Klarinet Archive - Posting 000275.txt from 1994/10

From: "David B. Niethamer" <NIETHAMER@-----.BITNET>
Subj: Re: Ligatures
Date: Sat, 22 Oct 1994 23:28:44 -0400

Some time ago in "The Clarinet", Lee Gibson examined the subject of ligatures
in his "ClarAnalysiis" column. As I remember, he concluded that the weight of
the ligature as determined by its material was the thing that defined its sound.
I like a silver plated reverse Bonade, reverse so the screws don't catch my
beard (!!), and the silver plated type (available only from Weiner, NY) seems
to sound fuller than the normal chrome plated version.Just my subjective
judgement.

A number of years ago, a few Richmond clarinetists tried all sorts of ligatures
and decided that the player, mouthpiece and reed style/strength had some bearing
as well. Ligs that worked well for one players were definitely not best for
others.

In Pamela Weston's "Clarinet Virtuosi of Today", in an interview with Harold
Wright, Weston reported Wright to hold the opinion that ligatures stretch out
and lose their "hold" or "sound" (my memory of the description), so that he
replaced his ligature on a yearly basis. I've been doing that since, with
noticable results (at least at first).

For the response seen here that a reverse silver Bonade with the center cut
out is best, for me, that makes the response of my scale very uneven, one of
the reasons I don't like to do it.

I'm always amazed at the difference this little piece of metal(or whatever one
uses) makes. I have students get a good mpc and lig as soon as possible, as it
seems to solve a lot of problems early on.

David Niethamer
Richmond Symphony