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The Moose Valve: When the valve is hard up against the base of the blowpipe it acts as a valve only. Placing the valve further down the neck of the blowpipe stock, it acts as a water trap as well and assists in condensing moisture before it reaches the bag.
drying agent in it, the chanter tube still provides a considerable amount of protection to the chant- er reed. Keeping the hot moist air from directly flowing on to chanter reed is important. Most bags take some of the moisture into their fabric, some more than others. On a sunny day the ‘gooseneck’ of the bag is the hottest part of the bag. It has a small surface area and is often in direct sun. If you remove the tube completely, you remove a certain amount of protection provided to the chanter reed. The chanter tube always ensures that the air flowing to the chanter reed is the coolest and most temperate air from the centre of the bag. Remember, ultimately the
chanter reed making the sound in the chanter determines the sound quality of your chanter. If you are using a chanter tube, select a chanter reed that sounds good in your pipes. Drone valves, as we now know
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PIPING TODAY • 44
them, are not a new phenomenon! In the early 1800s, Donald Mac- Donald was turning a ‘champagne cork’ shaped insert made from the same piece of wood as the stock itself with a small hole through the centre. I believe he was doing this to make the bagpipe more controllable. These early regulators highlight a very important point. Drones reeds, especially synthetic drone reeds, compared to chanter reeds, need very little pressure to
operate. Some people incorrectly say that drone valves act as a muf- fler on the drone. A muffler is on the end of an exhaust system of an engine. Drone valves, being before the drone, assist in the regulation and control of airflow to the drone. It’s more like an injector on an engine, it provides precise control of the fuel to the thing that makes the car go. Good drone valves can let you
fine-tune your system sending a precise, steady airflow to the drone reeds. Most modern drone ‘valves’ have two separate features that often confuse even experienced pipers causing an almost instant dismissal of the idea. The first is the small hole or holes that regu- late the airflow to the reeds and the second is the valve flap. The valve flap is purely to assist with the piper achieving good starts and stops and whilst playing it sits in the open position and will not offer any effect at all. Always remember that ulti-
mately it’s the drone reed making the sound in the drone, and how you have that set to suit your sys- tem, that determines the sound quality coming out of the top of your drone.
The Moose Valve “WHEN Nigel Hylands and I developed the Moose Valve we were very clear in what we wanted to achieve. A valve that could be
SYNTHETICS
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