It’s the new year and lots of us are looking for a way to reinvigorate our sound and our playing. Experimenting with a new ligature can be a great way to do this but I’m often asked just how much difference a ligature can actually make to the sound.
Firstly I would say that if you take the combination of mouthpiece, reed and ligature, the ligature has the least impact on the sound – but that’s only because the mouthpiece and reed are so important.
Your choice of ligature can definitely make a difference to your sound, but more importantly, it can have a big effect on how you feel about your sound and the response of your instrument.
And this is very important because it brings in that often-overlooked element of confidence. If you believe something is going to sound a certain way then it will!
Different ligatures change the resistance you feel when you play or can give you more confidence with altissimo. They can also make articulation easier or harder.
How you feel about your sound and the response of your instrument makes a big difference to how you play, so for this reason, a ligature is really important.
At sax.co.uk we see the whole spectrum of ligature designs come through the shop from standard metal bands, to string ligatures, leather or cloth designs and more complicated, engineered ligs like the Francois Louis Ultimate ( my personal ligature). It’s a good idea to try a variety of ligatures to find which suits your idea of sound and makes you most comfortable.
They can range massively in price too from less than £10 to over £100 depending on the complexity of the design.
One final thought, is that updating your ligature can be a relatively inexpensive way to update your sound and setup. And, if it makes you feel even better about your sound and playing than a new ligature is a great investment.
Watch the full ligature comparison on the sax.co.uk blog
More info: http://www.sax.co.uk/offers-featured-offers-featured-ligatures.irc
About the author:
Jim Cheek was classcally trained on oboe but saw the light and switched to sax. He is an active performer and is currently working on writing and recording his first album… and he’s the director of Sax.co.uk in Sussex – the worlds biggest sax store!