The Power of Sound

    Sound has a large and powerful affect on the human mood. The phrase ‘music tames the savage beast’ is, I believe, an accurate one. We use music to tame our wild emotions as well as lift our spirits. We play music:

• At parties to lift the mood and create a fun atmosphere.
  
• At sports events to charge the event with excitement.
  
• At work to create a pleasant and work-inspiring environment.
  
• During entertainment such as movies, plays, etc. The music heightens the drama.
  
• During pregnancy and a child’s development years to promote the child’s healthy mind and body.
  
• To relax and center ourselves from our busy lives.
  
• To help create a personal sacred space.
  
• To set the mood for romance. Oooo la la!
  

    In India a song (Raga) is made to express a particular mood (Rasa). This is true of Persian Dastga Music as well. While Western music creates similar effects we have not officially categorized our music in terms of the mood it promotes, yet.

    Years ago I attended a retreat led by a Native American Shaman named Beautiful Painted Arrow. The retreat was held out in an amazing forest. One day while I was playing the flute for some of the members of the retreat, Beautiful Painted Arrow came up to me and shared some wisdom that has impacted my life ever since. He told me that when I, or anyone, plays music, their inner experience is transmitted to the listeners. Music is a great service to the world because the musician can help create a beautiful world simply by playing beautiful music. Whatever state of being, or mood, the musician is in, is transmitted to the audience.

    An easy way for me to understand this is to think of the impact the tone of my voice has during a conversation. If I use an accusing or angry tone while conversing with someone, the impulsive response I get is usually one of defensiveness and/or anger. If I bring a peaceful disposition to communication, the conversation is usually quite peaceful and effective, even on many difficult topics.

    In a similar way, by playing music from an inspired internal place, the musician inspires his or her listeners to experience that same place inside them-selves.

Hence the musician is impacting his audience with his or her music in two primary ways:

1. The actual music (including notes and silences) that he or she is playing impacts the audience. Rowdy music, disconnected sounds, etc. will have a very different affect on the audience than melodious music. Please note: I do not hold one as superior to the other, they simply support different purposes.
   
2. The mood, or space, the musician is in while playing. The musician’s mood is amplified and holds the space for the audience to join them there.
   

I build saxophone mouthpieces with four intentions:

1. To inspire and support musician’s in expressing their inner voice.
   
   1. This means making mouthpieces the musician doesn’t have to fight in order to express themselves.
      
   2. To make mouthpieces that can translate the musician’s authentic inner voice into audible sound-waves.
      
2. To bring specific types of sound, that only certain mouthpiece configurations like the True-Large Chamber can create, out into the musical world. Not only does the musician playing experience the beauty inherent in these mouthpiece configurations, but their audiences do as well.
   
3. To create a piece of art. Even physical beauty inspires!
   
4. To create a domino effect of beauty. By helping the musician have a wonderful experience playing, the musician then shares their beautiful experience with their audience. Then the audience shares that experience with friends and family, and so on.
   

       The domino effect can start anywhere….I simply want to be part of it! For example, about two weeks ago we ordered way too many shipping boxes. These arrived in a tiny shipping station for pick-up. I couldn’t figure out how transport all the boxes in my small car so they sat there until I arranged the use of another car to come pick them up. When I arrived to load the boxes I noticed the boxes had taken a good quarter of the station attendant’s already tiny working area for the last week. I felt horrible! But the man, with a big kind smile on his face, started helping me load and carry all the boxes. He was not upset at me. In fact he showed great compassion. He even arranged for me to have half the boxes returned too. Wow! This guy was like a saint. He inspired me! I went home inspired to put as much care in my work as this man did in his. Hopefully my inspiration is evident in our products, and so on.
   

    If even in a small way, I believe it is possible for Theo Wanne Classic Mouthpieces to be part of creating a more beautiful world. It is my hope and prayer that our products will inspire and assist musicians to experience and express their inner beauty and share that beauty with their fans and audiences.

    It may not be the same as creating a peace agreement between the world powers. But because I believe in the power of sound, it is my belief that promoting beautiful music helps, to some degree, in the formation of a more beautiful world.

The State of Affairs, by Tom Wanne

I am excited to share the state of affairs of our new business endeavor!

The AMMA has been very well received.  Wonderful support from family and friends, as well as effective brotherly communication has helped us jump our share of interesting hurdles. We are working diligently to stay focused on ensuring the best possible mouthpieces go out.  Our mother actually came in and helped us a great deal packing all the 6* and 7* mouthpieces that went out.  Go Mom and Thank You!  This seems to truly be a family business. 

