Author: WhitePlainsDave
Date: 2015-03-01 19:33
Tom/Larry:
Your ideas are ones I agree with and have been well discussed here before. I too am definitely not a "ligature guy," though I respect those that are. Still more, I have wondered if the reason I don't discern differences in ligs as much as others is attributable to lack of aptitude/accumen on my part; though I suspect not.
Yes, self praise is oxymoronic, but when combined with humility (after 40 at this I am very competant, not virtuosic), glimmers of truth may arise.
Still more, if you'd like to discuss them, go ahead; heaven knows I've steered my share of threads in different directions.
But it is precisely because what you discuss is so full of opinions that can't be measured easily by "classic" science (no disrespect to the social sciences), that rather, I set out, in essence, to merely debunk the idea that keeping a loose ligature, and using one with minimal contact points to the reed, allows the maximum vibration of the reed, which runs contrary to what I know about pure physics: whose laws may not apply so precisely here because of forces not accounted for.
Vibration and pressure can be measured with tools, as can be the size and location of a lig's pressure points, as opposed to people's feelings on how a lig plays. I make no claim that maximum vibration is associated with best sound or play; although I admit to having an opinion that it might. And the reason I first sought to know more about this is based in part on the idea that a swimming pool diving board, (despite many difference from a reed faily noted above, still remains a solid metaphor to a non-synthetic reed, provided those differences are noted) bounces best, all other things equal, when the diving board's end is firmly secured to an immovable object.
Now, that said, let me break my own rules and discuss the Earspasm post and ligature types.
Mike Lowenstern, I think, not only because I believe so, but because he's likely going to read this, is a extremely fine clarinetist and good guy; certainly knowledgeable in his craft. That said, I was, shall I say, less than thrilled when not shortly after? that eye opening video on his Youtube Earspasm channel, another video was released (I think and hope it was after), this time from Vandoren, with Mike, now a Vandoren artist (put cash register cah-ching noise here) using and plugging Vandoren's Optimum ligature.
(Yes, he was also plugging a Vandoren mouthpiece. But that's not fair game I think for criticism. Mike never claimed the interchangeabillty of mouthpieces.)
Now, is the Optimum a bad ligature? No way. In fact, is the Optimum a really fine ligature? Yes, I think so. From its changeable pressure plates to its double threaded screw, which doesn't merely pull one end of the lig closer to the other, but rather both ends together, it produces great results for players, and allows fast but stable tightening and untightening (given this double thread--which can also strip easier (not easily) than classic good but no-name brand larger metal lig threads.) I might argue that it is not much better, marginally speaking, when it comes to play, (if not speed of tightening and untightening) than some of the "non-ligature" ligatures that Mike demonstrated, but again, "to each their own."
Anyway, in this Vandoren video, http://youtu.be/4WfsgtRHzko?t=5m36s sure enough Mike's plugging the Optimum lig, citing (ehem, clearing my voice) less than the most cogent reasons, IMHO, for his switch to the Optimum ligature. Maybe you disagree, but how many of you avoid metal ligatures because you've stepped on them accidently, only to find a metal ligature so good, that your willing to ignore your own best practices, (themselves questionable...lig crushing???) and make the switch?
Sorry Mike. You're a great guy, but the above is just my humble opinion on where some fair un-answered questions may lie. Still more, the reply, "we've all got a make a living," and the idea that an artist accepts promotional compensation on good products they use, in a world where its hard to make ends meet, is one I can forgive.
That's why I think posters should report their music affiliations, and to the extent they can , their biases on the bboard when writing.
(In fairness, Mike may have not been a Vandoren artist when he put out that lig video.)
I have no affiliations in music, and try my best to articulate my relevant biases: in this case sketicism over whether some musical products help consumers as much as their raise their producer's profits.
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derf5585: you mentioned velcro ligatures. I think the only place where such straps, easily purchaseable at the big box Home Improvement stores, might be lacking as excellent ligatures is in slippage. And I think this is easily solveable, if in fact even a problem, by putting a rubber coating on the side of the strap that comes in contact with the reed and mouthpiece.
Good luck getting many lig manufactures to make them. Their arguments will be that the reed's vibration doesn't travel into the mouthpiece, while their marketers and bean counters will privately say, 'how much can we price something that the consumer can pretty much buy in a box store, to which we otherwise might have to pay royalties to Velcro Co. to use?'
(I'm not even sure that the reed transmitting some of its energy elsewhere (e.g. to the mouthpiece) is a good thing; one of the initial premises of this thread.)
Post Edited (2015-03-01 19:41)
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The Clarinet BBoard
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