The Hagen practice chanter reed is designed to be tough, reliable, bright, and long-lasting. I was tired of practice chanter reeds that fall apart when you take them out of the reed seat, so my reeds are tied tightly to the staple like a pipe chanter reed. Tying them also increases the volume, consistancy, stability, reliability and allows the reeds to be more easily adjusted by clipping and sanding. The heat shrink stablizes the blades and improves clarity by minimizing the nasal buzzy sound that many tied reeds produce.

After a reed has been made, it settles and changes slightly just like a pipe chanter reed. I put every reed through four stages of testing prior to shipment. Each reed sits for about 3-5 days between testing. In the final stage of testing, the reed must perform perfectly (checking strength, squeaking, cutting out, pitch etc.), otherwise it will either be adjusted and sent back to the first stage of testing, or stripped apart to be rebuilt from scratch.

Another innovation is in my staples. The bottom quarter of each staple is scratched and roughed-up to help keep the hemp from slipping off. This also helps to keep that one line of hemp from slipping over the end of the staple.

Lastly, I sign my name to every reed because I take great pride in my work.