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Re: BG Tradition...breaking?

Author: Bob Bernardo
Date: 2019-02-14 09:12

Hi Paul! I like the looks of this ligature. Good question to a common problem. I think the best ligature when testing a box of new reeds is your thumb. So I feel the ligature shouldn't be too tight. When refacing mouthpieces I often come across mouthpieces which dented in ligature marks. I've also notice really warped tables. This is a problem requiring hours of work to fix a warped table.

Your ligature is like a thumb.

So we kind of have to find that happy medium perhaps. We all know that the mouthpiece vibrates when playing so I've never used soft materials as ligatures. I strongly feel materials too soft actually can cut off the overtones on some notes. Yes up close the sound changes to a more mellow sound but if you record yourself in the middle of a hall you will surely hear what I'm talking about. This I have done a lot. Not just with ligatures but with mouthpieces and testing out new horns. One of the many reasons why I dumped Buffet and went with Yamaha.

I would encourage you to think of having a sore finger and thumb. That to me would be the ideal tightness. I have to repeat this. Too tight can warp the mouthpiece after a few years or less, depending on the hardness of the rubber. The Selmer Concept mouthpieces and the Vandoren M series mouthpieces are soft rubber. The Vandoren BD5 is harder. Mine are about as hard as they come. I wanted this because of the overtones. You can hear the differences in a hall. Thus why I hated Zinner mouthpieces. The chambers were too deep and dark. So the sound doesn't carry. We need to step back and record ourselves from the middle of a hall. Then you really know what you sound like. You can hear the differences often with just an iPhone. You may not need $5000 worth of studio recording gear.

So your question is actually pretty complicated when considering the vibrations of the mouthpiece and the overtones of the notes and the right ligature for you. Some players such as Stanley Drucker never changed mouthpieces. But he did mess around with ligatures. But he still pretty much uses the same metal ligatures. Same with Harold Wright and Marcellus. During this time most of the players stayed with the reverse Bonade, which still remains a bargain and a great metal ligature, because of the overtones. I don't use it, I made my own but I have a few Bonade's.

Designer of - Vintage 1940 Cicero Mouthpieces and the La Vecchia mouthpieces

Yamaha Artist 2015

Post Edited (2019-02-14 09:21)

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