The AMMA alto has a traditional full sound similar to a vintage Meyer
Bros. alto mouthpiece. However, due to its slightly higher floor and
True Large Chamber, it has even more projection and fullness to the
sound. It is incredibly rich sounding and lends itself to a very
creative and expressive feeling while playing it.
We are proud to introduce BY FAR the highest quality, most resonant,
hard rubber available today in saxophone mouthpieces. By optimizing
manufacturing techniques and recipes for hard rubber manufactured in the
1940s and 50s by the Meyer Bros., Otto Link, and Henry Chedeville, the
rich resonant sound previously only available in vintage mouthpieces is
BACK! There has never been a better hard rubber mouthpiece made….EVER!
The AMMA alto’s True Large Chamber is breaking new ground. Large
chambers have been widely explored in the history of tenor mouthpieces,
but very little has been done with alto mouthpieces, until now. The AMMA
alto mouthpiece opens up a whole new world for the alto saxophone.
The True Large Chamber is formed from a specific conical design that
starts at the tip of the mouthpiece, forms its rounded inner side walls,
and reaches to the back of the chamber. This extremely complex sculpted
design is all machined to extremely high tolerances.
The AMMA mouthpiece is named after Amma, who is the Divine Mother and
the totality of all existence. The love of the Divine Mother for
creation is like the love of a mother for her child…unconditional.
- TRUE Large Chamber
- Highest quality, most resonant, hard rubber available today!
- New Enlightened Ligature
- Drop Floor to Open Up the Sound
- Beautifully Rounded Inner Side Walls
- Medium Baffle
- Air Flow Dynamic Machining
- User Replaceable Bite Pad
- Individual Serial Numbers
- Theo’s proprietory Facing Curve
- Customization with Exciting Line of Pressure Plates
- Comes with: Alive Gold and Heavy Brass pressure plates - Sizes available: 6, 7, 8, 9
True Large Chamber mouthpieces have significantly larger chambers than
the bore. They also have significantly rounded inner
s
ide walls that
extend all the way to the tip. This is done to allow the sound wave to
spread width-wise in the mouthpiece creating a robust, rich, and warm
sound.
Machining a True Large Chamber
Because a True Large Chamber’s interior is significantly
larger than
the bore, machining tools cannot easily access a True Large Chamber
mouthpiece's interior, let alone create the necessary complex shapes.
This is why complex interior shapes have needed to be cast instead of
machined...Until now.
Theo Wanne fully CNC-machines a huge chamber with fully
rounded side-walls which
extend in a mathematic (i.e. exact) curve all the way up to the tip.
This is a true innovation in the world of CNC mouthpiece manufacturing.
In fact, this manufacturing process is Patent Pending.
The Result- Incredible Sound
- Sheer Beauty
- Mathematical Accuracy
This innovative process also allows Theo Wanne to design and
create
mathematically precise and exact interior design shapes. Thiswas not
previously possible.
The chamber is formed from a specific conical extension starting at the
very tip of the mouthpiece. The inner side walls, baffle, and chamber
are all machined to extremely low tolerances.
The result is sheer beauty, an incredible sound, and the ability to
Unleash
Your Soul!The Ring
Theo Wanne's Proprietary Saxophone
Mouthpiece Facing Curve
Wanne, Inc. has created a special equation expressing the
ideal facing curve for all tip openings of a saxophone mouthpiece. We
call this curve 'The Ring' as it is "one equation to rule them all". We
have a specific 'Ring' curve for each instrument and facing type
(short, medium, & long). The benefit of this equation primarily
lays in its ability to create a PERFECTLY uniform and even curve based
on a huge amount of working data. Any flat spot, or variation, from a
perfectly smooth curve creates inconsistencies such as chirping, back
pressure, delay in response time, and reed consistency troubles. The
'Ring' equation creates a curve devoid of these problems. Below is a
brief explanation of the genesis of 'The Ring' equation for a medium
length tenor saxophone facing curve (the actual math is lengthy, so not
included in this overview):
Genesis of 'The Ring'
Equation
for a Medium Length Tenor Saxophone Mouthpiece Facing Curve
- We started by measuring the facing curves of over 50 original
(never refaced) tenor saxophone mouthpieces between the sizes of 5 and
10 that played well in all registers. We used the Florida Period Otto
Links of the 1950s and 1960s as they have been the standard of the Jazz
industry for tenor saxophone and many of the Jazz Greats (Dexter
Gordon, Stan Getz, John Coltrane, etc.) played them.
- We started plotting the facing curves using 8 points along the
curve for each mouthpiece. Here, shown in graph form, are the 8 plot
points for the 7* Otto Link 'Super Tone Master' curve. All points are
shown in millimeters:
- We then calculated the break point on each mouthpiece. The break
point is the point at which the reed very first separates from the
table, and states the initial starting point of the curve.
- We then found the linear relationship of the 'Break Point' to the
tip opening. We found the rate the break point increased relative to
the increase in tip opening.
- The actual tip opening measurement was added as the final plot
point. Adding the break point and the tip opening gave us 10 plot
points in total for each of the 50 mouthpieces.
- We combined the data for each tip opening to find the average
curve
used by Otto Link for each tip opening in their Florida mouthpieces.
