 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: Baz
Date: 2002-10-09 11:07
We have all heard of mouthpiece insanity, “My God Will I Never Find The Perfect Mouthpiece?” I have been through that and have over the past five years settled down to the inevitable compromise (Vandoren 5JB). I think there is now a new disease in the population of Singlereed country ‘Ligature Insanity’ there are so many ligatures in the clarinet market place now its almost as bad as the M/P insanity, I have had several BG, Vandoren, Rovner etc, I have actually settled down on my very ancient, traditional, metal Buffet – Crampon that I have had for about twenty years, the clarinet sounds perfectly OK and it looks good. Has anybody had the same problem or am I unique? I am not looking for recommendations just peoples experience in this insanity, finally, are we being conned into spending money on an item we do not need to change?
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Author: GBK
Date: 2002-10-09 12:53
"...Has anybody had the same problem or am I unique?..."
This bulletin board is a fairly good representation of the clarinet playing population. Stick around a while, or read the archives - you are not alone.
Ralph Morgan told me that the absolute best ligature is your right thumb.
I am still working on trying to pull that off in concert.
However, somewhere there is rumored to be a pair of conjoined Siamese twins with the most gorgeous sound...GBK
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Author: Hank
Date: 2002-10-09 12:55
Hi Baz,
I've had somewhat of the same revelation recently with tenor sax ligatures. After trying several (Rovner, Bonade, etc.) I find that the best sound and response with my metal Guy Hawkins is from a plain, no rail, stock ligature. In fact, the sound is so different, my wife said from the other room "that sounds really good."
However, on clarinet, I alternate from a modfied Gigliotti (me and my Dremel), a Joue Jolie (a very simple band), a classic Portnoy, and a pretty simple VD. I can't seem to settle on any one for any length of time. I change reeds more often with clarinet and less on tenor; it is harder to find a real player with clarinet. Makes me wonder if the reed/ligature combination should be thought of a a unit rather than as two seprarte entities.
Just some observations.
Hank
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Author: beejay
Date: 2002-10-09 13:15
I do think my Peter Spriggs' Floating Rail lig was worth the money. It's the only one I use. With a decent cap -- I've used a converted Kodak film canister since the original fell apart -- it would be perfect.
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Author: ron b
Date: 2002-10-09 17:09
Observation:
How many fly fishers do you know who are satisfied with their collection of flies and or lures? Many clarinetists, who may (or, may not) be fly fishers, collect ligatures.
Comparison:
All of us are limited only by what we are attracted to and can afford.
Conclusion:
Anglers catch fish. We capture our audience.
...any way we can
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Author: Andreas
Date: 2002-10-09 18:39
I guess it is difficult not to have periods of ligature insanity, but I always end up attaching the reed in the most oldfashioned way, even more ancient than the metal BC - with a string. (I don't know the term in English, in German they say "Schnur") To me it seems to be the most flexible solution! And by far the cheapest..
By the way, in which way do you consider the 5JB the "inevitable compromise"?
A
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Author: Baz
Date: 2002-10-09 21:29
Yea, I used string (twine) on a small clarinet I have called a School Clarinet od Reed Recorder made by Hopf of Germany, it is made of wood, has one key and is only fourteen inches long, it takes Eb reed, the mouthpiece has grooves round it obviously to put a twine ligature on.
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Author: Morrigan
Date: 2002-10-10 01:24
It's Bonade metal all the way for me. Vandoren Optimum almost compared at one stage, but the full spectrum of overtones just wasn't there. I doubt we'll ever find anything better than the good old $2 metal ligature. So embrace it, baby!
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Author: Zane
Date: 2002-10-10 01:30
Hank,
I also alternate between several ligatures, and Gigliotti is one of them. I'm curious -- what kind of adjustments did you make to it with your Dremel? I own a Dremel too
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Author: Hank
Date: 2002-10-10 01:56
Hi Zane,
What I did with the Dremel was to remove the parts of the two ribs that touch the reed except just about the last 1/8 of an inch at each end. I first took a cutting wheel and put notches where I wanted to stop, then changed to a small drum sander and continued to remove the parts of teh ribs between the cuts.
