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T ERRY WARBURTON HAS achieved the equivalent of reinventing the wheel in terms of instrument accessory manufacture. The good-looking Canadian with the languid drawl has thought outside the box and found fresh solutions to old playing problems by designing a series of transformations to mouthpieces, a revolutionary adaptation to the neck of the saxophone - The Ultimate Sax Neck - and practise aids for brass instruments. Terry explained: “I cut the neck of the saxophone and reinvented it as a modular system, much like the Warburton backbore mouthpieces for brass and woodwind. The new neck design makes the instrument sound more in tune and facilitates better control. Every musician who has tried it for five minutes wants to buy it.” Terry’s career started as a trumpet player but, by the age of 24 and with a thriving retail business to his name, he had ventured into mouthpiece design and production. The Warburton mouthpiece system enables the player to choose the optimum combination of rim diameter, cup style and depth, and backbore, enabling them to fit together a mouthpiece that will best balance sound and resistance with their instrument. The system comprises interchangeable top and backbore sections, and the backbore designs complement the cup shapes, providing further fine-tuning sound benefits. Terry also manufactures the P.E.T.E. (Personal Embouchure Training Exerciser) for developing a strong embouchure. The P.E.T.E. directly targets the exact muscles that tire toward the end of a performance – those that prevent the lips from falling into the cup, blowing apart and losing the buzz. The proof of the success of this product lies in its first year sales figures – 7,000 have flown off the shelves and Terry is now selling them at the rate of 1,000 a month! There’s also the David O'Neal BuzzMaster, which allows players to focus their air stream, wind power and tongue placement, as well as to maintain proper embouchure formation to maximise buzz for pinpoint accuracy. “The last year has been pretty exciting,” drawls Terry, “and the biggest response from major manufacturers is ‘why didn’t we think of that?’” Sounds like his pipedream of having a larger boat for the Florida Keys is about to become reality! ■ www.warburton-usa.com or call Phil Parker Ltd.: + 44 207 486 8206 46 Nicola Bland meets the guy who dispensed with a century plus of brass instrument accessory manufacture | bbW AVAILABLE NOW! Constellations (Philip Harper) 29979 £49.95 Philip Harper’s latest concert suite gives band and soloists every opportunity to shine. First performed by Black Dyke Band in Symphony Hall, Birmingham in February 2010. Aspects of Adiemus (Karl Jenkins arr. Peter Graham) 29985 £74.95 Karl Jenkins is regarded as one of the most popular and successful composers of his generation and his ‘Adiemus’ albums have sold in huge numbers around the world. The first movement of this suite, ‘Adiemus’, was originally used in an airline commercial and later released on the composer’s platinum disc album, ‘Adiemus - Songs of Sanctuary’. The following three movements are from the second album, ‘Adiemus - Cantata Mundi’ and were first performed in their brass band form by Cory Band in Symphony Hall, Birmingham in 2001. Flame of Independence (Dan Price) 29984 £34.95 Given as a gift to the United States of America by the people of France, the Statue of Liberty is one of the most recognisable icons in the world and stands as a universal symbol of freedom and democracy. Here, it is the inspiration for Dan Price’s superb new curtain-raiser. www.worldofbrass.com/primavista Telephone order line: +44 (0)1933 445 445 Reinventing the wheel The P.E.T.E Product up-date Terry Warburton ALL PHOTOS: COURTESY WARBURTON MUSIC PRODUCTS 46 BBW196 ProductUpdate_46 BBW196 ProductUpdate.qxd 21/07/2010 14:21 Page 46
