This is a Theo Wanne gold Durga alto saxophone mouthpiece. This has a higher and longer baffle than the other Theo Wanne mouthpieces I have played. The baffle looks to be in two stages. The first stage is high and looks to be about half an inch long. At that point there is a ledge and another baffle with a steeper decline. This secondary baffle has a rounded edge on it that drops into the chamber. This is the brightest of the Wanne alto mouthpieces I have tried. I think it’s also the prettiest. I just love looking at this piece. It is gold but has silver on the band, biteplate and ligature. It looks amazing. If you click on the pictures below they will expand so you can see more detail.
Theo Wanne Gold Durga Alto Saxophone Mouthpiece
- Appearance:
I don’t think a better looking mouthpiece has ever been made. This is the most beautiful mouthpiece to just sit and look at. Very shiny and the combination of the gold and silver is dazzling. The rails and tip are thin, even and perfect. Everything about the mouthpiece looks perfect including the leather pouch and box that it comes in. I would have loved to own this mouthpiece back when I went through my Sanborn phase……..
- Tone:
Bright and loud. Is it too bright? That’s a matter of taste. There is certainly a place for this type of sound for modern alto players. It reminds me of a Dave Sanborn/Dave Koz type of sound. Remember, that this recording is totally dry. In the recording studio a little bit of reverb would be added to sweeten up the sound. This type of sound is great in the studio with some reverb on it! Again, if I had found this mouthpiece when I was 15 and going through my Dave Sanborn stage I might never have discovered Charlie Parker…………(if you don’t know who Sanborn is do a youtube search)
- Intonation:
No problems at all with intonation.
- Control:
For a high baffle mouthpiece this was easy to control. Many times when I play a high baffle piece I feel like the brightness takes away from the smoothness of a fatter darker tone. I didn’t feel this with this mouthpiece. If I played it longer, I think I would have adjusted my aural cavity naturally to fatten up the sound just a bit. That usually happens when I play on high baffle mouthpieces. The altissimo range was super easy with this mouthpiece also. I had fun messing around with those overblown altissmo notes that give you that tough raw sound.
- Volume:
Through the roof. I had to back up a couple of feet and even then I clipped the levels a couple of times in the recording. This is one loud mouthpiece…………….
This is another great mouthpiece by Theo Wanne. For more information on the Durga mouthpiece visit www.theowanne.com .
About Steve
Quote: “Again, if I had found this mouthpiece when I was 15 and going through my Dave Sanborn stage I might never have discovered Charlie Parker…”
I think Sanborn carries the same weight for his time as Parker did for his.
Artemi…
REALLY?
NOT EVEN CLOSE.
Why not ? Sure he does.
The fact that you’re not a fan of his style does not take away from the significantce of Sanborn’s impact on contemporary music. One doesn’t have to like him to acknowledge this.
Can you recall, Steve, any range of mouthpieces which have been met with such universal acclaim?
I have not read a single critical review.
What I love about the mpcs at brighter end of the rangeis that they appear to have none of the ‘thin, reedy nasality’ which so many very bright ‘pieces seem to suffer from. (almost that ‘snake charmer’ sound of a bad soprano sax!)
One can imagine playing sweet-sounding ballads with them, as well as competing with the trumpets and guitars for sound levels!
I now have a Durga on order, and hope my personal expereinces will be as good as all the reviewers,
Thanks, Steve, for all your useful reviews and comparisons,
Hi Steve. Thanks for the clip.
What is the tip opening by the way?
Does this piece lacks harmonics on the low end of the horn when compared to the Kali? How about the harmonics?
I honestly can’t remember. This was a number of years ago. In the recording of the piece I say it is a .080 tip opening so I goes that is what it was. I don’t remember any specifics about harmonics and all that. Steve
Can you compare the Theo Wanne Durga with Dukoff D8? I got the Dukoff D8 for a loud brash sound for rock & roll. So much resistance that my obliques get sore when playing. Hard to stop for squeaking too, so the Dukoff sits in its box. I’m used to this tip opening. I play a Brancher J23 alto with no trouble & tip opening is 0.090 inch. Still I need a loud piece on stage so I can hear myself over drums and vocalists who crank their stage monitors. I don’t live in a big city, so it’s a six hour drive to get to a city with a music store big enough to try these out.
Gord, Dukoff mouthpieces are really inconsistent in my opinion. I have tried a few D mouthpieces for tenor over the years but never played one that I considered good. They all played and responded like they had issues with their facing curves or were leaking. Theo Wanne mouthpieces are the total opposite. The ones I have tried have been totally consistent and all played great. Steve