Klarinet Archive - Posting 000064.txt from 1994/08

From: Timothy Tikker <tjt@-----.ORG>
Subj: Re: Winslow ligature falling apart :-(
Date: Tue, 16 Aug 1994 14:33:33 -0400

David Pino's book on the clarinet recommends his adaptation of the
old-style string ligature: a shoe-string, with one of the plastic tipes
cut off. If you start wraping at the clipped end, it goes around the
mouthpiece about six times, then the tipped end can be tucked through one
of the wraps and pulled tight - far easier than the old, skinny string
and dealing with knots.

I tried it, and after repeated side-by-side comparisons with standard
ligatures I was sold! Response and tone were significantly improved. Not
bad for 4/$1.00 - !

Pino also recommended trying elastic cloth. I find that it gives
essentially identical tonal musical results. If you sew the elastic into
a loop of correct fit, it just slips on and off.

While I haven't tried any of the high-tech ligatures recently described
here, the shoestring or elastic work so well that I've had little
incentive to explore such expensive alternatives!