The dawn of a new century may provoke some to decry, to deny,
or even to denounce the future.
We prefer to announce it.
Introducing the...

SYNTHE-DRONE 2 ™ Drone Reed.

A modern, patented version of the original, this reed incorporates
a reversible format and improved materials for a truly great sound.
...and the...

DUATONE™ Drone Reed.

This radical, patented reed design utilizes twin opposing tongues,
improved materials, and a reversible format.
For the ultimate in harmonic blend, volume, stability, dependability and versatility, no other reed comes close.

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U.S. PATENT NO. 5,959,226
NEW ZEALAND PATENT NO. 337411
CANADA PATENT NO. 2,266,172
UNITED KINGDOM PATENTS
GB NO. 2341966 AND GB NO. 2341968
AUSTRALIAN PATENT NO. 1999044707

SYNTHE-DRONE™ - Synthetic wood-composite body; fixed position long brass reed seat; tuning pin (adjustment screw for pitch, volume and tone); thin plastic tongue; waxed synthetic cord at reed seat and permanent bridle; wide, stable, adjustable synthetic bridle.

PLAYING CHARACTERISTICS : Warm, full, steady; double-tone on strike-in; good blend; long dependable playing life once broken-in; nearly unaffected by ambient climate fluctuations.

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SYNTHE-DRONE 2 ™ - Altered synthetic wood-composite body for tenor; enhanced material for bass; repositionable long reinforced polycarbonate reed seat; dome-headed tuning pin to enhance air flow around the reed (adjustment screw for pitch, volume and tone); thin plastic tongue; waxed synthetic cord at reed seat; rubber boot and brass i.d. ring comprises permanent bridle; wide, stable, adjustable synthetic bridle.

PLAYING CHARACTERISTICS : Warm, full, steady, very smooth; double-tone on strike-in; good blend; much-improved bass sound, with a deeper, "reedier" intonation; may be played in either of two orientations, with the open end of the tongue nearest the bag, or with the open end of the tongue nearest the bell of the drone; long dependable playing life once broken-in; nearly unaffected by ambient climate fluctuations; indistinguishable from its cane counterpart, when set-up properly. (Scroll above and below for more...)

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DUATONE™ - Altered synthetic wood-composite body for tenor; enhanced material for bass; repositionable long reinforced polycarbonate reed seat; dome-headed tuning pin to enhance air flow around the reed (adjust screw for pitch, volume and tone); twin, opposing thin plastic tongues; waxed synthetic cord at reed seat; rubber boot and brass i.d. ring comprises permanent bridle; wide, stable, adjustable synthetic bridle.

PLAYING CHARACTERISTICS : Warm, full, steady, mellow, rich, very smooth; easy to blow; overall harmonic depth and resonance is unsurpassed; double-tone on strike-in; good blend; much-improved bass sound, with a deeper, "reedier" intonation; may be played in either of two orientations, with the open end of the tongue nearest the bag, or with the open end of the tongue nearest the bell of the drone; long dependable playing life once broken-in; nearly unaffected by ambient climate fluctuations; provides an equivalent or superior sound to cane, when set-up properly. DUATONE™ drone reeds may also be ordered with permanently-fixed, brass reed seats, at a slightly reduced cost. (The permanently-fixed brass reed-seated version of DUATONE™ has a brighter, louder, bolder, slightly edgier sound than its removable reed-seated cousin, and of course may only be played with the tongues oriented in one direction, your choice. To reiterate regarding this particular version of our DUATONE™ reed: orientation is fixed at manufacture, and is, therefore, not  changeable.)

Darker reed to the left is an older style, with our current style to the right.

(Please note that the pictures on this and other pages are representative of general design features only, with current iterations possibly appearing slightly differently than depicted. These cosmetic differences do not affect the playing characteristics or performance of the reeds in any way.)

For those among us who simply cannot abide anything other than the potential for large, fullsome volume and tone from our bass drone reeds, we are now offering a large-bodied, non-invertible version of the DUATONE™ bass drone reed. Absolutely nothing about "Andre" is ordinary or timid, and in addition to an inherently healthy volume, it projects a deeply resonant harmonic structure. (May be incorporated into a standard set of DUATONE™ drone reeds, at a slightly higher price.)

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Exclusive! Glass Fibre Tongues

Glass-Fibre Tongues are standard for our DUATONE™ and SYNTHE-DRONE 2 ™ reed designs, and are now being offered as a nominally higher-priced option on all new purchases of our original compositie drone reed style, the SYNTHE-DRONE™ . Manufactured from a continuous filament, and set in a silicone resin binder, the playing angle of these tongues is thermoset. This reduces the chances of a relaxed or flattened condition to nearly zero. The tone produced by tongues fashioned from this material is clear and full, and are rock-steady players.

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TONGUE ORIENTATION: A DESCRIPTION OF ESSENTIAL PLAYING CHARACTERISTICS

With the tongues oriented in a inverted position (with the open end of the tongues nearest the bell or top of the drone), our reeds will exhibit the following tendencies:

1) Less pronounced double-tone, with a slightly quicker "blow-through".
2) Somewhat higher pitch, mitigated by the make of the drones.
3) Mellower intonation, with a quieter blend the norm.
4) Less susceptible to air pressure fluctuations in the bag during operation.