Klarinet Archive - Posting 000386.txt from 2005/01

From: "Ted Casher" <tedcasher@-----.net>
Subj: [kl] Re: ligatures
Date: Mon, 24 Jan 2005 14:18:47 -0500


----- Original Message -----
From: Ted Casher
To: klarinet@-----.org
Cc: Sax Sil Durbano
Sent: Sunday, January 23, 2005 5:09 PM
Subject: ligatures

Hello, colleagues! Happy 2005. Ted Casher here. Re ligatures---so
muchgoing on! There are 2 ligatures mentioned that I like----Luybens, for
their effectiveness and low price, and Olegs.

Keep in mind---if you are a glass mpce player, as I am, you have to buy the
Oleg alto sax ligature, which is goldentone mesh.. The silver mesh clarinet
ligature is too small in circumference for the glass mpce.

I like the Oleg ligature----and I have paid the exorbitant price for several
of them---because they have all the advantages of a fabric ligature without
cutting out the higher frequencies.

My natural air column shapes my tone on the dark side anyhow, because I play
tenor sax in the Hawkins/Ben Webster/Lucky Thompson tradition. So, for
clarinet, I have to have something that helps keep the higher frequencies in
my sound----same thing for alto, otherwise the thing is going to sound like
an Eb tenor!!!!!

However, one of the finest clarinet players I know has used a Luyben for
years. AND---to answer the person who says that Luyben screws strip the
threads easily---I believe that my buddy Sil Durbano, the greatest lead alto
in the Boston Theater District---has used the same Luyben clear plastic
ligature since we were playing major Vegas-type shows together in 1964!

AND---re the Gigliotti---I love it, but, during a cold snap---like the one
we have now---I found that the little "G" headed plastic screws had a
tendency to shear off and get lost. I remember having to unscrew the
ligature by using a dime!!!

But---hey! I still use a Luyben on the Pete Fountain mpce which resides
with my Noblet C, which I use for klezmer work. And I carry a Luyben on the
spare mpce which resides in my case in case I break my Pomarico Diamond
Mellow----which has happened!!!!!

So--to the young lady who is seeking help for her sound----ligatures, reeds,
mpces----they all help, providing you get your air column in the right
place, keep it constant, and do not attempt to do tricks with it.

The hunt for the right mpce/lig/reed combination is a lifetime process. I
know----I have been doing it for 66 years!!!!!

Good luck to us all!

Ted Casher
The Master of Disaster

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