Klarinet Archive - Posting 000124.txt from 1997/03

From: Roger Lewis & Denise Gulliver-Lewis <pmflewis@-----.net>
Subj: Mouthpiece/ligature setup problems
Date: Tue, 4 Mar 1997 01:39:30 -0500

On March 3, April Shallenberg wrote:
...not sure what's causing it. I usually play on Vandoren 3.5 reeds,
have a
Bonade metal ligature, and I'm not sure what my mpc. is... a professor
re-did an old mouthpiece that I had and until recently I loved it. The
problem is that lately I've been getting a really 'thin' sound that I
just
don't like at all. I also have a Vandoren B45 and a Vandoren 11.6
mouthpiece that I am not unwilling to try, but with the reeds and
ligature
I've been using I've found them to sound really 'stuffy'.

Several possibilities exist. It is possible that the table of your
mouthpiece has warped, causing the change. Have you been squeaking more
than usual, or have a harder time finding a reed that will play at all?
I use both a Bonade metal ligature or a full Rovner, depending on the
reed. If the reed responds well but sounds thin, the Rovner will darken
it down a bit. You might want to try this before you change
mouthpieces. It is also possible that your Bonade has been bent
somehow. Some players say that once a ligature has been bent or
twisted, it never plays the same.

Hope this helps!

Denise Gulliver-Lewis
Principal Clarinet
Elkhart Symphony