Here is an example of the 7* Otto Link 'Super Tone Master' curve shown
in millimeters:
- We then combined Theo's personal data gathered from years of
maximizing the performance of Otto Link mouthpieces. The new combined
data represented an improved curve over the original Otto link curve.
Below is Theo's curve for a 7* tenor saxophone mouthpiece based off of
the data taken from the actual Otto Link mouthpieces:
- Each curve (tip openings from 5 to 10) was then expressed in the
form of a quadratic equation (second degree polynomial). A unique
quadratic equation was created for each tip opening. Below is the curve
for the 7* tip opening using our quadratic equation to calculate the
facing curve data point:
- R2 is a measure of how well an equation fits the data
points it is modeling. R2 values range from 0 (no fit) to
1.0 (a perfect fit). Although we are showing variable place holders for
our coefficients, our R2 values are reflective of our
actually data. As the R2 for the above equation is very
close to 1, we have an excellent degree of accuracy in our model.
- We were then able to calculate the points for each facing curve
using their individual quadratic equations. Shown below is a graph with
all the facing curves (one for each tip opening size) shown together.
- Finally, we wanted to have one equation to describe all the
facing
curves across the different tip openings. We found that the tip opening
has an accurate linear relationship to our three coefficients (F1,
F2, and F3)
in our quadratic facing curve equations. We then created a linear
equation for each coefficient so that our quadratic equation will model
the change in the facing curves as the tip opening changes:
F1 = x2 coefficient = G1 * (Tip
Opening) +G2 (R2 = 0.968)
F2 = x coefficient = H1* (Tip Opening) + H2
(R2 = 0.974)
F3 = offset coefficient = I1* (Tip Opening) + I22
(R2 = 0.998)
As all our R2 values are very close to 1.0, we have
excellent equations to describe the change in our facing-curve equation
coefficients based on different tip opening.
- 'The Ring' or master equation, representing a single quadratic
equation to calculate the facing curves for all tip opening from 5 up
to 10, was then created. By simply plugging in the desired tip opening
and any desired distance from the tip, The Ring equation will tell you
its related facing curve plot point. This one equation will show the
optimal facing curve for any tenor saxophone medium length facing curve.
Jan Garbarek:
"Thanks, Theo! You keep making choosing a mouthpiece
difficult for me!
I´ve been playing and thoroughly enjoying the AMMA for about half a
year. Now the KALI, another superb player, is also coming with me on
future concerts! They both sound and feel great and are potential first
choices.
This seems to be what one may call a luxury problem: If you´re a coach,
and you happen to have the two best quarter backs in the league in your
team, it´s difficult to chose who´ll play, but you know you´ll win
either way...Congratulations!!"
Jeff Coffin: (2x Grammy Award Winner)
"Theo
Wanne has done it again!!!!!! I have been playing one of his
soprano pieces for years and after playing his new AMMA #9 tenor
mouthpiece, I feel he has brought a new dimension in mouthpieces to us
that will not only stand the test of time but will be a benchmark
mouthpiece for many, many years to come! Tell the tenor players, the
bar has been raised."
Tim Price
"The KALI is the most extraordinary metal mouthpiece I have ever
played. The KALI creates a grace and freedom that is just perfect. The
pitch is super even on varied horns and it does NOT exasperate your
chops at all like other metals.
The PARVATI is deep, full, and huge. It's got a vibe I'm loving. Man is
it strong. Killin'...no question.
Theo has created new metal mouthpieces that are totally profound! The
originality of these new pieces, such as the KALI and PARVATI, shows
Theo's culminating work in his distinguished career. BOTH are beyond my
dreams. He truly is one of today's innovators! I urge you to check out
these savvy new mouthpieces by Theo, and be ready to embark on a
prolific and creative journey.”-
Doug Moffet:
"...Theo's
Amma mouthpiece is the only mouthpiece I've every played that has
equal
ease of response between the altissimo G, G#, and A. Yet,
equally still, be able to have such a beautiful,
full, and
warm response on the low Bb. Even more surprising, is that playing
loud
or soft, the response is the same. There is also a lot of room in the
overtones of the mouthpiece, which enables you to manipulate your
own personality into the sound. It is such a joy to have these
difficult areas of the horn open up to a new and more comfortable
level..."
Kendall S. Thomsen:
"“As
a recording engineer I always take the time to ensure I am capturing
the best sound I can from an artist. Your AMMA mouthpiece shines in the
studio. Jeff Rupert and I had the opportunity to sample a variety of
mouthpiece and horn combinations and the best combination included your
AMMA mouthpiece. Thanks for a great product as it makes my job much
easier, the quality of sound is consistent through the full range of
the instrument.”
Anibal Rojas:
"The
AMMA is truly wonderful. I would go as far as to say that it is magical
but I know that it is the product of a lot of hard work from a very
gifted craftsman. It is a work of art!! Very inspirational!
It makes
me want to be a better player. Silly isn't it??
The AMMA feels really comfortable... it just feels like home. It's
extremely flexible in terms of pitch (inflections) and color of sound.
It is so flexible I can get almost anything I want just by changing
reed brands, reed strengths and placement of the Liberty Ligature. I
can play soft and loud without any problem with intonation or
articulation; It just has great response.
People are commenting on my sound as well as how cool it looks during
my gigs. Theo, I can honestly say that your mouthpieces are the best
I've ever played!"