Klarinet Archive - Posting 000216.txt from 2001/08

From: EbKlarinet@-----.com
Subj: [kl] ligature tightening/Vandoren Optimum
Date: Thu, 16 Aug 2001 14:01:16 -0400

Hi Antoine!

You said on Klarinetlist:
"Since the topic has come up about ligatures can anyone tell me what a
reliable ligature is for tightening? The problem I have been having with
Bonade is driving me crazy. And most of the clarinetist at my school have
the same problem with stripping. This problem occurs with the inverted and
regular. Maybe I am tightening too hard but I am sure that this problem is
not a coincidence. I like them for sound and response but hate that they
break so easily."

My experience with my students and ligatures has been that when you are
tightening to the point you mention above, it's because you need more blowing
resistance in your set up---you need to feel the reed is closer to the
mouthpiece, particularly when you are doing a lot of tonguing.

Most of my students start out with Rovners, but several of them, not to
mention ME, have gotten to the point that we are bending the screw because we
are tightening so much. What usually works is to have them switch to a more
rigid ligature, like a Bonade, that presses the reed up closer to the
mouthpiece, and sometimes we have to go so far as to switch them to a more
closed facing on their mouthpiece.

In my case, I definitely felt like I needed more back pressure, more blowing
resistance, and was prepared to switch mouthpieces, but first I tried the
Vandoren Optimum ligature, and it has solved my problem. I use the #1 plate,
which has the most contact with the reed, and I really like the feel I get
from it.

I have experienced the problem that someone else mentioned, that it will slip
off if I am doing a quick switch, so I just grab it differently so that
doesn't happen. Also, someone else mentioned one of the plates leaving
indentations on the reed. The same thing happened to me---it was the one
with the little dots at the corners, and I too thought that if those dots
were sinking down into the wood, that the plate must be making complete
contact with the reed. That plate is my least-favorite, and I don't use it.
That's one of the best things about that ligature---you have choices.

Hope this information is of some help to you......

Elise Curran
Orlando, FL

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