Klarinet Archive - Posting 000414.txt from 1998/03

From: Lee Hickling <hickling@-----.Net>
Subj: Re: Shopping for a new Ligature
Date: Fri, 6 Mar 1998 14:44:37 -0500

Patrick Kwan said
>I think the Rovners are pretty good too, and they are low in price.
> ~~Patrick Kwan
And Ken Wolman said
>This from a recent returnee to playing who only discovered that there is
>more than one kind of ligature:
>I bought the Optima, and the other day the Rovner Eddie Daniels. The
>Daniels is some sort of plasticized fabric, bulky, but it makes a
>noticeable difference.

Like Ken, I'm rebuilding my clarinet skills--after more than a dozen years
of playing chiefly organ and piano, in order to be able to demonstrate
things for my advanced students without embarrassing myself. I had seen
Rovners, and was skeptical about them. One of my students persuaded me to
try one, and although I've logged less than two hours with it, and my lip
still isn't what it used to be, I can hear a difference. My sound is fuller
and warmer. Right now I'm doing what the instruction sheet that came with
the ligature recommended, soaking some reeds for 1-3 hours and then
cleaning their backs and the mouthpiece with mild detergent and a
toothbrush. I never heard of correcting the "moisture balance" of a reed
before, but since some of the reeds I bought before I quit playing the horn
regularly are ten or more years old, it sounded worth a try.

I don't know anything about the other ligatures now on the market, but I
like the Rovner a lot so far.

I used to have a metal ligature which had no thumbscrew, but expanded as
you put it on and then contracted to hold the reed firmly but gently. I
don't remember what it was called, but back in the 50s and 60s a lot of
players used them.