In part one of this blog post on “the differences a ligature can make” I talked about the difference a ligature can make to a saxophone player from his or her perspective.\u00a0 (For those of you who don’t know,\u00a0 the ligature is the device that holds the saxophone reed to the mouthpiece)\u00a0 How it can affect different aspects of the sound, attack and response of the saxophone.\u00a0 In this article I’m going to try approaching the subject from the other side………….the listener.\u00a0 What kind of difference can a listener detect when using different ligatures.\u00a0 Is it obvious to the whole audience when Joshua Redman uses a different ligature.\u00a0\u00a0 If, when Brecker was alive, he used a rovner ligature instead of his trusted Selmer 404 would people have gotten up and walked out of his concerts………………..I doubt that very much.\u00a0 But the question always arises……..can a difference be heard when a different ligature is used?<\/p>\n
For this test I’m going to play on a\u00a0 Meyer alto saxophone mouthpiece with a Vandoren Java #3 reed.\u00a0 I’m going to play the exact same thing using 7 different ligatures.\u00a0 In between clips,\u00a0 I will change ligature while holding the reed firmly to the mouthpiece to make sure it doesn’t move at all.\u00a0 I will slide the new ligature on and play the same phrase again.\u00a0 The phrase I’m playing is just a simple G major scale pattern in thirds.\u00a0 I make sure to go up high and down to the low end.\u00a0 I also tongue some staccato notes in the middle so you can hear how the ligatures might affect the articulation. I’m trying my hardest to play the line the same every time.<\/p>\n
Listen to the 7 clips below (headphones would be ideal) and see if you can hear any differences.\u00a0 The reed, mouthpiece, saxophone and player are all the same.\u00a0 The only thing that is changing from clip to clip is the ligature.\u00a0 They are recorded at 320kbps mp3 as that was the best quality I could get.\u00a0 Let me know what you think in the comments section as I am very interested in what your opinions are………………Thanks,\u00a0\u00a0 Steve<\/p>\n