Vientos Vintage Barrel and Ligature Review - Clarinet U Review Article

Vientos Vintage's Barrel and Ligature implemented the most recent 3D printing technology. Designed to meet the clarinetist's need in every way. It is a new chapter for the clarinet market, and introduced clarinetists to a new clarinet sound.

Founder Alejandro Pugliano is a saxophonist and woodwind maker. "My passion is restoring vintage saxophones. In 2016 I bought my first 3D printer and made my tools to repair saxophones. I saw great potential in this technology and how fast it was advancing. I started researching biodegradable materials for 3D printing and realized that you could make anything without the need to generate plastic, and at the same time taking care of the planet."

In Vientos Vintage, the products are using materials such as wood polymers, without using protected and endangered woods. They started manufacturing saxophone ligatures and researching the sonority that each of these materials produced in the instrument.

According to the founder, "In last year, I researched about 3D SLA resin printing in which better finishes are obtained than with 3D FDM printing as most people know so far. We made sonority tests obtaining very good results and very good reviews from the musicians.

Making clarinet barrels with biodegradable resin, we found the best results in terms of density, sonority, durability and giving better results than the barrels made with traditional woods.“

My first impression of the barrel and ligature is their amazing design. The barrel is shaped like a honey cone with a beautiful-looking hexagon pattern. The ligature is transparent and feels very light yet sturdy in hand.

In this review article, I'm going to test out several factors of the barrel and ligature. Including Quality, tightness, Sound and timber, pricing, and versatility. Also, I'm going to test its ability by playing it in both the jazz and classical genres, with extensive octave switches. In this test, I’m going to use my Backun Model F clarinet, Legere #4 European Cut synthetic reed, and Gleichweit #8 mouthpiece.

Ligature

Quality: The quality of the ligature looks very well made, even though it is made solely with a machine, it has no defect or uneven parts. The material of this ligature is very steady and feels much harder than traditional plastic used in 3d printing. I love the design of this ligature, which is ring shape and very easy to put on. It also features a small slot inside the ligature to deliver a tighter fit of the reed and mouthpiece. On their website, you can also customize your name onto the ligature, which is super cool!

You can also choose your ligature size fitting on their website, to ensure that the ligature will have a perfect fit of the reed and mouthpiece.