aperture210in sub-millimeter increments.

A second embodiment of a collar204and tongue adjustor214is depicted inFIG. 11. In this embodiment, the collar204comprises a rotating cam that can be used to apply pressure to the upper face of the tongue208, said pressure adjustable by rotation of the collar204about the longitudinal axis of the reed body200. To prevent unwanted rotation, the collar204may receive the reed body200in a friction fit, wherein the collar204is held in position by frictional engagement between the collar204and the reed body200. The collar204may also comprise a locking mechanism to prevent further rotation of the collar204once the tongue adjustor214is in the desired position.

Further, in a non-illustrated embodiment, the tongue adjustor214may be maintained over the upper face of the tongue208by a support structure other than a collar, such as a partial collar or support arm. In all embodiments, the tongue adjustor214is maintained outside of the reed body200and penetrates neither the tongue208nor the reed body200.

In the embodiment depicted in FIGS.1and3-6, the tongue retaining collar204is shown overlying the end of the tongue208that is proximal to the open end of the reed body200. In another embodiment, depicted inFIG. 7, the tongue adjustor214overlies the end of the tongue208that is proximal to the closed end of the reed body200, thereby allowing the tongue208to be positioned in the inverted orientation. In this embodiment, the tongue receiving depression302is also located proximal to the closed end of the reed body200.

An embodiment of a tongue retaining collar204is further detailed inFIGS. 8 to 10and12. With reference to the embodiment shown inFIGS. 1-6, the front end of the tongue retaining collar204, shown inFIG. 8, is the end of the collar that faces the closed end of the reed body200, comprising the housing212, while the rear end of the tongue retaining collar204, shown inFIG. 9, is the end of the collar that faces the open end of the reed body200, comprising the tenon202. In an embodiment, the tongue retaining collar204comprises a channel502that is arranged to receive the tongue208. The channel502extends along a substantial portion of the length of the collar204, extending from the front end of the collar204to a collar positioning member504at the rear end of the collar204. In an embodiment, the cylindrical bore of the tongue retaining collar204is of substantially uniform diameter along most of the length of the collar204extending from the front end of the collar204towards the rear end of the collar204. However, the bore at the rear end of the collar204may be of a smaller diameter, forming a collar positioning lip504that is arranged to engage the reed body200at the intersection between the reed body200and the tenon202. The engagement between the collar positioning lip504of the tongue retaining collar204and the reed body200allows the tongue retaining collar204to be consistently positioned by a user in a predetermined position overlying the tongue receiving depression302. This allows the tongue retaining collar204to be removed from the reed100and returned to the reed100by a user while enabling consistent positioning of the tongue adjustor214relative to the tongue208and the tongue receiving depression302. The lip504further allows for consistent positioning of the tongue208relative to the collar204and consequently the tongue adjustor214, since the tongue208can be reliably positioned by a user through engagement with the lip504. The relative positioning of the tongue208, tongue adjustor214, and tongue receiving depression302ensures that the effective length of the tongue208will remain consistent. In another embodiment of the tongue retaining collar204, lip504is absent and the bore of the collar is substantially constant along the length of the tongue retaining collar204. In other embodiments, the collar positioning member504may be a tab or other member that engages the reed body200to position the collar204at a predetermined position relative to the length of the reed body200.

The collar204may further comprise a tongue seat engaging portion1202. The tongue seat engaging portion1202is a portion of the collar204that is arranged to engage a portion of the tongue seat, thereby preventing rotation of the collar204about the longitudinal axis of the reed body200, as detailed inFIGS. 12 and 13. In an embodiment, the tongue seat engaging portion1202is substantially planar, allowing said portion1202to sit flat against the upper surface of the tongue seat. In a further embodiment, the tongue seat engaging portion1202of the collar204engages the tongue seat adjacent to the end of the tongue208.

The primary function of the tongue adjustor214, as described above, is to allow a user to apply pressure to the upper surface of the portion of the tongue208overlying the tongue receiving depression302, thereby biasing the tongue208and increasing the gap between the underside of the tongue208and the edges of bleed aperture210. A secondary function of the tongue adjustor214is to maintain the tongue208seated on the reed body200. The tongue adjustor214may be positioned to exert sufficient pressure on the tongue208to keep the tongue208engaged with the reed body200without significantly increasing the gap between the underside of the tongue208and the edges of bleed aperture210. This enables the reed100to be used without a bridle206, since the tongue adjustor214holds the tongue208seated on the tongue seat; a function traditionally performed by the bridle206. A user may wish to use a bridle206with the reed100in order to provide an additional means of pitch adjustment, but this is optional.

In an embodiment depicted inFIGS. 8 and 10, the tongue retaining collar204comprises a channel502that is arranged to receive the tongue208. The channel502extends along a substantial portion of the length of the tongue retaining collar204and is arranged to receive the tongue208. The channel502helps to retain the tongue208within the tongue retaining collar204and further engages the side edges of the tongue208to inhibit lateral movement of the tongue208, keeping the tongue208aligned overtop of the bleed aperture210.

Numerous specific details are set forth herein in order to provide a thorough understanding of the exemplary embodiments described herein. However, it will be understood by those of ordinary skill in the art that these embodiments may be practiced without these specific details. In other instances, well-known methods, procedures and components have not been described in detail so as not to obscure the description of the embodiments.