Author: Bob Barnhart ★2017
Date: 2021-06-27 10:31
Ed,
Congratulations on winning a Vandoren ligature.
I've spent most of the pandemic experimenting with various setups (mouthpieces, reeds, ligatures). Currently, I'm mostly playing on a Vandoren BD4 mouthpiece and have settled on the following Vandoren ligatures as my favorites:
1) Black Optimum - this ligature seems anodized rather than plated and has a noticeably darker (and possibly less powerful) sound than the silver Optimum. I like the ability to change plates depending on circumstances. For me, I find the plate with the horizontal ribs gives the deepest, most vibrant, powerful sound. The plate with the 4 "dots" provides the most covered sound. I feel like the "Bonade" plate gives a denser, perhaps more restricted sound. However, your results will vary depending on the reed and mouthpiece.
2) Leather - I don't care for any of the inserts with this ligature as they make it difficult to use with thicker reeds. I like the freedom and flexibility I get with no insert. I feel like this ligature allows the reed to be responsive and yields a more open sound that is warm at the core with a nice vibrancy to it. For me, this ligature feels most like a German String ligature.
3) Silver Optimum - This version seems more powerful than the Black version, but also yields a nice round sound. Again, some mouthpieces play better with the Black, and some with my Silver one.
4) Black M/O - This ligature is very free and allows the reed to be responsive while still yielding a round sound. I like this ligature with mouthpieces that are more resistant.
5) Gold M/O - I feel that although this plating yields a darker/warmer sound than the Black M/O, it feels more restrictive. I would choose this ligature with mouthpieces that are more open/free, ones that need to have more control applied to them to obtain a more consistent response.
After must experimentation, I keep the Black Optimum and Leather ligatures on the mouthpieces in my case. I like both and might use one or the other depending on circumstance.
I hope this helps.
Bob
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The Clarinet BBoard
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