Klarinet Archive - Posting 000361.txt from 2005/01

From: "Lelia Loban" <lelialoban@-----.net>
Subj: [kl] Ligatures-Important?
Date: Sat, 22 Jan 2005 21:22:19 -0500


Danny Bittker wrote,
>Here's an excerpt from Jack Snavely's interview
>with Harold Wright, from The Clarinet Vol.7 #1:
>Snavely: Do you think a ligature is very important?
>Harold Wright: Oh sure, it's extremely important.
>Snavely: You never play without one...
>Wright: My hand gets tired holding the reed on.

LOL! But, equipment obsessions aside, I suspect that some people's success
with a new ligature might be due less to the type of ligature, itself, and
more to the simple fact that the new ligature is *new* -- not damaged yet.
Buying clarinets and saxophones from flea markets, I've often wondered
whether the owner was really trying to use a ligature in such poor
condition the last few times he or she practiced (before quitting...).
I've lost count of how many stretched-out old Rovners I've seen, and how
many all-metal ligatures so bent that a corner, under the screw, has dug a
deep gouge into every reed in the case.

And then there's the mysterious phenomenon of the ligature screw going
walkabout. Maybe screws have a holy duty to go on pilgrimage. I don't
know where the shrine is, but they're mighty determined to go there. Where
do they buy their little invisibility cloaks?

Ligatures are small and lightweight. They get dropped. They get stepped
on and sat on and squashed under the clarinet case. That's why I think the
most important ligature in a clarinet player's kit may be the spare, kept
safe in a padded box.

Lelia Loban
Hey, President Bush: If the war in Iraq is such a worthwhile cause, do
your daughters plan to enlist?

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