About Saxscape Mouthpieces
Saxscape mouthpieces are designed with the power and subtlety needed
for artists expressing their personal vision, and for working professionals
that need solid intonation, projection, and great tone.
Saxscape mouthpieces are about refining the great classic mouthpiece
designs of the past, along with developing truly new and innovative
designs through experiments and testing -- all for the purpose of helping
musicians find their own unique voice.
Your Personal Sound
If you're a serious sax player, you have an idea in your head about
what you want to sound like. The mouthpiece you're using may or may
not be helping you get there. Saxscape mouthpieces offer such a wide
range of styles that you stand a very good chance of finding your voice
here among the many designs available. The facing curves and rails are
all extremely precise which permits maximum consistency over the range
of the horn, with the least effort. The baffle
and chamber design is where the individual voice of the mouthpiece
is found. Once the mouthpiece voice is found that matches the player's
voice, the mouthpiece and horn can "disappear" letting the pure musical
performance come through.
Mouthpiece Crafting Process
There are three main stages in the production of a Saxscape mouthpiece.
The first is to take the specifications for the required mouthpiece
(e.g. Uptown Dark .108), and use that as data for custom software which
then outputs machining instructions. Second, I do the actual machining,
starting from a "log" of cast acrylic, which I shape using
a manual lathe and milling machine, along with a new CNC machine, to
create a blank that has the correct facing curve and upper baffle. 
Finally,
by hand I use a Dremel tool to open up the chamber to the correct size
for each mouthpiece, and use files and sandpaper
to blend together the shapes that were roughed out by machine. I then
play test each piece, make any necessary adjustments (rail width, some
baffle angles), then do the final polishing, and clean and package each
piece.
My Background
I started playing sax in 1980, and took lessons initially
from John Alexander in Miami, Florida
(John played with Ira Sullivan).
In college I studied with Gary
Campbell at University of Miami while studying Music
Engineering, and used to go to Wolfe
Tayne's mouthpiece studio in Ft. Lauderdale to buy mouthpieces...
and was amazed at all the machines there that created his mouthpieces
and reeds! In 1987 I received a jazz performance scholarship to go to
Florida State University, where I played lead alto and jazz tenor in
the 1st band, and studied shakuhachi and the WX7 wind synthesizer. I
graduated in 1990 with a degree in Studio Art (drawing, painting, sculpture)
and moved to Kansas City where I played many jazz
gigs and some studio
recordings, studied mechanical engineering for 2 years, and worked
at a digital media company doing HTML, Photoshop, 3DStudio, and Macromedia
Flash and Director programming. I came up with an idea for a new guitar
pick in 1996 and subsequently received US
Patent 5,894,097 for the Wirething
Guitar Pick. In 2002 my wife Kathy
and I moved to the East Coast to be closer to the music scene in New
York City. Since being here in East Stroudsburg, Pennsylvania (90 miles
from NYC), I've studied sax playing with Grammy nominee Dave
Liebman (Miles Davis, Elvin Jones) and worked intensively with him
on mouthpieces—I'm proud that he played for several months on
an Otto Link that I refaced for him. Recently I worked for Altec
Lansing, managing their corporate website and creating
Flash, Photoshop, and print graphics in their Marketing department.
Recently I worked with Bob Mover
(Charles Mingus, Chet Baker) on making a custom mouthpiece for him.
Evolution of the Saxscape mouthpiece
Around 1995 I got the bug to experiment with how the mouthpiece affects
tone and response. I started out by adding material
to the baffles in some of the mouthpieces I had, then moved on to adjusting
the facing and chamber. My obsession with tone led me to studying the
refacing work of the very best refacers: Jon Van Wie (RIP), Theo Wanne,
Ted Klum, and the late Frank Wells, as well as Dave Guardala's incredible
design and hand work on his mouthpieces. In 2003 I bought hard rubber
blanks from a popular mouthpiece manufacturer and refaced them, but
they didn't give me the options I needed to try out my own ideas. So
for the past two years, I learned how to fabricate my own mouthpieces
on a machining system, studying with a machinist to create the custom
steel tooling I would need.
Today
Saxscape mouthpieces are individually crafted at my studio in East Stroudsburg,
Pennsylvania. I create each one 
from
state of the art machine-grade cast acrylic rod, chosen for its excellent
acoustic properties, stability, and toughness. The facing curves are
designed using custom software that generates an optimum profile for
each opening and style of mouthpiece. The mouthpieces are hand-finished
with files and sandpaper on a reference flat granite surface plate,
and checked for accuracy with digital micrometer calipers and digital
indicators down to a resolution of 1/10,000th of an inch. I play test
each mouthpiece with a variety of reeds, for evenness of tone, intonation,
articulation, and dynamics. Only when it's good enough that I don't
want to stop playing, is it ready to be delivered to the customer.
I stand behind each mouthpiece with a 2-week guarantee—if you don't like it for any reason, I will refund your money including shipping, or exchange it for another piece, your choice. I'm relying on great word-of-mouth to sell these mouthpieces so I'll do my best to satisfy every customer.
- Kenneth Barry, September 2006