 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: ChuChu
Date: 2013-08-20 01:59
I would say experiment to see what level of tightness will give you the sound the response you prefer. Yeah the tightness does make a difference in how you sound. Every ligature is different so you have to try and see what works the best for you.
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Author: kdk ★2017
Date: 2013-08-20 02:21
Depends on the ligature and on the reed (and on your expectations about response and sound). Experiment. Start with the screws just where they begin to grip and play a few notes. Tighten a little farther and see what happens. If you keep tightening, the response and sound will gradually change.Use the amount of tightness where you most like the result.
Placement of the ligature can also make a difference. There are often two lines (sometimes only one) inscribed on the mouthpiece that are meant to mark the top and bottom boundaries for the ligature. But the reed often responds differently if you set it along the top line from the way it responds when you set the bottom of the ligature along the bottom line (if there is one). Again, you can easily experiment with different placements, and sometimes one reed responds better with the ligature higher and another reed with the ligature lower.
To confuse matters even more, if you use a 2-screw ligature, you may get very different results with the top and bottom screws tightened differently (and as many players will tighten one screw more as the other).
Karl
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Author: Paul Aviles
Date: 2013-08-20 02:42
I spent years really cranking down the ligature with the idea that the actual portion of the reed designed for vibrating would be the only part engaged in this process. Mellowing with age I have allowed for the possibility, albeit remote, that I may have been wrong all these years. I have now taken to only turning the screw until I just barely feel it grab. In this way the entire reed has freedom to add to the resonance of the system.
Two things are apparent with the 'loose' version. Firstly, the sound is more full, with a greater number of upper partials to the sound. And secondly, the sound (or color imposed by the design and or material) of the ligature becomes much less apparent.
To experiment with this I recommend the opposite of the above advice. Start with the ligature firmly affixed in place (without undue stress to the screws, reed or mouthpiece of course). Play for a bit, then loosen as much as possible (without the reed falling to the floor). Now when you play you WILL hear a difference. Which you like better is for your ears to decide.
...............Paul Aviles
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Author: kdk ★2017
Date: 2013-08-20 03:04
This works. The point is there's no objective truth involved here - you can find your own answer by experimenting, and it may well not be the same answer as Paul's (today or years ago) or mine or anyone else's (the truth is, like Paul, I've traveled back and forth over this trail myself over the past few decades). The process is non-destructive, not very time consuming and involves no other equipment than that which you are already using.
Karl
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Author: Ken Shaw ★2017
Date: 2013-08-20 04:34
Tighten the screws snug and then loosen them 1/4 turn. It's worked for me for 50 years.
Ken Shaw
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Author: Ed Palanker
Date: 2013-08-20 16:05
I've always preached making it tight enough to prevent the reed from moving when changing clarinet, if a player has to do that from Bb to A, and to prevent any moisture from getting behind the reed but not so tight as to choke off the vibration of the reed. In other words, snug. tighten until the screw is firm but don't "press it on" beyond that.
A cloth or leather lig can be made tighter than a metal one and not have an adverse effect.
ESP eddiesclarinet.com
Post Edited (2013-08-20 16:07)
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