Phil
Barone,
who makes mouthpieces
for saxophones, is describing his clients.
"You got two kinds of people, right:
you got guys who know the equipment is only gonna
take them so far, and you got guys who are in constant
search." The 40-year old craftsman, who
also plays sax, knows the route --- he started
out in the latter category and advanced to the former.
Upon observing that his music teacher experimented
with mouthpieces, Barone followed suit and "it
became an obsession, I put a lot of focus on my
equipment as opposed to my practicing."
Although he has rearranged his priorities (he now
practices for two hours each morning), his obsession
inadvertently yielded a career. "I didn't
mean for it to be a business, I just wanted to make
a great piece," claims the dark-haired, dark-eyed
Barone, who likes to embellish his declamations
with philosophical musings, to wit: "Every
business that fails … they start out with
the wrong intent. You put the money before
the product, it can't go right."
In his home workshop in Manhattan, Barone painstakingly
turns out the product at the rate of six or seven
a month. There are brass mouthpieces, the
most commonly used; and Barone has made a few in
bronze and silver as well. They sit, polished
and imposing in velvet trays, each having been hand-engraved
('Made with pride', in script) and play-tested by
Barone with four different kinds of reeds.
Barone does all the work himself, except for casting
the mold. Until recently, when he ordered
(with great trepidation) a $20,000 metal-cutting
machine, he had been cutting the metal by hand ---
"it's murder, it's ridiculous," he notes.
Barone also makes modifications
on stock store-bought mouthpieces, most of which
he deems "mass-produced junk."
There are infinite variables involved in sound
quality, so a musician might come to Barone and
complain that his mouthpiece sounds "stuffy.
Which is darkness that's gone too far," Barone
explains.
"What you play in the store isn't going to
sound the same at home or in another room;
different reeds make a difference, different mikes.
It plays such a game with you."
And even though a mouthpiece
can last a lifetime, the quest for better sound
can be endless. "I know guys who have
drawers full of mouthpieces," Barone says
(with a brief commentary on neurosis and compulsion).
It all adds up to a potentially lucrative business.
Barone's brass mouthpieces start at $350; bronze
at $400 and silver at $500.
Clients include Ernie
Watts, Jackie McLean, Pharoah Sanders, Lou Marini,
Ravi Coltrane and Frank Wess, all of whom took
the 'word of mouth' route to Barone's door.
He doesn't advertise, nor does he trumpet his
skills. "On a scale of one to 100,"
he says, "now I know about a six. Next
year I might know a seven, but the number to know
will go up to 125." So, how would he
describe a great mouthpiece? "One that
blows free and clear and allows the artist to
express himself."
-
Karen Bennett |
