Adjustable ligature for musical instrument

An adjustable ligature for mounting a reed on the mouthpiece of a woodwind instrument, said ligature comprising:

• an adjustable clamp adapted to encircle and clamp together both said mouthpiece and said reed with an adjustable clamping pressure, said reed having a curved surface disposed outwardly towards said clamp and a flat surface disposed on a flat table portion of the mouthpiece:
• a contact member having a plurality of spaced apart contact edges disposed within said clamp for contacting said curved surface of the reed at a plurality of contact points with adjustable pressure according to the adjustment of said clamp;
• and
• means adjustably connecting said contact member to said clamp including a two-dimensional slot permitting two-dimensional relative movement between said clamp and said contact member and a locking member for positively maintaining any desired relative position of the clamp and contact member;
• said two-dimensional slot being formed in the clamp and said locking member comprising a shaft extending therethrough and fixed at one end to said contact member.

An adjustable ligature for mounting a reed on the mouthpiece of a woodwind instrument, said ligature comprising:

• an adjustable clamp adapted to encircle and clamp together both said mouthpiece and said reed with an adjustable clamping pressure, said reed having a curved surface disposed outwardly towards said clamp and a flat surface disposed on a flat table portion of the mouthpiece;
• a contact member having a plurality of spaced apart contact edges disposed within said clamp for contacting said curved surface of the reed at a plurality of contact points with adjustable pressure according to the adjustment of said clamp;
• and
• means adjustably connecting said contact member to said clamp including two-dimensional slot permitting two-dimensional relative movement between said clamp and said contact member and a locking member for positively maintaining any desired relative position of the clamp and contact member;
• said contact member comprising an I-shaped member disposed with its longitudinal axis parallel to that of the reed and shaped along its transverse axis to avoid significant pressure contact with the reed except at the relatively sharp edges of limited length formed at the four corners of the I-shaped member parallel to the longitudinal axis of the reed;
• said two-dimensional slot being formed in the clamp and said locking member comprising a shaft extending therethrough and fixed at one end to said contact member.

An adjustable ligature for mounting a reed on the mouthpiece of a woodwind instrument, said ligature comprising:

• an adjustable clamp adapted to encircle and clamp together both said mouthpiece and said reed with an adjustable clamping pressure, said reed having a curved surface disposed outwardly towards said clamp and a flat surface disposed on a flat table portion of the mouthpiece;
• a contact member having a plurality of spaced apart contact edges disposed within said clamp for contacting said curved surface of the reed at a plurality of contact points with adjustable pressure according to the adjustment of said clamp;
• and
• means adjustably connecting said contact member to said clamp including a two-dimensional slot permitting two-dimensional relative movement between said clamp and said contact member and a locking member for positively maintaining any desired relative position of the clamp and contact member;
• said contact member comprising an I-shaped member disposed with its longitudinal axis parallel to that of the reed and shaped along its transverse axis to avoid significant pressure contact with the reed except at the relatively sharp edges of limited length formed at the four corners of the I-shaped member parallel to the longitudinal axis of the reed;
• said I-shaped member being curved to generally correspond to the curved reed surface but at a smaller radius of curvature so as to avoid contact with the curved reed surface except at the transverse extremeties of the I-shaped member;
• said two-dimensional slot being formed in the clamp and said locking member comprising a shaft extending therethrough and fixed at one end to said contact member.