Klarinet Archive - Posting 001193.txt from 2000/02

From: avrahm galper <agalper@-----.com>
Subj: [kl] LIGATURES
Date: Tue, 29 Feb 2000 22:12:42 -0500

Ligatures

As another list member observed, ligatures - for the most part - are
among the least expensive clarinet commodities. I imagine that no one
had problems with ligatures before Muller invented the metal variant
around 1820. All you had to get was string of some sort to tie the reed
down.

(Of course, there were other problems in those days: the wood
mouthpieces would often warp because of humidity and need refacing. Some
mouthpieces had a metal inlay on the table to keep that element
constant. Wealthy players had mouthpieces made of ivory or another
exotic material.)

In any case, at one time I used string ligatures made from all kinds of
strings, including fishing line. I discovered that I could achieve a
different tone with different types of string.

I later gave up string because my mouthpiece didn't have the grooves on
it that would keep the string securely in place. Of course, one could
file in the grooves but removing material from the mouthpiece might
spoil the sound that the mouthpiece helped to produce.

Over the years, I have tried many types of ligatures and still have a
whole collection of them. I even had ligatures made specially, some with
three screws and some with four.

My rationale was that the top and the bottom screws should be further
apart, while the middle screw barely touched the reed. (I now play with
an old Bonade inverted ligature.)

Let me relate an interesting anecdote that I read in an article about
Henry Lazarus, an English clarinet player in the last century. He had a
table laden with 50 mouthpieces, all set with reeds.
I think that his idea was to fit a reed to a certain mouthpiece and
leave it on "forever." It would be like a double reed setup: no double
reed player takes his or her reeds apart.

This is something that I learned from Lazarus as well as from personal
experience: that every reed probably requires a different ligature.

Now, don't run out to buy more ligatures! Simply realize that one
particular ligature cannot necessarily give you the sound you want to
hear from every reed that you use.

As far as ligature slippage, many have already suggested putting some
material on the inside of the ligature, the part that touches the
mouthpiece. I use strips of masking tape which I apply to the inside of
the ligature nearest the screws. When the masking tape wears out, I
just peel the tape off the ligature and put on fresh strips.
I find that sometimes the strips get "tired," but fresh strips
rejuvenate the sound.

--
Avrahm Galper
CLARINET TONE TECHNIQUE AND STACCATO
CLARINET UPBEAT SCALES AND ARPEGGIOS
EINE KLEINE KLEZMER MUSIK
http://www.avrahm-galper.sneezy.org
--

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