Have you tried the Baroque ligatures by Charles Bay? I got one a couple days ago and I’m a big fan

Have you tried the Rovner Vangogh ligature?

🎉👏👏👏👏👏👏👏

Bravo! Wish I were there

Superb Tone 😀

So pleasant to my ears! I love it. The punctuation, rhythm, sounds fitting into each other, this is a beautiful collaboration. Thanks for posting it, Mr Kurokawa!

You two play so well together, like extensions of each other's voices! Edit: Flying back to Chicago is quite a story! What did you do at Yamaha? I heard they're developing a new model; were you testing that? Loved this new kind of video :)

Wonderful, John. What are the pedals you both are using?

Hope you’re enjoying the festival. Would be good to meet in person if there’s time P. Cigleris

That is a work out. Great job

John how did I not know about this

And the winner of this comparison is the woodstone kodama II, the only one were the sound of the clarinet got spirit!

Thanks for always sharing with us! Cool tune!

Genial 👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏

I personally use a gold Bonade ligature (from Taplin Weir, of course). Simple, effective, gold is my favorite material, and it doesn’t obliterate the wallet haha.

This is such a beautiful exercise! I hope you can share the notation with us....

PLS NOT ME SEEING THIS AFTER REIGON ETUDES CAME OUT

Thanks for this interesting review of these different ligatures. I am currently using a Rovner Dark on a Vandoren BD5 mouthpiece, which I like very much and plays well for me, but over the past 6 months I have bought and played a couple of other ligatures with which I have had mixed results. I have a BG Duo in silver, that plays well for me with this mouthpiece, and I also bought a Rovner Versa, which I am not happy with, so I very much appreciated your take on that ligature. On top of not being particularly happy with the way that the Versa responded for me personally, I also found that if I didn't leave the flaps covering the plate on the reed side of the ligature, that if I left the ligature on my mouthpiece, even loosely, when it is stored in my case the metal plate on the Versa started leaving visible scratches/depressions in the table of my mouthpiece, which is a huge problem. I stopped using the Versa and will probably not use it again. I will be very interested to see if you try the BG Duo in your part 3 video, and if so, what you think of it. In the meantime, thank you for all of your videos! I find them to be very interesting and I enjoy them very much.

Great! I’ve experimented with varying extremes of break in procedures, and your process is pretty much exactly what I’ve settled on as well. More than this hadn’t yielded better results for me, and definitely not playing reeds in for at least as long as you describe has been disastrous! I can get away with more with my saxophone reeds, but not clarinet!

Have you ever tried the Luyben ligatures?? I highly recommend them

Where do you find exercises for this? I’m glad I found your channel as a 4th year clarinet player going into high school

Joel was my mentor in woodwind repair, and a fantastic craftsman!! Lomax for the win!

Thanks for the review. I've had a BD2 for a couple of weeks now. I have a range of vandoren and selmer mouthpieces but no custom jobs. I found that the mouthpiece felt more open than it actually was (like you) and especially when I compared it to a M15 and M13 lyre. For my embouchure, mouth/throat and clarinet, I didn't find the issues you described. It readily responded over the whole range and had a focused tone like the M15. I really really like it. I use vandoren 56 Ru le pic or d'addario classic reserve reeds on a full Boehm Leblanc LL clarinet.

Have you tried Brad Behn’s adjustable barrels? I use a Silverstein ligature and just swap the barrel between A and Bb, and it works great.

Great video...!!! Of the ligatures in this video, the Rovner Van Gough checks all of my boxes. Price for this--as most Rovners--is reasonable (NO Silverstein for me as price alone is a deterrent), Rovners last for years, etc. Okay, I have used Rovners for many years, and I do have a bias. But...I have never tried the Van Gough. A suggestion for all clarinetists that have the issue of ligature caps that are too large and do not fit the case: try the Silverstein Omnicap mouthpiece cap. It fits over the tip, is not bulky, and will protect the mouthpiece and reed. I use them for all of my mouthpieces, and my only issue is that if you are not careful, they can get lost. Looking forward to more videos like this...

Excuse me for a question, when playing, should the lower lip stay on the teeth or should it be in the direction of the teeth?

I'm surprised how much I liked the sound of the snake-skin ligature... This is quite interesting!

I definitely prefer metal ligatures but I also agree the kodama II is great. I'm also a fan of the BG super revelation.

Your videos are always great! Thank you for making them.

As a side note to my other comment, I am now a very happy owner of a set of Yamaha CSVR-ASP clarinets! I sat with Tomoji Hirakana, who went with me note by note until the entire instrument played and sounded very even, with much less resistance than my old Buffet set, and is now much more reed and mouthpiece friendly! Thought I'd let you know because you also play CSVR clarinets :)

Have you tried the Rovner dark? I know it's a budget model, but after comparing it to how many other ligatures (Versa, Silverstein, Vandoren optimum, and a few more) work for me, I've actually found that it actually feels better than most. It holds the reed to the mouthpiece extremely firm if I want it to (can take mouthpiece off clarinet and reed stays) and it is durable enough to last me 6 years with no signs of deterioration. I also think it looks quite nice and clean on the instrument :)

