Ligature (musical instrument)
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A ligature is a device which holds a reed on to the mouthpiece of some woodwind instruments such as the saxophone and clarinet. On early clarinets the reed was instead secured by wrapping it with string, and this method is still preferred by most German clarinetists.
Ligatures are most commonly made out of metal, such as brass, and can be plated in nickel, silver, gold, rhodium, etc. Some players feel that a ligature plated with an exotic metal sounds better than a plain brass one. Others feel that the ligature should come into contact with the reed and/or mouthpiece as little as possible, or only at specific points.
Ligatures are also made out of wire, wire mesh, plastic, naugahyde, string, or leather. Dozens of styles and materials of ligatures are available today.
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