Piotr: The cap is made for manufacturing ease, not for users--like many, many products. In singling out the Rovner I was trying to point to a product that meets all practical criteria while providing the subjective qualities of darkness and tonal warmth most classical players find appealing. These basic, quantifiable criteria are, obviously, not the sole deciding factors. I believe, however, they should always be considered in any potential purchase. Excellent comments. Thanks!
I'm a fan of the Rovner. I own one for clarinet and alto sax. I totally agree with what you say about the cap, misses the mark! I do however prefer the Vandoren Optimum ligature for most of my playing. While I love the conformity of the Rovner and the dark tone, I find the Optimum to give a much clearer, purer sound with a lot more projection, which I need for the more acrobatic playing I do. Rovner gets the sweet ballad and symphony stuff, Vandoren gets Charlie Parker and Stravinsky.
I use the old school 2- screw metal ligature. Tried the others over 30yrs as each new fad came along but never experienced the benefit. The 2-screw allows for a slight adjustment to the seating of the reed even in mid performance (if you are sensitive to it). Anyway, if it's good enough for Benny Goodman.......
Isn't a ligature cap with no ventilation areas an encouragement for bacteria and/or fungus? For me, and many other slobs, removing the reed and wiping all the moisture off the reed and mouthpiece in not the answer. If i practise for an hour, do something else for a couple of hours, and return for another hour's practice, I want to pick up clarinet and play immediately. Note for grammar nerds: UK English: noun is practice; verb practise. In US English the noun and verb are spelled the same but I can never remember if the penultimate letter is s or c.
If you pause for a while , why not remove the reed and yes. The mouthpiece needs to aire out. Hence , that slit or holes on top. But I don’t think Rovner makes the cap with holes anymore
Hey Tom, I'm currently using the GF-System ligature for many years and I'm quite happy with it, what do you think of it? Does it suit all of your criteria? Do you think the Rovner one is still better?
@Blizzard4242 I don't know the ligature. I laid out the criteria not as a standard for pleasing me but as a reasonable standard that I think all ligatures should meet--the rest is for you to consider.
Sorry Tom but you forgot the most important thing about ligatures and that is that it should be test last on one's setup and should encourage(my English is not perfect) the quality of a good mouthpiece. A bad ligature can make a great mouthpiece to be not so great.
The one thing that did not come off was the text for the first King Kong still. He is saying "Hey, baby, that's a pretty hot looking durable ligature you've got there." There goes my academy award for special effects. Dang!
I understand you have been playing way longer than I have... but I am a music education major and have been for four years... I have to disagree with your opinion on metal ligatures. I can not stand rubber ligatures that are flexible, why? Because the darn thing slides everywhere... I have even twisted the blasted thing all the way around and the reed/ligature still moves around. It just doesn't feel like those ligatures don't do the job right... I would recommend getting a Fortissimo ligature.
Tom is 100 per cent right on the clarinet ligature.Quite a clarinet genius,no question.
I'm quite fond of my Harrison (that I got from Mr. Harrison himself !). I switch back and forth between several - depends on the reed-
Piotr:
The cap is made for manufacturing ease, not for users--like many, many products. In singling out the Rovner I was trying to point to a product that meets all practical criteria while providing the subjective qualities of darkness and tonal warmth most classical players find appealing. These basic, quantifiable criteria are, obviously, not the sole deciding factors. I believe, however, they should always be considered in any potential purchase. Excellent comments. Thanks!
good points here ! I've accumulated many ligs over the past 45 years or so
Thank you for taking the time for putting this video.
I'm going to buy the rovner dark in two weeks! Because my mom has my money right now.
I'm a fan of the Rovner. I own one for clarinet and alto sax.
I totally agree with what you say about the cap, misses the mark!
I do however prefer the Vandoren Optimum ligature for most of my playing. While I love the conformity of the Rovner and the dark tone, I find the Optimum to give a much clearer, purer sound with a lot more projection, which I need for the more acrobatic playing I do.
Rovner gets the sweet ballad and symphony stuff, Vandoren gets Charlie Parker and Stravinsky.
Ahh!! I always wondered why you had that orange tape on the cap. Haha, the red cap joke was a good one!
rovner are certainly durable! I have one I still use after 34 years after buying it.
I use the old school 2- screw metal ligature. Tried the others over 30yrs as each new fad came along but never experienced the benefit. The 2-screw allows for a slight adjustment to the seating of the reed even in mid performance (if you are sensitive to it). Anyway, if it's good enough for Benny Goodman.......
I like the luyben ligature. It doesn't make the tone brighter or darker, it's neutral.
Isn't a ligature cap with no ventilation areas an encouragement for bacteria and/or fungus? For me, and many other slobs, removing the reed and wiping all the moisture off the reed and mouthpiece in not the answer. If i practise for an hour, do something else for a couple of hours, and return for another hour's practice, I want to pick up clarinet and play immediately.
Note for grammar nerds: UK English: noun is practice; verb practise. In US English the noun and verb are spelled the same but I can never remember if the penultimate letter is s or c.
If you pause for a while , why not remove the reed and yes. The mouthpiece needs to aire out. Hence , that slit or holes on top. But I don’t think Rovner makes the cap with holes anymore
Have you tried Rovner's "Van Gogh" ligature? Like the dark, but it is meant to cover the entire butt of the reed. I do like it!
Hey Tom, I'm currently using the GF-System ligature for many years and I'm quite happy with it, what do you think of it? Does it suit all of your criteria? Do you think the Rovner one is still better?
@Blizzard4242 I don't know the ligature. I laid out the criteria not as a standard for pleasing me but as a reasonable standard that I think all ligatures should meet--the rest is for you to consider.
Sorry Tom but you forgot the most important thing about ligatures and that is that it should be test last on one's setup and should encourage(my English is not perfect) the quality of a good mouthpiece. A bad ligature can make a great mouthpiece to be not so great.
I have a singal scrue ligature for my saxophone and my reed still seems to be loose i have one the has two scruse in the front of the mouth piece
Vandoren Master Optimum gold plated #1
Yes. I like that very much so. But it slides off easily when I have have switch the MthPiece or remove it to swab during a quick rest period. 🤔
thank you so much
The one thing that did not come off was the text for the first King Kong still. He is saying "Hey, baby, that's a pretty hot looking durable ligature you've got there."
There goes my academy award for special effects. Dang!
Hello, I use a BG super revelation and a BG DUO ligature. I like them better than the rovner, but do you think I should reconsider?
what kind of rovner ligature you recomend? ther are platinum, lether...
And if you can, say model?
Try the string ligature
I understand you have been playing way longer than I have... but I am a music education major and have been for four years... I have to disagree with your opinion on metal ligatures. I can not stand rubber ligatures that are flexible, why? Because the darn thing slides everywhere... I have even twisted the blasted thing all the way around and the reed/ligature still moves around. It just doesn't feel like those ligatures don't do the job right... I would recommend getting a Fortissimo ligature.
This sounds like you have the wrong size ligature...too big.