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Clarinet history: Who invented the metal ligature?

When I’m not practicing the clarinet, one of my favorite things to do is delve into the vast world of clarinet history. There are so many subjects and areas to explore, one of which is the clarinet’s development to its modern form.

Today, clarinetists probably take several things for granted. Reeds, although quite a can of worms, can be mass-produced and are easily available. Mouthpieces are varied and plentiful, and you can even work with mouthpiece makers for customized setups. Ligatures also come in several materials and variations. Most of us likely started out with a simple metal ligature – something we probably haven’t paid much attention to outside of its necessity to hold the reed in place.

Bringing us to today’s blog post subject – who invented the metal ligature?


Before the creation of the metal ligature at the turn of the 19th century, reeds were held in place by twine or string, which are still used in parts of Germany and Austria today. We can credit the creation of the metal ligature to clarinetist, composer, and inventor Iwan Müller (1786-1854). Müller was from Reval (present-day Tallinn, Estonia), and we can thank him for several clarinet developments and improvements , including the metal ligature!

In addition to the metal ligature, Müller developed air-tight pads for the clarinet – another commonplace item today we probably take for granted. Before Müller invented the air-tight pad, clarinet pads were made of soft leather affixed to brass plate keys. These caused air leaks, leading clarinetists to utilize several cross-fingerings and other less-than-ideal fingerings, making it difficult to play in all key signatures on any one clarinet.

(Historical side note: This is why clarinets appeared in many different keys at the time – D clarinet, C clarinet, A clarinet, etc. Because of the sparse keys on the clarinets of the time, no one clarinet could easily access all key signatures.

Adding keys to the clarinet would only exacerbate the air leaks unless someone created a solution to the faulty soft leather pads. For the clarinet’s first 100 years of existence, makers were reluctant to add more keys to the clarinet because they knew they would have air leaks with the current pads.

Enter Iwan Müller!

Müller worked to develop the air-tight pad by stuffing kid leather with felt. This, in combination with countersunk tone holes, allowed the keys to fully close without any air leaks. As a result, more keys could be added to the clarinet without fear of causing more air leaks.

By adding more keys, Müller developed the omnitonic clarinet, one that was capable of easily playing in all key signatures. In 1812, he presented this 13-keyed “clarinette omnitonique” to the Paris Conservatoire in hopes of gaining their approval, but this was rejected. (Ironically, the reason for rejection was the very issue it aimed to solve – by having a clarinet capable of playing in all keys, it omitted the unique tone colors of the individual clarinets.)

Despite the rejection of the Paris Conservatoire, Müller began producing his clarinet with the help of a wealthy patron. It became very popular and eventually was morphed into the Oehler system clarinet.

So, the next time you take your clarinet out to practice, take a moment to thank Iwan Müller for these important contributions to the clarinet you play!

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