I can't say as I want to be considered an artist with the Dremel but the plan worked. I think the ligature lets the reed respond more freely so I plan to do another ligature or two.
The idea came after acquiring a Portnoy ligature (very hard to find - thanks Bob Gray). That ligature is not exactly like a Bonade because it only has metal contact at the ends of the ribs, nothing is in the center. So figured......
Let me know what happens!
Hank
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Author: JackOrion
Date: 2002-10-10 03:50
Hank, a funny thing mentioning the Portnoy, I clicked this thread with the Portnoy in mind. I have a fondness for my Harrison which is of the same concept as the Portnoy. I'm always impressed when I use my Portnoy, it's a big chunk of metal!! I tend to stick to the Harrison, but what I wanted to say is ligature madness can lead to good things, such as picking up amazing ligatures that get discontinued and become quite rare like the Portnoy, and the original Harrison.
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Author: Sylvain
Date: 2002-10-10 03:54
I have an old VD, a VD optimum, a BG super revelation, a rubber/fabric BG, a fabric rovner, a bonade and at least 3 standard lig from buffet or others. My last purchase was the Olegature.
I really just need one fabric and one metal
Women like shoes, I like ligatures...
-Sylvain
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Author: Melanie
Date: 2002-10-10 06:04
My teacher has a bucket full of ligatures that we go through periodically. They range from the plain metal ligature to ones that cost a fortune to his personal favorite right now, velcro. I personally like my simple metal lig, but I've been known to change my mind.
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Author: Andreas
Date: 2002-10-10 10:07
Baz Wrote:
>Yea, I used string (twine) on a small clarinet I have called a >School Clarinet od Reed Recorder made by Hopf of Germany, it is >made of wood, has one key and is only fourteen inches long, it >takes Eb reed, the mouthpiece has grooves round it obviously to >put a twine ligature on.
I also have one of those, but I am using the twine on a completely
normal vandoren mouthpiece. So the grooves are not really necessary.
A
PS.
I am trying a Vandoren 5JB right now, so I am very curious about what made you chose this MP.
DS.
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Author: Hank
Date: 2002-10-10 12:30
Hi Jack,
I had an email from B. Portnoy awhile back and he said something to the effect that the ligature never really got into production because it was too expensive to produce. I guess with the points of contact with the reed that were only at the ends, a costly hand assembly was the only way to do it. He advised getting a Bonade as it was the same principle (athough is isn't really). His suggestion about the Bonade though was you need the bend the sides of the ligature so that no part of the metal touches the reed.
Yeah, a heavy ligature it is. I don't use mine too much since it is so rare. I recall that the original Harrison has the same bulk.
For others, there was a terrific doctoral dissertation by Shannon Thompson from U. of Texas a few years back on the Philadelphia School of Clarinet Playing. For those that can get it on inter-library loan it is a terrific read.There is a discussion on ligatures, mouthpieces, etc. that all BB members would enjoy; Portnoy's interview comments are terrific. The quote attributed to Morgan about the thumb being the best ligature was actually made by Bonade with respect to trying reeds.
Cheers,
Hank
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Author: D Dow
Date: 2002-10-10 14:07
Still use my Bonade reverse which I have had for 25 years. I also like the Rovner dark too depending on the music!
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Author: TDC
Date: 2002-10-15 22:14
The absolutly best ligature I've found (Here we go!) is a new Rovner "Dark" model into which I glued a quite thin strip of cork about as wide as the reed and extending from end-to-end of the Rovner. I used cork about as thin as the kind under key levers which a repairman gave me.
Glued it in with a drop or two of Duco Household Cement. The only thing touching the reed is the cork strip. The sound is loud, complex, and responsive.
TDC
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