Klarinet Archive - Posting 001167.txt from 2000/02

From: "Kevin Fay (LCA)" <kevinfay@-----.com>
Subj: RE: [kl] Ligature screw tightening
Date: Tue, 29 Feb 2000 14:21:15 -0500

On Tue, 29 Feb 2000 07:47:24 -0600, Dee Hays said:

<<<It should be as free as possible but not slipping around.>>>

Tony Pay replied:

<<<Unless it shouldn't.>>>

. . . we should be very cautious of ever proclaiming any universal truths
here. If memory serves me correctly, Dee's advice correlates with the
instructions for Charles Bay's ligature. It's fragile, doesn't take a lot
of torque to break, and Mr. Bay believes that less is more.

On the other hand, there are mouthpieces whose tables are not flat by design
-- the two examples that come to mind are Kaspar and Greg Smith's. The
instructions that come with a Greg Smith mouthpiece suggest that you will
get better results by clamping the little sucker as hard as you can (or
something to that effect).

So . . . what's a boy to do, with a Bay ligature on a Greg Smith mouthpiece
-- which just happens to be my setup du jour?

Well, whatever works. Some reeds get torqued more than others. Depends on
the weather (quite literally -- it changes every 15 minutes in Seattle).

Ligatures are important. Unless you're Red Green, duct tape is probably not
the best way to keep your reed on. WHICH ligature you use is probably not
all that important. Sure -- there are differences in how reeds respond
depending on which one you use. Again, depending on the weather, I'll even
pop a different one on depending on who a reed is working out. Got a buzz
in the chalumeau? Oftentimes putting the Luyben on instead will minimize
it. Articulation fuzzy? Why, sometimes cranking the Vandoren Optimum (the
closest thing to a C-clamp that's currently sold) will help out. Of course,
you could make the necessary adjustments by sanding the reed, or positioning
the reed on the mouthpiece differently, or . . . etc. ad nasuem.

My "rule" is fairly simple -- use what works. Other than that there are no
rules.

kjf

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