So, on to the state of affairs: 

Sales are going very well. We have sold almost half of the 200 AMMAs we made. Specific sizes have only 1-3 left, but tough to gauge as Theo has had some flexibility with plating options. We have shipped almost all current orders for size 6* and 7*s. All orders for other sizes should be back from plating in about 2 weeks.  We feel horrible about all our delays and have been pleasantly welcomed by everyone’s patience. Thank you all! 

The whole manufacturing process took longer than we had expected. It is quite complex and challenging.  Although a creative endeavor from an engineering perspective, it has created ample opportunity for delay. We have discussed raising our prices to cover unplanned manufacturing costs. 

We have found that last minute tweaks inspired from the pros are extremely helpful and appreciated, but also time consuming to implement. Interestingly, there were a few prototype AMMAs that have visited various pros and experts. I love getting this perspective on the music industry. It is new to me, but juicy. 

The AMMA is a limited run of 200.  Our next model, the KALI, and possibly a lower baffle version of the AMMA, in the spring, will be similar limited small runs.  We are still figuring out the demand for a Darker Jazz, Zoot Sims type, True Large Chamber Tenor Mouthpiece. So I thought I would pose it as a question in this blog.  

Is there any interest in a low baffle/ large chamber Jazz Tenor Mouthpiece?  

We will be more effectively posting endorsements on our website soon, however here is a taste: 

·         Endorsement from Jeff Rupert.  
“Theo, your AMMA mouthpiece is just the mouthpiece sax players have been waiting for. There is no need to look for vintage mouthpieces anymore. It’s right in the tradition, and made with unrivaled expertise and craftsmanship. I believe the Amma sets a new standard in saxophone mouthpieces. Your mastery with saxophone mouthpieces has allowed me to fully express my own artistry as a musician!” – Jeff Rupert

Jeff playes on a gold AMMA tenor mouthpiece serial number 072. Jeff was with Maynard Ferguson’s band until Maynard’s unfortunate passing. Jeff Rupert’s numerous recordings include those with Diane Schuur, Mel Torme, Maynard Ferguson, Benny Carter’s Grammy winning recording Harlem Renaissance, Sam River’s NJ blues band The Fins, Jeff Rupert + Dirty Martini, and broadcasts on NPR. Jeff is the Associate Professor of Music and Director of Jazz Studies at the University of Central Florida. 

·         Skip Spratt’s review on Saxshed.  His review includes some sound clips of him playing the AMMA as well: 

http://www.saxshed.com/reviews.shtml 

It is a very exciting and busy time for us. I am motivated and attracted to the vision of bringing the most innovative, useful, and powerful mouthpieces ever made to musicians. It feels good to contribute to our goal of helping musicians Unleash their Soul. 

Juicy Endeavors,

Tom Wanne, CEO

Theo’s twin brother and business partner

Completing the AMMA

To complete the AMMA I have been personally working on the table, window, rails, and baffle because they have, by far, the largest impact on the sound. While the shape of the chamber greatly affects the sound as well (such as having rounded inner side walls and a large chamber) slight variations in the chamber are not audible. Any variation along the baffle and tip rail will be readily heard though. This is why I put so much attention there.

The AMMA is made by machining in three stages:

• Each half is individually machined, lengthwise.
  
• These two halves are soldered together in a special heat-regulated oven for even heat dissipation.
  
• The single piece is finish machined.
  

This is a lot of machine time as we have three machining steps, and a soldering stage. We also bead-blast the interior of the mouthpiece, however some solder and/or a solder line is often still visible within the chamber of the mouthpiece.

The process for preparing each AMMA mouthpiece:

• An intricate machining and soldering process is performed to create the machined mouthpiece blank.
  
• I check the facing, baffle, and rails of the mouthpiece.
  
• The mouthpiece is polished.
  
• I reface the facing, baffle, window, rails, etc. along with chamfering the side rails.
  
• I test play the mouthpiece.
  
• I make any further adjustments I feel is necessary.
  
• I color-buff the mouthpiece to remove my handling and finger print marks.
  
• The mouthpiece is plated in either gold or silver.
  
• I check the mouthpiece curve to ensure sure it is correct from plating variations.
  
• I test play the mouthpiece.
  
• I make any final (light) final adjustments.
  
• I do a final test play on the mouthpiece. If the mouthpiece is not satisfactory I repeat this entire process. Those that pass my final test play are ready for sale.