Klarinet Archive - Posting 000180.txt from 2005/08

From: Adam Michlin <amichlin@-----.com>
Subj: Re: [kl] Ah, ligatures....Gold vs. Silver
Date: Thu, 11 Aug 2005 20:08:30 -0400

The mistake, in my mind, that is often made in this argument (we
clarinetists are but a small portion of the many musicians constantly
having out this argument) is to make it in terms of is there or isn't there
an effect.

The answer is clearly, yes, there is an effect. How could there not be?
When a butterfly flaps its wings, there is an effect. Chaos theory
notwithstanding, I don't think it will make my clarinet sound "better".

Now the problem lies in whether this effect is noticeable and significant.
I do not believe in the case of the plating of ligatures that the
difference is either noticeable or significant. Furthermore, any
differences which are noticeable and significant can quite possibly be due
to some other variable(s) (the variance in mass production is enough to
ruin any possibility of controlling for plating when trying two otherwise
"identical" ligatures). Until someone shows me scientifically reproducible
research which reasonably controls for everything except the plating of the
ligature, I will remain a skeptic.

I do not expect that anyone in the near or far future will spend the effort
to do a truly scientific study. Besides, how would you measure the
difference? Usually, people say one ligature "sounds better", or even more
vaguely "feels better" (dare I suggest "adds character to the sound"?). "I
hear a difference" is not scientific. "I feel a difference" is not
scientific. They are both by definition subjective and for all intents and
purposes impossible to consistently reproduce. By all means, play whatever
works best for (the general) you, but to start making general statements of
one material being superior to another seems rather silly to me.

To those who might say "well, you can't say there is no noticeable effect
if the research has not be done" I would respond that lack of evidence to
the contrary does not unto itself constitute proof of a theory. Thus, I
remain merely a skeptic. And, yes, there will always be the problem of "if
there is an effect and no one can measure it, is there really an effect?",
but I'll leave that one to the philosophers.

-Adam
Who thinks the tree *always* makes a sound.

At 07:17 PM 8/11/2005, Geoff & Sherryl-Lee Secomb wrote:
>Dear Dan,
>Have you tried them objectively, or as objectively as you can?
>Some time ago, I acquired a trial/comparison box of BG ligatures to try
>them all out. I normally play either a Harrison or Vandoren Masters
>(black.) I am as wary of these claims as anyone, but there was a
>noticeable difference in feel and response between the 'leather' ligatures
>in gold and silver, and between the 'Tradition' model in gold and silver.
>My favourite was the Tradition gold, which was a pity, because I didn't
>really want to spend that much on a ligature!
>We must also remember that the ligature has a great effect on what it
>allows the reed to do, especially when considering how much of a damping
>effect it has on the vibrations. So is it unreasonable to expect that
>different materials, including different metals and thicknesses of metals,
>*will* create a very real and discernable difference in the output of the
>mouthpiece and reed.
>If we're prepared to admit that changing mouthpiece material does have an
>impact, then why not the ligature, which is also in direct contact with
>the vibrating piece of cane?
>Geoff Secomb.
>Australia.

-------------------------------------------------------------------
Klarinet is a service of Woodwind.Org, Inc. http://www.woodwind.org