 The Clarinet BBoard
|
Author: NOLA Ken
Date: 2021-08-20 05:57
There seems to be a rash of postings on ligatures lately. So I'll add another. I just received a deQuelery hard rubber ligature I got from the Netherlands. I learned about it on the company's listings on Etsy of all places, although they have a web site (https://dequelery.nl/en/). Oddly, this model is not shown on their web site. The clarinet ligature shown there appears to be of the slip-fit type. The one I bought on Etsy is a single screw inverted design someting like a Rovner dark but much heavier in construction and appears to be a CNC product. It has four small rails apparently designed to be the contact point for the mouthpiece and a flat rail that holds the reed against the mouthpiece. I've spent a little time cycling through it and three other ligatures, the Rovner Dark, Rovner Light, and Luyben. Each one does in fact give me a slightly different playing experience with a Legere European Cut reed and a vintage Bonade hard rubbber mouthpiece. The Rovner Dark is definitely darker and more "covered". The Rovner Light is bit brighter and sweeter. The Luyben just gives more pop and depth to the sound than either of the Rovners, a bit more dark than the Rovner Light but not as much so as the Rovner Dark. Cleaner articulation and a bit more ummph. The deQuelery is a lot like the Luyben on a touch of steroids. Very clean articulation, more powerful sound than the Luyben. The first time I played it I was a bit blown away with how loud it is. I haven't tried it with a cane reed yet.
Both the Luyben and the deQuelery share one issue for me: I find that it is a bit tricky to remove the mouthpiece to change instruments without the ligature and reed slipping. Not a problem for people who don't have to switch a mouthpiece to different instruments in midstream.
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: Jimis4klar
Date: 2021-08-22 13:14
Please! Try with cane reed and mention how It plays compared to other ligatures, Thanks!
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: Paul Aviles
Date: 2021-08-22 14:57
Interesting. Thanks for the post.
For ligatures that are not completely "secure" I try to grasp with just the thumb and forefinger going around the beak area. It doesn't always work, but it gets me by. Also if your switching A to Bb, you could use the same barrel and avoid the problem altogether.
It would be great if you could post an image of the ligature you have. Is this a current product for deQuelery, or is it a some prototype or some such unique one of a kind?
I would just like to explain that the idea of matching a synthetic ligature with the Legere reeds is relatively a new one (as far as I know) and is opening up some greater performance characteristics that are boone for the Legere devotees and could help sway more folks sitting on the fence between plastic and cane (y'all have to try them again with one of these more vibrant ligatures).
.................Paul Aviles
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: NOLA Ken
Date: 2021-08-23 04:08
Attachment: deQuelery PR.jpg (58k)
Their Etsy shop where I saw this one seems to be "taking a break", and their web site suggests that they are one vacation. You might be right about this being an old model, as neither the English version of the web site nor the Dutch version (which shows different items) lists this particular model. I'm going to try to attach a pic to this posting, although I've never tried to do that on this site before.
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: NOLA Ken
Date: 2021-08-23 04:21
I found another page that has more information, although it still says it's currently paused. It says that it is handmade, not CNC like I first thought. So it might not be a regular offering.
https://www.etsy.com/listing/999512805/clarinet-ligature-dequelery-pr-series?show_sold_out_detail=1&ref=nla_listing_details
(I trust someone will let me know if I am breaking any rules here. I'm not a frequent poster.)
- Ken
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: Paul Aviles
Date: 2021-09-01 18:14
Thanks NOLA Ken!
Just put in order.........fingers crossed on this one.
..................Paul Aviles
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: farabout
Date: 2021-09-01 20:54
Could someone please clarify if the polymeric material is hard or soft?
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: farabout
Date: 2021-09-01 21:25
I am asking because placing the tightening screw on the inflexible "hard rubber" ligature would make no sense, given the fact that hard rubber by itself cannot be tightened.
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: farabout
Date: 2021-09-01 21:48
Here's a clarification which I've just received from the manufacturer:
"[T]he hardnes [sic!] is shore 65. It is also used for grips on mountainbike [sic!] handles and such. So not rock hard but a bit of flex in it. It is a realy [sic!] strong material also. But it is not soft rubber."
In conclusion: I'm out.
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: farabout
Date: 2021-09-01 23:25
Who in the right mind would buy anything like this at this price (this is a rhetorical question - therefore no question mark).
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: Paul Aviles
Date: 2021-09-02 00:28
Who would judge something without any primary evidence?
[question mark included because I really want to know]
In the post about the Vientos Vintage I admitted that I did formulate a preconceived idea about the performance of the ligature after already having one to test that truly works amazingly well at the place it holds on my mouthpiece. So the guess that the next one should work a little further up was not that outlandish. And yet I found out by actually trying the next example that the place where it held the reed was as big a part of why it worked for me as much as the material and the overall architecture (to include parallel rails much like the Bonade configuration).
