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Breakthrough in reed response or swanky shoelace...?
After bumping into the Silverstein team at Frankfurt Musikmesse and trying a couple of their ligatures we thought it was probably about time we stocked some. So a couple weeks ago we took delivery of our first batch of one of the most high profile ligatures on the market at the moment (if there is such a thing).
First things first, yes they’re very expensive. Even their most modest T-frame model is just shy of 70 quid and their flagship A-frame model well over a ton. But if you’re reading this blog you probably knew that already and on some level appreciate the value of reed response over a pair of posh jeans or a slap-up meal for two…. right?
Now if you’re looking for a ligature that just won’t budge and will allow you to swap reeds mid-gig like an F1 pit crew then this is probably not for you. Maybe try a standard two screw metal lig or better still a rovner or BG material ligature. However, if you’re looking for a ligature that will emancipate your reed in a way that grants you access to harmonics you didn’t even know existed, then you might be able to warrant spending this kind of money on what is essentially a few small bits of metal, a piece of string coated wire and a fancy box.
“When it comes to ligatures, money is no object…” Andy Sheppard 2018
All jokes aside, this ligature genuinely opened up the harmonic response for me, I'm no Sigurd Raschèr but I try to do some fairly regular harmonic / altissimo practise and this ligature made those usually painful exercises marginally easier. So if you’ve already spent thousands on your dream horn, hunted down the holy grail of vintage mouthpieces and been through every bit of cane you can get your chops around, this might just be the icing on your cake.
