blog-worthy

Sometimes something happens that you just can’t wait to get home and blog about. This is one of those somethings. I’m also sure that about 100% of you reading this will not see it as blog-worthy. History: I am a semi-professional clarinetist making a living teaching private lessons and 2 years ago, I bought a Vandoren Optimum ligature, which is, truly, the optimum ligature. [lig·a·ture :: Pronunciation: 'li-g&-"chur :: Function: noun :: Etymology: Middle English, from Middle French, from Late Latin ligatura, from Latin ligatus, past participle of ligare to bind, tie; akin to Middle Low German lIk band, boltrope, Albanian lidh I tie :: 1 a : something that is used to bind; specifically : a filament (as a thread) b : something that unites or connects] in the case of clarinet playing, it is a device or string used to bind the reed to the mouthpiece…

On to the story: this ligature comes with three interchangeable plates which contact the reed in different ways. I had chosen the plate with two horizontal bars to use as it was most similiar to the ligature I replaced. I’ve been playing on the same face-plate for 2 years and didn’t experiment till today. I now believe in the four little bumps plate. Thank You LORD for the inclusion of the four little bumps plate in the design of this ligature. I now have a much more centered, focused, and pure tone. The only drawback I have found as of yet is a diminished ability to play truly forte, but I’ll trade that for the centered tone and better reed response times anyday.

Now that I’ve totally revealed my clarinutty personality, I bet most of you are wondering… what about the design stuff you’ve typed about recently? Well, I’m taking that on as well. David surprised me with this. I’m going to keep the city secret so nobody can follow me, but hey, it’s a neat thing to get me started on the software that I will probably have by Christmas and I’ll be able to test drive all of it on a G5! -Jen