 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: bflatclarinetist
Date: 2005-04-05 02:18
This is very strange, but whenever I tighten or loosen my ligature up (metal ligature) then the sound starts to change.
I dunno if it's just me, but now that I've been messing with how much I should tighthen it or loosen I start squeaking on the upper clarion notes. And it's really annoying. Should the ligature be the problem or would my embouchure be a problem (because for the past few days I've had the idea of tightening my embouchure a lot..maybe this could be the problem? Should I loosen it if so a bit?)
Thanks, it's annoying
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Author: Morrigan
Date: 2005-04-05 05:30
Sounds a little more like a reed problem. Get a new box, and when you put them on, wet the flat side so as to seal them better.
Also consider what your air stream and embouchoure is doing - do you change it when you change registers or is it consistent?
Let us know if the problem continues.
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Author: William
Date: 2005-04-05 14:19
Perhaps you re playing with a mouthpiece that has a concave table, such as Charlie Bay's mpcs. Lig position and tightness will affect the reeds response and sound like you describe.
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Author: Ken Shaw ★2017
Date: 2005-04-05 14:44
As Morrigan says, reeds often warp on the bottom, leaving a ridge down the middle. Also, if you can see and feel an impression of the mouthpiece window on the bottom of the reed, this will cause leaks and squeaks.
Get a piece of 400 grit wet-or-dry (black coat) sandpaper, available at any hardware store. Put it on a flat surface (preferably glass) and sand hard, putting your fingers only on the bark, until the entire underside up to the end of the bark is evenly shiny. Then put your fingers on the bark and vamp and sand very lightly, to polish that area.
Check carefully to make sure the corners of the reed are covering the corners of the lay. Many mouthpieces have only a thin surface at the corners, and it's easy to create a leak. Try moving the reed up very slightly (the width of a thin line made by a sharp pencil).
Finally, check the condition of your mouthpiece rails. It's easy to ding the corner and cause a leak.
On tightening the ligature, start by tightening it up quite snug and then backing the screws off 1/4 turn.
Ken Shaw
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Author: Clarino20
Date: 2005-04-09 20:45
It sounds like you are thinking way too hard about this. I had the same problem in my 2nd year of playing. I was experimenting with Ligatures, Mouthpiece Patches, and Reeds at the time. It happened to be all embrochure and the tension of your ligature chould not matter you want to screws to be tight enough to hold the reed in place but loose enough to unscrew without any force.
Corey
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Author: Ron Jr.
Date: 2005-04-11 14:27
Bb,
I used to use metal ligatures but there were problems for me:
1. The ligature would leave indentations on the reed
2. The ligatire would scratch my mouthpiece, that is until I filed down the a sharp corner.
3. If I didn't tighten the ligature enough, the reed would slowly move past the tip of the mouthpiece.
Now I use fabric ligatures, I think a rovner dark. This has many advantages:
1. It doesn't dent the reed
2. It doesn't scratch the mouthpiece
3. It's much easier to remove the mouthpiece and reed as a set for quick changes.
4. This is the MOST important. The reed stays exactly where I put it. The reed never moves.
I'm not suggesting you change to a fabric ligature, especially if you like yours, however, it is wonderful to have a sense of security knowing that your reed won't squeek. And if the reed does squeek, it's probably me.
Ron Jr.
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Author: Hank Lehrer
Date: 2005-04-11 15:04
Corey,
You are wise beyond your years with "It sounds like you are thinking way too hard about this.... It happened to be all embrochure." Quite often, we can convince ourselves of all sorts of things when the answer is best solved by application of the Law of Parsimony.
HRL
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