Rovner Ligatures

The Rovner Ligature: Developed by Phil Rovner of Baltimore, Md., who began his career as an engineer in aeronautics specializing in acoustics, the Rovner Ligature embodies the most important elements of ligature design. First, it covers the reed with a flexible material that is "pulled" against the reed with the turn of one screw on the opposite side of the mouthpiece. This pulling action simulates the effect of the original ligatures from the earliest days of single-reed playing, which amounted to winding string around the mouthpiece to hold the reed in place. Second, the Rovner's flexible material conforms to the contour of each individual reed however its bark grew in the cane field, hence even pressure is achieved over the ligature's entire contact with the reed---something no metal ligature can duplicate. (In order to achieve full advantage of the Rovner ligature's flexible material, the ligature screw should be well tightened, not backed off as is typically advised for metal ligatures).