 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: jim sclater
Date: 2026-01-15 07:20
Weekly visits to the grocery store have caused me to be no stranger to sticker shock. However, when I opened a "sale" advertisement from a prominent online music store recently, I saw a certain brand of clarinet ligatures offered with prices ranging from $185 all the way to $446.
My question is this - can any of you HEAR or FEEL a difference in something like this when compared to less expensive gear? Does using gold plating really do anything positive for the sound of a ligature? There are so many variables in this process I just can't see how someone can get that much benefit from something like this. I would love to hear your opinions.
jsclater@comcast.net
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Author: Tom H
Date: 2026-01-15 09:33
I tried quite a few ligatures back in the '70s, including string. I never noticed any real difference. My first Buffet ($250, 1971) probably cost less than what you mention for a ligature.
The Most Advanced Clarinet Book-- Sheet Music Plus item A0.1001315, Musicnotes product no. MB0000649.
Boreal Ballad for unaccompanied clarinet-Sheet Music Plus item A0.1001314.
Musicnotes product no. MNO287475
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Author: David H. Kinder
Date: 2026-01-15 10:37
The ligature is the least important, unless it's the primary constraint... then it's the biggest problem to solve. I felt that for a while until I got my Vandoren Optimum.
Some of this may be in creating products that are more aspirational than functional, especially when they have artist endorsements.
How many videos have you seen about clarinet equipment on YouTube that constantly equates more expensive = better? I think there's too many to count.
Take the Vandoren Carbon ligature - currently priced around $650. I know Julian Bliss plays it and I'm sure Martin Frost plays on it as well. There are others, but is it worth $650? I'm not convinced... but I am curious about it. I'm about 50 miles from the Vandoren LA studio, so I might give it a shot one day. I'm also curious to try the Silverstein Cryo4 ligature, the Vandoren leather, and Vandoren Klassik - primarily for curiosity, not that I feel the need for a change. Brad Behn also has a new 'screw' ligature that I'm also curious about.
I did a video that I'm writing an academic paper on for behavioral financial analysis regarding clarinet equipment reaffirming identity and artistry. Sometimes it's what the equipment represents that makes the difference not just what it is on its own.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WoJ6AH3SOmc
Ridenour AureA Bb clarinet
Ridenour Homage mouthpiece
Vandoren Optimum Silver ligature (plate 1)
Vandoren Traditional #5 reeds
ATG System and Cordier Reed Trimmer
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Author: clarnibass
Date: 2026-01-15 20:10
>> I would love to hear your opinions. <<
Would you be able to if they are gold plated...?
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Author: Paul Aviles
Date: 2026-01-15 20:35
My opinions have changed quite a bit more recently. However, if you are asking if there are differences amongst ligatures in terms of sound irregardless of price the answer is yes.
It appears to me that the best contact (even pressure toward the top and bottom of the reed's bark along the sides) seems to yield the best results MOSTLY without much if any difference to the material (material is a big change for me lately). So, oddly the standard, old fashioned, two screw ligature that closes OVER the reed (non-inverted) is one of the best performers of all (Stanley Drucker was on to something!!!!). Beyond that, those that bind similarly (even some of the weird and expensive ones) can be pretty good. One thing to try, if you have a Rovner Dark (not a particularly good ligature in my opinion), would be to flip it around (screw on the left and closing over the reed). This configuration is actually pretty amazing!! You can just flip the rods to make it a permanent change......if you like it.
CAVEAT
The bottom line though why we DO NOT agree about much on this front is that the combination of the REED and the BARREL and the MOUTHPIECE make for a complete picture in terms of response and resonance. There is a group of ligatures I use as a "GO TO" but depending on the reed/mouthpiece/barrel the top on the list can change pretty dramatically.
I use plastic reeds (Legere) so I don't have the variability issues that exist with cane.
.............Paul Aviles
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Author: kilo
Date: 2026-01-15 22:53
I really don't object to professional clarinetists using particular products and endorsing them. And if a company has developed a new accessory and wants to get good publicity by offering the product to a professional who agrees to use it, well, those sorts of arrangements are understandable from a business perspective, on both sides.
Occasionally you'll see an artist using a different product after having already been featured as some "name-brand" player. (I remember when it seemed that all the big sax players were endorsing Keilwerths, which I'm sure are good horns but you don't hear that much about them anymore – correct me if I'm wrong, as I don't get out that much). But you never see any pros or manufacturers disassociating themselves from their previous endorsements!
