Author: kdk ★2017
Date: 2009-10-17 15:46
Several answers have suggested that this is an individual choice - but I don't think anyone said the obvious, that as an individual you choose according to the result you hear in your own playing. Never mind what either teacher tells you, since obviously both think they're right (and may well be, depending on their reasons). How does tightening the screws affect the sound when you play? Not only is there variation in how tight to make the ligature, but also in how tight to make each screw (in a two-screw ligature like the Bonade). It may even be that it all changes with your reed. The final judges have to be your ears. If changing the screw tightness makes an audible difference, go for the better sound.
Sometimes advice is good but the reasons for it aren't obvious. For example, an orchestral player playing a Mahler symphony has to make many changes of instrument, sometimes very quick ones, through the course of the piece. A loose ligature can make this a nightmare. On the other hand, a band clarinet player (or the band director) doesn't have that concern. One ligature in particular, the Gigliotti ligature, uses screws that, either because of their design or the synthetic material they're made of, can actually shear off if you over-tighten them (David wasn't being quite so flighty as he may have thought, or maybe had these in mind). It's a good sounding ligature, but the screws have to be tightened more carefully (with a lighter touch) than on any other ligature I've used.
There are the mental pictures players conjure up in their imaginations of reeds vibrating freely for their whole length (loose screws) or vibrating more intensely and efficiently because they're firmly anchored and not wasting energy flapping against the table (tight screws) but the bottom line is the sound that's produced.
Karl
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The Clarinet BBoard
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