 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: Victor
Date: 2001-12-01 06:00
I've read the past threads on string ligatures. I have a question. Must German grooved mouthpieces be used for maximum effect, or would any old mouthpiece work fine? I understand that these grooves serve to facilitate the tying process, but must one have them to achieve the desired results?
Also, people seem like prefer round instead of flat strings. Still, what material/function? For example, dress shoes vs sports shoes (or am I just being very picky for no reason)?
Lastly, how long are people's strings? Do you use the entire length?
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Author: werner
Date: 2001-12-01 20:52
My 5 cent:
The grooves are not necessary.
What you get in a German music shop
as a string ligature is:
Black, round, Cotton, not elastic, rough surface,
diameter about 1/16 inch, length about 60 inches.
I am using the entire length.
Have fun
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Author: donald nicholls
Date: 2001-12-02 19:01
on a French mouthpiece you "wrap" the string, but don't try to make it too tight while you're winding it (apart from anything else, this tends to make the reed go "wonky"). then when you're finished, you tuck the last bit of string under the last loop you've made..... then to tighten the ligature slightly you "pull the ligature (wrapped string) down the mouthpiece". If you need to adjust your reed, you just push the ligature "up", move the reed, then pull the ligature "down" again. To actually change a reed you generally need to do a complete "re-wrap". For trying out and working on reeds it's useful/practical to have a "real" ligature hanging around!
yesterday afternoon, in fact, i had a friend play on about 6 ligatures while i listened- and what i noticed was that the difference in sound is much less than i expected. I think that as a player the "feel" and the "sound" interact and inter-relate, so the "feel" will have an effect on how you sound and play in addition to the small change in tone quality.... i have to say that two rather expensive ligatures on the market (both widely used) sounded (on this day, with this player and to my ear) WORSE than the piece of string. And the $14 Bonade with screws under sounded better than the more expensive ones too....
in the end my friend sounded pretty good on all of them, and this was because of practise, not the ligature. hmmmmmmm
donald
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Author: Joseph Dinwiddie
Date: 2001-12-02 20:58
I use a ligature made out of velcro, because it works to free up the reed very well.
Not easy to find velcro with the right ends though.
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Author: Arnold the basset hornist
Date: 2001-12-03 07:34
Well, a word to 'materials'
beside those string ligatures available at music stores (in Germany), I use 'satteen twine' (Atlaskordel), 2 mm diameter, lenth approx. 1.5 meter, made of 60 % cotton and 40 % viscose, too (not the 100 % cotton, which is also available). I never tried round shoe laces (nor the different materials), but once I heard an instrument maker talking about the string ligatures he sells: "I allways order one roll from a shoelace manufacturer, and then I cut the pieces I need from this." He didn't talk about the material.
Arnold (the basset hornist)
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Author: Katfish
Date: 2001-12-03 18:18
Victor: I'm no expert, but here is what works for me. 3/8inch wide and 27 inch long round shoe lace. Wrap 7 times, loop the last wrap under , pull to tighten, then adjust the reed.
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