Author: Paul Aviles
Date: 2022-06-15 20:40
Thank you SOOOO much for the question! I had at least three times that amount of verbage to say about the carbon fiber ligatures but there was already enough to keep most of you from reading it already.
If you follow my epiphanies, the last one WAS indeed with plastic ligatures starting with the Luyben. It appears that similarly light yet "firm" materials made a good transmitter for the Legere's natural vibrations. The last "plastic" ligature I was quite pleased with (more so than the Luyben) was the Vientos Vintage Cristaline. That one is a solid ring much like the Avis that also has the Bonade style rails on the interior.
The Carbon Fiber ligatures are like those synthetic ligatures.....ON STEROIDS! Here I must quote the Carbonissimo literature on their product:
"Carbon Fiber has a lower density (1.6 g/cm3) than Brass (8.6 g/cm3), Copper ( 8.9 g/cm3), Silver (10.5 g/cm3) and Gold (19.3 g/cm3) and generates less resonance due to its low resistance to air." [I think they meant MORE resonance, or LESS resistance]
That reads like many highly euphemistic (and unattached from reality) descriptions manufacturers use to sell various products such as mouthpieces and ligatures. However, this time I think the description is spot on. The material is less dense AND rigid, so it is either transferring the energy of the plastic reed with much less loss, OR it is magnifying that energy. One may be quick to say a material such as string is also far less dense than any of those other materials listed, however string has a damping effect and is not well suited to get a cane like sound from Legere.
.................Paul Aviles
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The Clarinet BBoard
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