Klarinet Archive - Posting 000147.txt from 1994/10

From: Timothy Tikker <tjt@-----.ORG>
Subj: Re: Clarinet Ligatures for B-flat.
Date: Sat, 15 Oct 1994 01:53:00 -0400

My advice for a very good ligature: as per David Pino's advice in his
book on the clarinet, use a shoestring!

Really!

Old-fashioned clarinet ligatures were a kind of stiff thread, wrapped
around the mouthpiece many times, then finished with a little knot. The
mouthpiece actually had little grooves in it to hold the thread better.
Some players in Germany and Austria still use this system today. The
disadvantage is, of course, that it takes longer to put on than the
screw-type ligature.

Dr. Pino tried this system because he was told that it gave a better
sound and response, but was frustrated by how long it took to tie (and he
never could get the hang of that knot!). But then an idea: he used a
shoestring, the medium-thin kind used for men's dress shoes.

You clip off one of the plastic tipes, start wrapping from that end, go
around the mouthpiece & reed about six times - then simply slip the other
end (which keeps its plastic tip) under one or two of the wraps and pull
tight. It may take a little longer to put on than the screw-type
ligature, but not much - and it's faster to adjust the reed once the
string is on - and it's super-fast to take off!

Cost: about $0.25 (well, I got them @-----.00)!!

I did a lot of side-by-side comparison with my regular ligatures and the
string ones, and there was no contest: the string was far superior, and
in every way: beauty of tone, ease of response, dynamic and color range,
articulation... you name it.

Of course, there are a lot of high-tech ligatures out there which I
haven't tried. But they get pretty spendy, and I figure that they're
probably just trying to accomplish what the shoestring does anyway, so
why bother?

Besides... I think the shoestring looks kind of neat!

As an alternative, Pino suggested using a band of elastic cloth. I tried
this, and at first got identical results to the shoesstring. but over
time, I think the elastic stretches, loses its pull and stops holding
the reed so well, which isn't a problem with the shoestring. Of course,
the elastic is so cheap (about a nickel or dime's worth of material!)
that maybe you can just keep making them and throwing them away when they
wear out!

Well, anyway, why not try the shoestring? At that price, you don't have
much to lose!