Last weekend before the 2018 competition season

Well, this is the last weekend before the 2018 competition season. I went to my practice spot early in the morning, since there's a storm moving in this afternoon. I spent most of the session running through The Field of Gold. It's not particularly challenging, but my left ring finger tends to lock up when doing edres off of C. Overall, a good practice session. I'm feeling ready to compete.

I also took some time over the last few days to work with my drone reeds. I really like my current setup of Ezeedrone tenors and a Henderson Harmonic Deluxe bass - smooth, balanced, and powerful without being overbearing. However, I wanted to make sure I didn't have something else that would work better. Long story short - out of what I have - that's the best setup for me. I tried various combinations of Kinnaird Evos, Crozier carbons, Ezeedrones, and Henderson Harmonics, and kept coming back to the Henderson Harmonic Bass and Ezee tenors. I think that's what I'm sticking with this season, although I may pick up more reeds to try over the summer. The biggest difference between my current setup and the others?

I'm eagerly awaiting a new blowpipe stock from Dunbar, since the Naills came with a stock that had in a built in tube trap that was pretty well dead. When it arrives, I'll finally be able to use one of my bottle traps with the Naills. It should go a long way towards extending the Naills' stable playing time. If I'm lucky, the stock will show up before next weekend. If not, it should be here well before the next competition in April.

EDIT 3/11/18

The Dunbar stock came in time. It looks good - better than the split stock that came with the pipes. Unfortunately the contest was cancelled due to a nor'easter impacting travel for the judges. It looks like I'll be getting going in New Hampshire next month instead.