I just wish equipment upgrades weren't so commonly seen by developing players as the key to improvement. So much good clarinet music has been made by people playing well-made two-screw metal ligatures with orange box Rico reeds.
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Author: m1964
Date: 2026-01-17 08:32
David H. Kinder wrote:
"...Take the Vandoren Carbon ligature - currently priced around $650. I know Julian Bliss plays it and I'm sure Martin Frost plays on it as well. There are others, but is it worth $650? I'm not convinced..."
Since they are Vandoren Artists, they probably did not pay for those ligatures.
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Author: David H. Kinder
Date: 2026-01-17 08:48
m1964 wrote:
> David H. Kinder wrote:
>
> "...Take the Vandoren Carbon ligature - currently priced around
> $650. I know Julian Bliss plays it and I'm sure Martin Frost
> plays on it as well. There are others, but is it worth $650?
> I'm not convinced..."
>
> Since they are Vandoren Artists, they probably did not pay for
> those ligatures.
Michael Lowenstern talks about his brand endorsements, including Vandoren. It's not an unlimited free supply of stuff, but certainly a decent supply of reeds. I'd reasonably assume a nice discount on the ligature, but not free.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XzJIxZJKyPk
Ridenour AureA Bb clarinet
Ridenour Homage mouthpiece
Vandoren Optimum Silver ligature (plate 1)
Vandoren Traditional #5 reeds
ATG System and Cordier Reed Trimmer
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Author: m1964
Date: 2026-01-18 04:42
David H. Kinder wrote:
> Michael Lowenstern talks about his brand endorsements,
> including Vandoren. It's not an unlimited free supply of stuff,
> but certainly a decent supply of reeds. I'd reasonably assume a
> nice discount on the ligature, but not free.
>
> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XzJIxZJKyPk
>
As I understand it, each artist has an individual agreement with the vendor. Certain equipment may be available to play at no cost but would need to be returned eventually. Smaller items, such as ligatures, may sometimes be provided for free, but instruments themselves are unlikely to be given away. That’s my understanding.
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Author: JTJC
Date: 2026-01-18 13:57
Instruments may not be free, but I'd guess they get to pick at the factory, perhaps from the pre-selected best of a month's production. They can then have any adustments they feel necessary to keywork, finish, intonation etc. done by the top designers/makers in face-to-face discussion. I'm sure the best instrumenrs are set aside by the testers. Also, servicing of their instruments is probably free.
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Author: clarinet in the rockies
Date: 2026-01-19 19:01
My testing of ligatures reveals several things. Yes, they do matter. Some ligatures limit the reverberation of the reed and the sound is smaller and less resonant as a result. Most modern metal ligatures (like the Bonade, Vandoren M/O or Optimum), leather ligatures, and fabric ligatures (Rovner) fall in this camp. Leather and fabric are great for chamber music because they darken the sound, but I would never use them in a bigger hall. They restrict the sound too much. Vintage, unplated nickel silver ligatures are much more resonant. Good ones are Bettoney, Boosey & Hawks (BH), Kaspar, and the Buffet with the metal resonator plate. The gold standard is the Bonade inverted ligature stamped "patented," not "patent pending" like the modern ones. Regrettably, these ligatures cost a small fortune ranging from $800-$1500 and are very hard to find. These ligatures are much more resonant and hold the core to the sound unlike anything I've played. As for modern ligatures, The Silverstein Hexa is the best followed closely by Zac (gold on gold) and JLV (platinum or gold). They are considerably better than modern inverted Bonades, M/O, Optimum, and the like because those are now made from plated brass. This material does not resonate as well as nickel silver. Ultimately, the ligature brand and design matter more than the finish material. Gold is warmer than silver which is brighter. Wood is darker. These are minor differences between ligatures of the same brand. I would note the Titanium version of the Hexa adds more core to the sound and does not color the sound the way other metal finishes of that ligature do.
Music expresses that which cannot be said and on which it is impossible to be silent. Victor Hugo
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Author: SecondTry
Date: 2026-01-19 20:43
David H. Kinder wrote:
> The ligature is the least important, unless it's the primary
> constraint...
I'd argue that a ligature that simply does its job, which is to hold the reed firmly on the mouthpiece at its base and allow the tip to vibrate...
...which I contend that 99.9% of all ligatures, barring those that are defective can do, would remove it as the primary constraint.
But sure, a ligature *could,* defective enough, be the primary obstacle to play, just not the most likely culprit.
> then it's the biggest problem to solve.
