Abstract:
A mouthpiece assembly includes a tubular member with two longitudinal portions, and a ligature for attaching a reed to the tubular member. The ligature and the mouthpiece are structured to define several discrete positions that can be selected by a musician.

Description:
RELATED APPLICATIONS 
   None. 
   BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
   A. Field of Invention 
   This invention pertains to musical instruments with removable mouthpiece assemblies, and more particularly to a novel assembly wherein the ligature has several positions spaced along a longitudinal axis of a mouthpiece. 
   B. Description of the Prior Art 
   Woodwind instruments are instruments consisting of a tubular body used to define a column of air. As is well known in the art, sound waves are produced within the column of air and the musical characteristics of the sounds, including pitch, volume and other characteristics are modulated by changing the acoustic characteristics of the column. More specifically, a mouthpiece is attached by a friction fit to an end of the tubular body. The mouthpiece has a cavity in communication with the interior of the tubular body. A reed covers the cavity and is arranged so that when a musician blows through the mouthpiece, the reed oscillates and produces vibrations which are then propagated through the cavity in the mouthpiece to the tubular body. The reed is secured to the mouthpiece by an adjustable metal band known as the ligature. 
   The ligature normally extends circumferentially around the entire outer body of the mouthpiece. The ligature is provided with an integral tightening mechanism that is used to secure the reed to the mouthpiece. Because of the mechanical coupling between the ligature, the mouthpiece and the reed, the structure of the ligature plays a roll in the sound produced by the instruments, and various types of ligatures are available from different companies, each having its own sound characteristics.  FIGS. 3 and 4  show some known prior art mouthpieces and ligatures for saxophones. 
   SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
   A mouthpiece assembly includes a tubular mouthpiece a sidewall formed with a longitudinal portion and a ligature for securing a reed to the mouthpiece. The mouthpiece and the ligature are sized and shaped to define a plurality of discrete positions for the ligature. The ligature can secure the reed at each of its positions in a manner that allows the reed and the ligature to vibrate during play. In one embodiment, the mouthpiece has a longitudinal portion formed with spaced holes. The ligature includes a movable shaft that can be selectively inserted and retrieved from the holes to adjust the position of the ligature or remove it. Preferably, the holes are oversized so that the shaft fits loosely into the holes. The ligature has a threaded transversal hole and the shaft is threaded and is positioned in the transversal hole so that it can be selectively advanced into, or retracted from the holes in the mouthpiece. 

   
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
       FIG. 1  shows an orthogonal view of a ligature constructed in accordance with this invention; 
       FIG. 2  shows side view of a mouthpiece with the ligature of  FIG. 1 ; 
       FIG. 2A  shows an end view of the mouthpiece of  FIG. 2 ; 
       FIG. 3  shows a side view of a mouthpiece with a prior art ligature; and 
       FIG. 4  shows a side view of a mouthpiece with another type of prior art ligature. 
   

   DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
   In order to provide a better understanding of the invention, some prior art ligatures are first discussed. Referring first to  FIG. 3 , a typical mouthpiece  102  is shown with a reed  104 . The reed  104  is secured to the mouthpiece  102  with a ligature  112 . The ligature  112  has a round hole  113  at the top and is tightened with two screws  115 . The reed  104  is secured to the mouthpiece  102  by the ligature  112 .  FIG. 4  shows a different ligature  114 . While the ligature  112  is a closed ring or band, the ligature  114  extends only partially beneath the mouthpiece. There this ligature  114  is useable only with a mouthpiece  102 A that has two longitudinal grooves or ledges  116  (only the near groove being visible in the Figure). The ligature includes a body  114  with two legs  120  (one of these being shown in the Figure) seated in the respective groove  116 . The ligature  114  further includes a thumb screw  122  riding on, or biasing a rail  124 . When the thumb screw  122  is tightened, it bears against the rail  124  which in turn engages and secures a distal end of reed  104 . The ligature has some limited movement in the longitudinal direction along the mouthpiece  102 A. 
   It is well known that the position of the ligature on the mouthpiece has an effect on the sound produced by the respective instrument and therefore, once a musician locates the ligature position on a particular instrument, he would like to be able to mount the ligature in exactly the same position. A problem with the prior art ligatures, such as the two shown in  FIGS. 3 and 4 , is that the ligature is maintained in place by an interference fit with the external surface of the mouthpiece, and once they are loosened, they can be freely shifted longitudinally along the mouthpiece to several non-discrete positions. As a result, once a ligature is removed, it is very hard for the musician to place a ligature exactly to an optimum or predetermined position. Moreover, because the ligatures are held by friction, during use, they do loosen up occasionally and move or shift longitudinally to new positions that are undesirable. These problems are resolved by the present invention. 
   Also, in the attempt to hold the ligature in place previous art ligatures utilize large surface areas of tight contact with the mouthpiece body  102 . Not only does this only moderately work, but most importantly the vibrations of the reed/ligature combination are dampened by the mouthpiece body  102  creating a severely deadening affect on the resultant sound produced by the mouthpiece. 
   Referring to  FIGS. 1 ,  2  and  2 A, a ligature  100  constructed in accordance with this invention includes a saddle  101  terminating in two arms  108 , each arm having a transversal threaded hole  108 . The holes accept corresponding set screws  109 . A thumb screw  122  is rotatably mounted on the saddle  101  and can be used to selectively raise and lower a rail  124 . 
   The ligature  100  is used to mount a reed  104  on a mouthpiece  102 B. Mouthpiece  102 B has two elongated sections  107  on its sides, each section  107  being formed with holes  110  spaced longitudinally. The holes are sized so that the screws  109  can loosely fit into holes  110 . Once positioned, the screws  109 , held securely in the ligature by threaded holes  108  in the ligature, hold the ligature securely in place along mouthpiece  102 B by immovably fitting in holes  110 . This allows the ligature to vibrate freely in relation to the mouthpiece, while still securely being held in place. 
   As shown in  FIGS. 2 and 2A , the ligature  100  is used to secure the reed  104  to the mouthpiece  102 B. More particularly, when thumbscrew  122  is tightened, it clamps the reed  104  between rail  124  and the outer surface of the mouthpiece  102 B in the normal manner. Importantly, by screwing and unscrewing set screws  109  the ligature can be selectively attached and detached from the mouthpiece  102 B by engaging one of the pairs of holes  108  (one hole is engaged on each side of the mouthpiece  102 B). Therefore the ligature can be positioned at any one of several positions defined by the holes  110 . Moreover, once a musician determines which positions he likes, he can then leave the ligature and the reed set in the same position all the time guaranteeing his favorite position at each next use. 
   Most importantly because the set-screws  109  are loose inside the holes  108  only minimal contact, and NO frictional contact, is had with the mouthpiece body  102 B. This allows the reed  104  and ligature body  106  combination to vibrate independently from the mouthpiece body  102 B and a free, open, and resonant resultant sound to be produced. 
   Of course other means can be used to engage the ligature to the mouthpiece. For example, the set screw can be replaced by a spring-loaded shaft that can be easily inserted into and withdrawn from holes  110 . Further, the set screws could be loose inside the ligature holes  108  and screw into threaded holes  110 . Numerous modifications can be made to the invention without departing from the scope defined in the appended claims.