Klarinet Archive - Posting 000098.txt from 2000/02

From: Ken Wolman <ken.wolman@-----.com>
Subj: Re: [kl] Velcro ligature
Date: Wed, 2 Feb 2000 21:24:34 -0500

GrabnerWG@-----.com wrote:

> Try this experiment. Hold the reed on the mouthpiece firmly, with your right
> thumb, while playing left hand fingered notes, in both registers. Most of you
> will notice a noticable improvement in the quality of your sound. As my
> teacher, John Mohler, used to say, "The best ligature is your thumb".

Wasn't it the late Harold Wright who said it's real difficult the play
the clarinet when you've got only one free hand? It would be great if
we all were built like one of those Hindu deities with all the flying
hands and feet....
....
> Experiment as I might, I keep going back to metal ligatures, my old Kaspar,
> or a heavy brass Boosey & Hawkes ligature that's probably as old as I am. I
> "feel" that I have a slightly different (better) sound using string, but not
> enough to warrant the extra trouble.

My CT came with an old HS* mouthpiece and the standard Selmer ligature.
No fancy little thingies to limit contact between the mouthpiece and
ligature, just a down 'n' dirty silverplate goodie that tightens over
the reed itself. It sounds terrific.

> Any other comments on Velcro????

No, it never occurred to me to try it. But now I'm interested enough to
buy some of the stuff and give it a shot on the various clarinets and
saxes laying around the house. I also got some pretty nice results when
trying out a mouthpiece by using a plain medium-weight rubber band. So
I'm thinking now of that story someone on the list told about those old
Greek and Turkish guys on 8th Avenue who held their clarinets together
with rubber bands and paper clips. If it works, why not? I pull my
hair back in a ponytail so I could just as well try using a spare hair
elastic. No kidding.

Ken
---------------------------
Kenneth Wolman Deutsche Bank, NA 212-469-6026
1251 Avenue of the Americas New York, NY 10020

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