I'm currently rearranging my pipe setup a bit. Since 2007 I've been playing on a set of McCallum drones with McCallum chanters (starting with a poly "standard" chanter in 2007 then moving to a blackwood McC2 solo chanter in 2008). When I first set those pipes up, I chose Canning drone reeds. I've been using those reeds for eight years, and I've been quite happy with them. They produce a mellow-ish, refined sound in my McCallums that is just soft enough to stay out of the way of my chanter without feeling underpowered. Unfortunately, the reeds are finally wearing out. The tenors are getting unstable, and one of the reeds is not longer able to hold tuning for any length of time. Seeing as it's been years since I've played anything other that the Canning reeds, I figured it was high time to try out some other makes of reeds in my pipes. I chose Kinnaird Evolution and Crozier Carbon Fiber reeds to start, and will likely pick up a few other sets from other manufacturers later this year.
My initial thoughts? Both the Croziers and Kinniards are significantly bolder than the Cannings. That's not a bad thing, it's just different. It'll take a little getting used to. They're also a bit more air efficient (although the Cannings were a significant improvement over my old Ezee Drones). The Kinnaird Evolution reeds have a very slight bit of buzz that the Cannings lack, and have significantly brighter tenors. They also produce strong, easily audible harmonics which I really like, and have a slighty greater depth of sound compared to the Crozier reeds. The Croziers are also quite bright, but with a bit more buzz. Like the Kinnaird Evolutions, they also produce strong harmonics. They have a sparkling quality to them, which may be slightly accentuated by a slightly weak bass. I'm still waiting for "easy" tongues for the Kinnaird reeds to come in, since I prefer my pipes with a fairly soft chanter reed. When my new batch of chanter reeds come in I'll repeat the process of fiddling with each set of drone reeds, but for the moment I'm keeping the Croziers in my pipes.
My initial thoughts? Both the Croziers and Kinniards are significantly bolder than the Cannings. That's not a bad thing, it's just different. It'll take a little getting used to. They're also a bit more air efficient (although the Cannings were a significant improvement over my old Ezee Drones). The Kinnaird Evolution reeds have a very slight bit of buzz that the Cannings lack, and have significantly brighter tenors. They also produce strong, easily audible harmonics which I really like, and have a slighty greater depth of sound compared to the Crozier reeds. The Croziers are also quite bright, but with a bit more buzz. Like the Kinnaird Evolutions, they also produce strong harmonics. They have a sparkling quality to them, which may be slightly accentuated by a slightly weak bass. I'm still waiting for "easy" tongues for the Kinnaird reeds to come in, since I prefer my pipes with a fairly soft chanter reed. When my new batch of chanter reeds come in I'll repeat the process of fiddling with each set of drone reeds, but for the moment I'm keeping the Croziers in my pipes.