I don't mean to split hairs. You're correct in that your #1 problem could be a defective ligature and therefore your biggest problem to solve, but big does not connote hard. You acquire a no name operational ligature and it no longer is an issue.
> I felt (for a while that the ligature is the least important constraint) until I
> got my Vandoren Optimum.
Discloser: I too play a Vandoren ligature, only the M/O rather than the Optimum. But my attraction to it arose from its double thread design (also part of the Optimum) that facilitates its faster tightening and loosening than with ligatures that don't have this. This comes in handy when working on reeds where the cycle of adjustment and play is repetitive.
By analogy, for those of you familiar with a turnbuckle https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Turnbuckle you appreciate that at one (but not both) of its ends the screw threads are reverse threaded like on these two ligatures. As such, pointing your right thumb at the side with standard ("righty tighty") threads and wrapping your fingers around represents the direction in which turning the turnbuckle will draw in those objects attached to its ends as a product of both ends being pulled to the device's center.
But my ligature choice was based more on this convenience than its performance once attached. For me, provided it functional, the ligature will always be the least important constraint.
I submit this should probably be the case for most players, which does not imply that the device make no difference, especially for the most discerning artist, just the least difference.
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Author: SecondTry
Date: 2026-01-19 21:02
kilo wrote:
> I really don't object to professional clarinetists using
> particular products and endorsing them.
Neither would I provided the endorsing agreement's terms were made public, which they never are.
While I completely believe, in fairness, that no artist would play junk pretty much no matter how, and how much they were compensated by a manufacturer, disclosure of such financial endorsement terms (or the absence of same: thank you Ridenour Clarinet Products) might allow the consumer to better tease out how much of the motivation of the artist to play said equipment came from its worthiness and how much came from how much their pockets were lined.
I am convinced that for each aspect of clarinet play there are many decent and comparable products that by the very nature of artists switching among them represents far more how they are compensated than how much the product's worthiness will translate into improved play on their, let alone our parts. Add to this the increase price of said items as those endorsement fees need to come from sales.
Of course kilo, in fairness to your point, if players realize this (and they should) then the market is transparent despite endorsement deals not being so. Sadly, too many players, many who even realize this, don't behave like their do and spend; odd if you think about it. It actually has a name Gear Acquisition Syndrome.
If I were currently teaching my mantra would be "the next time you think of buying a piece of gear, spend the time instead in an etude book you already own." 
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Author: SecondTry
Date: 2026-01-19 21:25
clarinet in the rockies wrote:
> Yes, they do matter.
I agree, even for the reasons you say. I too am apt to get less horsepower out of reed held on by a ligature whose materials have move give: itself neither a good or bad thing but one in which the nature of what's being played (e.g. your chamber music example) provide advantage or disadvantage in use.
And yet, as a predominately cane player, like many of you I've been indoctrinated with the idea of "just make it work." This teaching philosophy wasn't born out of tolerance for the unacceptable, but rather realization that the every changing reed wasn't perfect even when at its best, nor many aspects of clarinet play including intonation.
And since reeds can vary more than ligatures, I don't know if this fact should motivate my expenditure on a pricey ligature or how much I'm willing to pay, or suggest that I put my time and money elsewhere.
...Questions for the ages that are no doubt player specific....here's another:
have players become much better today than the top ones of say, the 1960s and 70s, let alone commensurate with the advances in gear? If not, why not?
Post Edited (2026-01-19 21:26)
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Author: David H. Kinder
Date: 2026-01-20 03:13
Fear of Missing Out (FOMO) and with how finicky the clarinet is, knowing that one little change can make a difference everywhere else on the instrument, it can fuel both insecurity and a constantly evolving search for more, better, and just different.
For me, I'm curious about other equipment, but I'm very happy with what I have.
This psychology does show up in other areas of life and business. In MLM, they call them "MLM junkies" because they join everything just to see if the grass is greener.
In financial services, I know there is a plethora of software companies charging thousands per year claiming to solve everything for these reps. And many jump from one, to the next, to the next... I think it's a real issue.
Curiousity is healthy. Obsession will drain one's bank account rather quickly if one develops 'hoarding' tendencies. Of course the difference between a collector and a hoarder is the condition, care, and organization of the items in question...
Ridenour AureA Bb clarinet
Ridenour Homage mouthpiece
Vandoren Optimum Silver ligature (plate 1)
Vandoren Traditional #5 reeds
ATG System and Cordier Reed Trimmer
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