Klarinet Archive - Posting 000088.txt from 2000/03

From: "Kent J. Krive" <kkrive@-----.com>
Subj: Re: [kl] Ligatures in general&"Science"
Date: Fri, 3 Mar 2000 02:20:54 -0500

I've enjoyed reading about the conjecture concerning the effects of
ligature tightening on clarinet mouthpieces. A narrative of my one and
only experience providing relevant information on this topic is as
follows:

For a period of time during which a commute of 1.25 hours each way was
part of my career regimen, I kept in the car a clarinet, an old,
grungy-but-playable Pedler "A." The mouthpiece was an old much-refaced
Sumner (Scotty/myself). Since I desired the clarinet to be instantly
available for tooting, it sat in the back seat with reed "permanently"
on, a chopped and channeled Buffet metal ligature tightened "normally,"
with a mpce cap to protect the reed from upholstery.

The last reed I used during the "commute" period lasted a long time.
When it finally gave up the ghost, I removed it, put a new one on, and
couldn't get any kind of sound, let alone an acceptable one. It didn't
take long to observe through even a cursory examination, that the table
of my Sumner was now severely concavity-challenged! (I'm talking at
least .5 millimeters) How did this happen? Perhaps the combination of a
tight ligature with a sun-warmed car interior was responsible. (I ask
that
you imagine all possible conditions existing in a car's interior in
Michigan over a period encompassing at least three seasons.)

Only after quite a number of swipes on the 600 grade wet/dry, and rail
curve refreshment, did the thing play again.

The conclusion: Leaving the reed on indefinitely, with the ligature
normally tightened, in your car, over a period during which temperature
fluctuations of + - 100 degrees Fahrenheit occur, may deform your
mouthpiece.

KK

<snip>

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