Ten years ago Dave Guardala and his partner, Jeffrey S. Powell, began making saxophone saxophone, musical instrument invented in the 1840s by Adolphe Sax. Although it uses the single reed of the clarinet family, it has a conical tube and is made of metal. mouthpieces under the Guardala brand name. Despite the presence of larger and more established competitors, the duo quickly carved a share out of the business by offering a powerful combination of unique designs and impeccable quality. The best testimony to the quality of Guardala mouthpieces is a long list of enthusiastic endorsers, headed by saxophone greats Branford Marsalis Branford Marsalis (August 26, 1960, Breaux Bridge, Louisiana) is an American jazz and classical saxophonist. He was born the oldest of six sons to Delores Ferdinand Marsalis and famed pianist Ellis Marsalis, Jr.. and Michael BreckerMichael Brecker (March 29, 1949 – January 13, 2007) was an American jazz saxophonist and composer. Acknowledged as "a quiet, gentle musician widely regarded as the most influential tenor saxophonist since John Coltrane,"[1]
..... Click the link for more information.. In response to demand for the product, Powell and Guardala recently invested $250,000 in additional computer-controlled machinery for their Long Island based company. We recently talked with Guardala and Powell to get their perspective on the mouthpiecemouthpiece n. old-fashioned slang for one's lawyer.
..... Click the link for more information. manufacturing, current market trends, and the future projects.

New automated manufacturing equipment has had a dramatic effect on the production of all types of musical products. How have you taken advantage of these new opportunities?

Guardala: We have introduced Computerized Numerical Control numerical control: see computer-aided manufacturing.

---

numerical control
(NC)

Control of a system or device by direct input of data in the form of numbers, letters, symbols, words, or a combination of these forms. machines to the making of saxophone mouthpieces. Originally we were making custom mouthpieces by hand for players who would come to us and say, "I want to sound like Coltrane," or, "I want to sound like Michael Brecker." After a few years we found that a we had two models that were particularly popular, the Studio and the Traditional. In an effort to lower our prices and increase production, we had to make a choice: adopt CNC (Computerized Numerical Control) See numerical control.

---

CNC - Collaborative Networked Communication machines or follow conventional practices and make mouthpieces from liquid that hardens in a mold. We opted for CNC for a variety of reasons.

Could you elaborate on the advantages of machining a mouthpiece?

Guardala: The biggest advantage is simply consistency. We make our mouthpieces out of bars of brass that have consistent density and hardness that is measured by the U.S. government. When you pour liquid brass into a mold, the hardness and density are determined by the time taken to cool the liquid, and there are inherent inconsistencies from one mouthpiece to the next. Using bar stock, you eliminate that problem.

In addition, the CNC machine can cut the many curves of a saxophone mouthpiece perfectly, time after time, with no variations.

Does the use of CNC machines eliminate the human element in building a mouthpiece?

Powell: Absolutely not. There are some things that should be done by machine, and there are some tasks that have to be done by hand. It is better to cut a mouthpiece facing by machine, but when it comes to putting on the tip rail, balancing the baffles, and smoothing the chambers, no machine can match a skilled man with a file. In this case, there is nothing "higher tech" than a man's hand.

We have discussed the advances you have made in production techniques. What about mouthpiece design?

Guardala: The most important change we made to general mouthpiece design was to reduce its size and weight and thin the rails. The result is better vibrating vibrating,
v using quivering hand motions made across the client's body for therapeutic purposes. characteristics all around. We call the concept "Controlled Resistance." While the mouthpieces vibrate freely, thanks to the use of bar brass stock and my special hand finishing, the upper harmonics never overwhelm the fundamental. The ultimate sound is balanced with the fundamental and harmonics in proper proportion.

How did you arrive at these designs?

Powell: We honed our art by working with Michael Brecker. He has the finest air stream of any saxophonist, and he knows exactly what he wants. It took a long time to finally get exactly what Michael wanted. But when he finally picked up one of our Traditional models and said "This is It," we knew we had gotten it right. Michael has been playing "It" ever since.

After satisfying Brecker, what did you do next?

Guardala: We took what we had learned and basically expanded the line. We created a tenor saxophoneThe tenor saxophone is a medium-sized member of the saxophone family, a group of instruments invented by Adolphe Sax. It is perhaps the most well known of all saxophones and is a transposing instrument, pitched in the key of B♭, and written as a transposing instrument in the
..... Click the link for more information. mouthpiece darker than the Traditional and brighter than the Studio. We added the Crescent model, which has a sound reminiscent of John Coltrane's 1963 Crescent album. Then we came out with the King/R&B model, which has a sound patterned on the late, great King CurtissFor the professional wrestler, see .

Curtis Ousley (February 7, 1934 – August 13, 1971), who performed under the name King Curtis, was an American tenor, alto, and soprano saxophonist who played rhythm and blues, soul, rock, and soul jazz.
..... Click the link for more information..

So far, you've mentioned only tenor mouthpieces. What about the other voices?

Guardala: We offer five models for alto, five for soprano, and five for baritonebaritone or barytone (both: băr`ĭtōn), male voice, in a lighter and higher range than a bass but lower than a tenor.
..... Click the link for more information. in our original line of mouthpieces. For our second generation, we are releasing a new line of mouthpieces, the FatBoy series.

How do these differ from the originals?

Guardala: Our original mouthpieces are smaller in size. To address the needs of players who wanted a bigger mouthpiece, but without having to add weight that would detract from detract from
verb 1. lessen, reduce, diminish, lower, take away from, derogate, devaluate << OPPOSITE enhance

verb 2. tone, we came up with an ellipticalel·lip·tic or el·lip·ti·cal
adj.
1. Of, relating to, or having the shape of an ellipse.

2. Containing or characterized by ellipsis.

3.
a.
..... Click the link for more information. body.

Powell: We are in the process of patenting our elliptical body design. We came up with this design while working on a soprano mouthpiece for Branford Marsalis. He is currently using the mouthpiece every night on the "Tonight Show."

Are there FatBoys for alto and baritone?

Powell: We are currently working on them.

What about the Guardala line of reeds?

Guardala: A lot of contemporary musicians told us that in selecting reeds they had to choose between good cane in an indifferent cut, or bad cane and a more sympathetic cut. Our goal was to provide a reed that allowed contemporary saxophonists Explanation of columns:
s = Sopranino
S = Soprano
A = Alto
T = Tenor
B = Baritone
b = Bass
c = Contrabass
sc = Subcontrabass (i.e. Tubax)
Explanation of indicators:
X = instrument has been used by person or group

to play their music. Our reeds tend to be more expensive, but we think our consistency is much higher, so in the long run the musician spends less because he gets more good reeds in every box. We are getting ready to introduce an alto premium line and a line of clarinetclarinet, musical wind instrument of cylindrical bore employing a single reed. The clarinet family comprises all single-reed instruments, including the saxophone. The predecessor of the modern clarinet was the simpler chalumeau, which J. C.
..... Click the link for more information. reeds that should be on the market shortly.