I loved your analysis on different types of mouthpieces and how much ligatures affect them. Overall, I quite agree with your thoughts for these ligatures, both in terms of feel and sound. I'd like to add my two cents, as someone who enjoys playing 2 setups, 1) a very closed/flexible mouthpiece with a medium reed (M13 Lyre) and 2) a medium-open/"hold" mouthpiece with a medium-resistant reed, but also as a student who's not quite adjusted fully to either particular setup. I find that on the M13 Lyre and all my favorite closed tip mouthpieces, my ligature choices were based on the kind of sound and feel I was going for; a good balance of overtones, aka vibrancy in the sound, with just enough resistance to control dynamic and color. For me, that meant a metal ligature (currently a bonade inverted) works well with a 3½ blue box reed. It requires a lot of sensitivity with my air stream, embouchre, and voicing, but it allows me to sing with that balance of higher frequencies I look for in this setup. On my Kanter and other favorite open mouthpieces that emphasize the fundamental a lot more, I found myself going for a less resistant ligature that also emphasizes the fundamental a bit more, and encourages a more gentle feel and sound for the way I play these mouthpieces. The only exception I've found to this so far is the B40, where I prefer a metal ligature (Bonade non-inverted). I think this is because, despite being a relatively open facing mouthpiece, soundwise, it harkens a lot closer to the M13 Lyre and my favorite closed facing mouthpieces. This all to say, I think that someone used to one mouthpiece type or another would find the other type to be less affected by the same factors, because they are already so different. They require different physical and tonal approaches, especially when you compare mouthpieces that encourage "vibrancy" or "hold" using just your air/embouchre/voicing, and those that encourage "darkness" by biting and constricting the vibrations of the reed. My own preference is one that doesn't require biting, so I know very little about those mouthpieces that encourage it, such as the Vandoren BD and HD series. However, for the more old-school mouthpiece which are designed for minimal jaw pressure (there is still so much variation in these), I find that, regardless if it is a more fundamental emphasizing mouthpiece or overtone emphasizing mouthpiece, they are a lot more sensitive to ligature and reed changes. I think I only came to this conclusion, though, because they are what I'm used to. Fantastic video overall, as always, Mr Kurokawa!

Saxophonist here, I much prefer my Ishimori woodstone ligature to anything else I’ve tried. Gives my sound a nice ring and I find it makes it much easier to work with when it comes to tonal flexibility.

My favourites are Bonades and I'm also interested to try the AK someday maybe..

I use a Rovner Light, but thanks for giving me a couple ideas for other options! The kodama looks tempting!

Aloha John! What perfect timing as I am currently trying to change ligatures too. I use the traditional older Harrison which I love. However I just recently switched to using the Legere French Cut Reed and the reed tends to slip no matter even if I tighten it all the way. I am currently using the Rovner Versa as it does hold it and response is ok. I am awaiting my Silverstein to arrive as I read online that this ligature will hold the Legere reed firmly. I do want to try the Woodstone Ligature too but it’s so expensive and being that I just paid for the Silverstein. It will have to wait. I do prefer metal ligatures though. Do you have any ideas or suggestions? Thank you so much! - Elden

✨ Triads rule... along with Tempo, Time & Key Signatures!

I love this quote series. Always a pleasure to hear you sing.

A professional woodwind player in Ohio who is a former student of Robert Marcellus says Marcellus used to break in his reeds very slowly, only playing them for a short period of time each time for over a month, and was able to get some reeds to last years this way. I have been experimenting with a longer break in process lately, and, although I haven't worked my way up to more than a month of break in yet, I do seem to be getting more stable, long-lasting, and more playable reeds this way.

Woww, I taught myself a bit of the clarinet, ( I grew up playing viola), but when uu said about how much of the reed to leave naturally outta the mouth, I almost was shocked. No other clarinetist on KZfaq, showed that to me. Ohh myy, I wanna try the clarinet again. Maybe, if I get even better, I can join a community adult orchestra. Thanks sir, chao.

Gran sonido, no tan buena la afinación

Thank you, John. It's been a few decades since I played the clarinet. This short review of reeds is clear, concise, and well taken. One question: What reed number should I start with?

M13 (and lyre model) facing is without doubt one of the best facings out there. Donald Montanaro participated in the development of it, and plus the M14 and M15, based on one of their Chedeville. But the purpose of this model? Nobody knows. It has the worst of the HD series. It does not have good centering and the sound is dull. But it has none of the good things about the M series (colour, eveness, clear sound, inmediate articulation). It would be good for Vandoren to get back together with great clarinetists and develop something of quality...

Ummm. ❤ I’m 53. Just started playing the clarinet. One day I will do this! 😊

beautiful !

Hello, I'm sorry when you curl your lower lip over your teeth, the dentures or the chin come out unintentionally, so the dentures and chin should stay in their normal position, just raise the dentures or the dentures and chin so they don't stick.

Thanks for this video. I've been curious about the BD2. Do you or anyone in here have any thoughts how it compares to the M15? Or the Fobes Nova? Those are my current mpcs, and I doubt I would be able to find a BD2 locally to try against mine. Thx

Did you try the BD2 with a somewhat softer reed? In general, the more resistance in the mouthpiece and/or instrument, the softer the reed to balance with this. Of course the facing of some mouthpieces might have a limit to how soft a reed you can use.

Nice video, John - brings to mind the following limerick: The clarinet’s great for the labor Of Mozart, of Schubert, of Weber; But when Schoenberg lets fly With the E-flat up high, You’d rather not have him as neighbor. 🙄😂

Thanks! I learned a lot about the different aspects one can test for. There is just one that I don’t understand. What am I listening for in flexibility?