Now you are critical of a ligature because you don't like rubber?!!?
I will most certainly let you all know what I think of it (and honestly, how many ligatures are there of any ilk that are less than $50 US dollars?). You already have the review provided by Ken. What about that doesn't at least sound promising?
Really..........I still want to know.
....................Paul Aviles
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: farabout
Date: 2021-09-02 00:37
PA: "Now you are critical of a ligature because you don't like rubber?!!?"
Nope. I am critical about the fundamental design flaw: placing the tightening screw on the rigid HARD rubber ring.
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: Paul Aviles
Date: 2021-09-02 02:40
hmmmm.......not sure if I am following exactly what you mean.
I will most certainly be as specific in description as I can once I receive the item. Any sort of adjustment (even flawed) puts this design above ones that just happen to find a place to land along the reed (and mouthpiece).
..............Paul Aviles
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: Paul Aviles
Date: 2021-09-17 03:46
I received the deQuelery today and have some observations:
When anyone says "hard rubber" to a clarinet player it is asking to be confused with "vulcanized rubber," which this is not. It is hard to describe if one is to think "rubber" at all. To me this is more akin to a softer (less brittle) plastic. It is smooth to the touch (no "dragginess," friction or some such tactile experience).
The design is clearly meant more for cane in that there are longitudinal "bumps" meant to hold the outer edges of a cane reed while a smaller longitudinal bump down the center is meant to snug down the spine of the reed. With Legere European cut reeds, only the side rails touch the reed......and it's not easy to get that to work without the reed (or ligature) flopping off center to one side or the other.
Another problem for me is that the ligature is better suited to a "thicker" mouthpiece (mine is unusually skinny). This makes it difficult to assess what this ligature would be like for the average user. But for me and as far as use with Legere reeds (which are very thin), I would have to say that the ligature is far from ideal The original poster may have had a good experience regarding having a ligature that doesn't strangle the reed (almost impossible to over tighten due to the overall flexibility of the material).
Though it is possible that the deQuelery works well with cane, I cannot recommend it for use with Legeres at all.
.......................Paul Aviles
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: StanD
Date: 2021-09-17 21:43
To quote Ken,
“The Rovner Dark is definitely darker and more "covered". The Rovner Light is bit brighter and sweeter. The Luyben just gives more pop and depth to the sound than either of the Rovners, a bit more dark than the Rovner Light but not as much so as the Rovner Dark. Cleaner articulation and a bit more ummph. The deQuelery is a lot like the Luyben on a touch of steroids. Very clean articulation, more powerful sound than the Luyben. The first time I played it I was a bit blown away with how loud it is. I haven't tried it with a cane reed yet.
Both the Luyben and the deQuelery share one issue for me: I find that it is a bit tricky to remove the mouthpiece to change instruments without the ligature and reed slipping. Not a problem for people who don't have to switch a mouthpiece to different instruments in midstream.”
The quote above has been almost exactly my experience. With the deQuelery lig, after a hiatus of over 30 years I’de gone back to using Luyben ligs. Put the Roveners aside. I’ve long felt that I lacked projection once out of my own bubble and surrounded by bodies and playing in large rehearsal rooms and halls. IMHO the Luybens helped overcome this. The deQuelery arrived this week and I’ll have to spent more time with it but I think (hope) it, might go further. Not talking about loudness- not looking for that but for projection. The “darker” ligs didn't cut it for me in large group (mostly concrete band/wind ensemble) settings. BTW: Using cane reeds.
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: NOLA Ken
Date: 2021-10-15 20:51
I've gotten back to this after our little blow down here.
I have found other problems with this deQuelery ligature. The metal the adjusting screw is made of is soft enough that I managed to strip a couple of threads trying to tighten it on a larger mouthpiece with only a medium amount of pressure. I've never had that happen with a Rovner. Also, the butt end of the screw does not "seat" in the rod like the Rovners do to prevent it turning/spinning during tightening. These seem like engineering flaws that could be corrected.
More serious is that even with some brands of cane reeds and on some mouthpieces the center bump apparently designed to snug against the spine of the reed does not quite do so.
Interestingly, after stripping the couple of threads, I found that after tightening past those stripped threads the deQuelery made a passible press-fit ligature on some clarinet and smaller alto and C-melody sax mouthpieces. When positioned carefully it was both snug and produced a really good clear, strong and resonant sound with both cane and Legere reeds.
Seems like a design with some potential that could do with some re-engineering.
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
The Clarinet Pages
|
 |
.jpg){kind=small}
.jpg){kind=small}
.jpg){kind=small}
.jpg){kind=small}
.jpg){kind=small}
.jpg){kind=small}
