Author: WhitePlainsDave
Date: 2015-01-29 21:47
AClarinet:
When you report that you experienced a particular effect, good or bad, using a ligature that is broken, particularly when in a specific state of disrepair whose particulars are not known to me, I'm hesitant, in the interest of accurate reporting, to arrive at any conclusions.
That said, before I share what findings I have , let me explore my preferences and biases.
I play a Bondade inverted ligature. I am the first person to question the effects and benefits that one competant ligature has over another, but am open to the idea that other players report drastic differences among ligatures.
That said, there is one area in which I do believe ligatures make a difference, metal ones at that, and it is with projection, or perhaps more to point, being heard by an audience.
Though I have never tried it, I would like to point out one possible exception, and that's the Silverstein ligature. Several people on the board whose opinions I respect, talk of the Silverstein, which most would consider to be in the family of string based ligatures, to otherwise play like a metal one: good, bad or indifferent. This may have something to due with the special cord used, which is highly resistant (by design) to stretch when expansion force is applied to it (i.e. tightening the ligature.)
We have debated on the board what it is, aside from sheer decibels, that gets a clarinetist to be heard even in the "cheap seats," in the back of auditorium/theater. Some in the know have suggested that we are attracted as people by the harmonics that accompany a base tone. Harmonics after all are what make the same note on the piano sound different when a clarinetist plays it, than, say, a flutist. Perhaps metal ligatures help with the creation of such harmonics, which by the way is to in no way shape or form discount other ligature types, or the myriad of other factors, both setup and human related that give us our sound.
"But they said that only when I was playing in the A clarinet because I have played Mozart's Quintet and I'm playing Nielsen's concerto."
AClarinet: I think you are saying here that the relevant factor to why you may have sounded darker to your teacher and dad is attributable to the "A" clarinet, not the 2 particular musical pieces you site. You can let me know if I got that wrong. I do admit confusion as your subject title refers to the name of a composer you reference, as well as a ligature.
I tend to play darker on my "A" as well--as compared to my "Bb."
But as alluded to by prior posters, dark and bright are relative and subjective terms, even if we could possibly agree on which was more desired, which we don't.
What do YOU think? What do you want? And do you want a brighter sound, or is the real means to your end one where you desire to be heard better?
Final 2 points. First: In some recent posts, people have expressed concern over the quality of some of the Bonade ligatures they've purchased new.
Second: my best advice. Find a clarinetist whose sound you like. Try making adjustments to sound more like them. Try double lip embouchure to see, if nothing else, what it does to your sound.
You'll pardon the Wizard of Oz reference, but the sound you want, not different from the Tin Man's heart, is something that may lie mostly within you, that you just need to learn how to tap by experiment with embouchure, breath, etc.
Post Edited (2015-01-29 21:49)
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The Clarinet BBoard
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