Author: WhitePlainsDave
Date: 2017-07-11 18:40
Katie:
In no way do I wish to dilute your question or the comments of contributors above who report success with various ligature models and the Black Diamond mouthpiece.
That said, here are my 2 cents. "The best ligature I ever bought was an etude book."
I doubt it, but maybe someday my students will have a get together of Daveisms, the above being one of them, like the great player and pedagogue Bob Spring has "Bob-isms."
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xHovhOlazAQ
My quoted sentence on its surface might, in its near perfect contradiction, appear to make no sense.
What it means is this: Get, IMHO, the cheapest ligature that meets these criteria:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y7TwVEI5r6A
This perhaps:
http://shop.weinermusic.com/STANDARD-Bb-CLARINET-LIGATURE/productinfo/LK1N/
or one like it. And save your money for what works. Near religious conviction to precise metronomic practice of the fine etude books of our craft, playing no faster than you can play precisely.
Because the reality is that for the overwhelming majority of us, the improvements we feel/hear or others hear in one ligature versus another aren't, IMHO, worth the price differential.
Consider those who feel differently, either right because of their high level of play, or good players who are right (ergo: I'm wrong), or subject to conformational bias https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Confirmation_bias.
Yes, everyone's entitled to their opinion, but that opinion has to be informed, something that bias gets in the way of.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6ghMCiV8hTg
(Yes, Mike Lowenstern eventually promoted Vandoren. But many top artitsts, while they believe in what they sell, are compensated.)
=====
That is, from 40 years of play and [less] teaching, the reality of the matter among me and my fellow teachers. My evidence is no less anecdotal, having tried and passed on borrowed "clarinet toys" than those who swear by a lig.
More likely than not, gear tinkering costs not only money, but precious time better spent in the etude books.
Isn't is amazing (sarcasm). How did the previous generation of virtuosi survive with only 2 or 3 brands of ligatures? What does everyone else know that Stanley Drucker, former Principal Clarinetist of the NY Philharmonic and its longest tenured member, who has drawers full of mouthpieces, and the ability for vendors to throw at him not only free ligatures to try, but pay him for using them, know in his use of "the ligature that came with the clarinet?"
I'm not against gizmos that work. For example, Ridenour's ATG reed system and Legere's Euro synthetic reed, neither perfect, are advancements.
Now, that said, if you want a name brand lig., don't let me tell you how to spend your dollars. In fact, I contradict my own advice, but with an important caveat.
I play a Vandoren M/O, non Masters Series ligature. (This latter non Masters Series detail is important. The Masters series of this product is for Vandoren Masters Mouthpieces only. I can't tell you what's right for you, but I can tell you that which isn't designed for your mouthpiece: the Masters Series of Ligs.)
(Long story about Vandoren coming out with the Master's series of mouthpieces that low and behold was too small in circumference to fit its own M/O ligature: born was the Masters series of M/O ligatures.)
You would rightly entitled to ask why I play this "designer" lig. Is it the sound? No. It's simply because the ligature makes wonderful practical sense for me. To wit: in its incorporation of (one) double threaded screw mechanism, changing reeds is fast: which comes in handy when you're working on new ones.
Every twist of the ligature screw does twice the work.
Oh, and do I feel different sometimes playing a metal lig versus a leather one? Yes, I do, but only for about the first few seconds.
Caveat emptor Katie: buyer beware.
Post Edited (2017-07-11 18:43)
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