The mouthpiece of a single reed instrument is one of the most important things influencing the quality of the sound. The ligature is part of the mouthpiece setup, so it makes sense that it would have some effect on the sound, but how big is this effect? Is it worth investing in a nice ligature, which can, in some cases be close to the cost of a mouthpiece, or is it not worth the money?
The most important thing when choosing a ligature is that it fits well. If it doesn’t, the sound quality will definitely be affected. The ligature needs to hold the reed firmly in place and assuming it does this, there should be little to no difference in the sound quality between ligatures, although this is debated.
Ligatures come in lots of different forms. There are different materials that can be used to make, different sizes for different shapes of mouthpiece and different fastenings. Their only function, however, is to hold the reed in place, so how much difference can they really make? I’ll be testing a few different ones and seeing whether there is any obvious difference in sound quality.
The ligatures I will test are:
- Rovner faux leather ligature
- Yamaha standard metal ligature
- Francois Louis ligature
I will test all of the ligatures on the same mouthpiece and reed, to make sure it’s a fair comparison. I’ll be using a Selmer soloist E, for alto saxophone with a standard blue vandoren strength 3 reed. This is a pretty standard setup so will hopefully give a fairly unbiased review. I’ll start with the Rovner ligature.
What is the Rovner ligature like?
A Rovner ligature is designed to be as flat to the reed as possible. It is secured with a single screw on the top of the mouthpiece, away from the reed itself. This means there are no pressure points on the reed, which reduces the stiffness of the reed and allows it to vibrate more freely. It is believed that this could lead to a more even tone and accurate intonation. These ligatures can be made of metal or faux leather – I will be testing the faux leather Rovner dark ligature, retailing at £29.99: https://www.rovnerproducts.com/dark-ligature.
This ligature is quite reasonably priced and comes in a variety of sizes to suit your mouthpiece. It’s not a particularly great looking ligature but it’s functional and seems well made. The fastening being on the top means that the reed is held with no pressure points. However, you have to tighten the ligature quite a lot to make sure the reed is secured in position. Normally, you would expect to keep the screws fairly loose on a ligature but this one requires a bit more tightening.
Sound wise, the setup was quite nice. I had chosen a reed previously using the ligature I normally play on and was happy with its quality. I found the ligature gave quite a lot of flexibility to the reed, which meant that the setup was a bit brighter than you would usually expect from a standard blue vandoren reed. This is not necessarily a problem, and might suit some players, depending on their preferred playing style.
Overall, the ligature didn’t give me any significant problems. I was happy with the sound I produced with the setup and I could get the reed secured in place, even though the screw needed to be tighter than I would have expected. It was a bit more difficult to get the reed exactly in the right position and then tighten the mouthpiece without it slipping, but I’m sure this would come quickly with a bit of practice.
What is the Yamaha standard metal ligature like?
The next ligature I tried was a standard metal Yamaha, retailing at just £11.95: https://www.dawkes.co.uk/yamaha-alto-sax-ligature-lacquer-saxophone-ligatures-and-caps/2672. This was a metal ligature with a two screw fastening on the reed size of the mouthpiece. This is probably the most basic style of ligature and therefore it’s often the cheapest you will find. I wanted to find out if this made any significant difference to the sound quality.
The first thing I noticed was that the reed was held in place much more firmly than with the Rovner ligature. The two screws did not need to be tightened too much to keep the reed securely in place. This was possibly to do with the material – metal rather than faux leather – as it had less flexibility and therefore the reed was more secure.
This ligature does seem a bit prone to bending. Its shape is such that if it doesn’t fit the shape of the mouthpiece particularly well, it will be tight at the top but not at the bottom, or vice versa. This can lead to strain on the ligature itself, and may end up leading to damage. Assuming that the ligature fits well though, this shouldn’t be a huge issue.
In terms of sound, I could actually hear very little difference. The main thing I noticed was that the reed was held more firmly, which gave it less flexibility. This didn’t really affect the sound itself, but it did have some effect on the type of playing the setup seemed to be suited for. The reed being held more firmly meant it gave a more restrained tone – more suited to a classical playing style than the Rovner.
What is the Francois Louis ligature like?
The final ligature I tried is the Francois Louis Ultimate ligature, retailing at £84: https://www.sax.co.uk/francois-louis-ultimate-ligature-gold-plated-alto-runyon-quantum-delrin-and-metal.ir?gclid=CjwKCAiAr6-ABhAfEiwADO4sfZwJ9stllDqAM325UU2zcQp2PTCzXpQJ1GyhXlgOLsCG__LCo3e32RoCY48QAvD_BwE. This is by far the most expensive of the ligatures I have tried. It’s made of delrin and metal and is gold plated.
The question here is whether this ligature is really worth the money. It is secured by a single screw which tightens a metal plate over the reed. In theory, this should have a similar effect to the Rovner ligature, in that there will be no pressure points on the reed. However, this ligature being metal means that it may be able to hold the reed more securely than the Rovner ligature.
When I tried the ligature, I found that it was easy to fit onto the mouthpiece and secured the reed in place well. It was possible to keep the ligature not overly tight, but also stop the reed from moving. The overall look of the ligature is great and definitely improves the appearance of the setup, although this is only a cosmetic things and shouldn’t have a big impact on your decision.
Sound wise, when I tried playing the setup, I found the sound to be a bit closer to the sound from the Rovner ligature. The metal plate holding the reed in place gives a similar level of flexibility to the Rovner, although the reed also feels more secure in this case. The metal rather than faux leather also seems to give the tone a slightly darker quality, but this is not a particularly noticeable difference.
Which ligature is the best?
Of the three ligatures I tried, I would say that the Francois Louis made the best setup overall. This doesn’t, however, mean it would be the one I would choose. The differences were actually quite minimal. The Yamaha metal ligature was the cheapest by a large margin and the setup still played very well using this one. I would say that for a classical player, this might in fact be the best choice.
The Rovner was also a decent choice for the price, if you’re looking for a bit more flexibility in your sound than the Yamaha gives. Again, though, the difference is small and it’s likely that you would be able to create the same changes in sound by changing the reed you’re using. In my opinion, after trying each of the ligatures, I don’t think the Francois Louis ligature is worth the price difference, despite being slightly better than the others. I’d say just get a cheap ligature and work on your sound in other ways.
Summary
To sum up this post, I tried a range of different ligatures out on an alto sax mouthpiece and compared them. In the end, I would have to say that the difference in sound created from by each of the ligatures was minimal. There was a marginal improvement given by the Francois Louis ligature but I wouldn’t be prepared to pay the price increase for this. I think the more important thing would be to choose a reed and mouthpiece that you like and not worry about the ligature, although there will be a small improvement with it.