Description
The AMBIKA 3 Soprano Mouthpiece is our darkest soprano mouthpiece. It has a deep, hauntingly gorgeous tone!
“I’m having fun with the sop Ambika. Good things pop out as I get into it. Each day playing the Ambika, I discover more!” – Jan Garbarek (Keith Jarrett, George Russell, Grammy Nominee, 31 Internationally Acclaimed Albums)
“I love your AMBIKA III Soprano mouthpiece. I just did a recording with it, take a listen! I have played it as my main piece since I got it and it has opened up wonderful new immediate ways of expression, THANK YOU!” – Uwe Steinmetz (16 CDs , professor at Rostock University of Music)
The AMBIKA 3 is the result of Theo’s many decades of large chamber soprano mouthpiece research. His goal was to get the full bodied sound of the vintage 1940’s mouthpieces, but with much improved projection, ease of play, and dynamics. The AMBIKA 3 soprano has the best of the old world sound along with the benefits of modern research and manufacturing technology by the worlds foremost mouthpiece designer.
The Hard Rubber AMBIKA 3 uses real vintage style hard rubber just like the vintage mouthpieces of the 1940s-50s. If you love a full and beautiful soprano sound, your will love the AMBIKA. Read more on the ‘STORY’ tab to hear about it’s development history.
SOUND
- Built to outplay Theo’s very best Vintage large chamber soprano mouthpiece, and have enough projection for modern music at the same time!!!
- A deep and haunting sound best left to poetry. Hauntingly dark!
- Revolutionary in improving upon the true vintage sound!
DESIGN
- Revolutionary Extra Large True Large Chamber, NO baffle, and rounded inner side walls.
- Crafted to the highest accuracy in the history of saxophone mouthpieces.
- Designed by Theo Wanne, the foremost expert on the design and manufacturing of vintage and new mouthpieces.
DETAILS
- Case: Beautiful Leatherette Case! Like the case? See our other Mouthpiece and Reed Cases here!
- Serial Number: Includes specific serial number showing care given to your mouthpiece.
- Premium Hard Rubber: The Hard Rubber AMBIKA uses the finest vintage style hard rubber on the planet!
- Ligatures: The award winning Enlightened Ligature. To truly individualize your sound, try our Premium Pressure Plates, which fit all of our mouthpieces and ligatures!
- Cap: Reed Replacer Cap. The most secure cap in the world.
- California residents please click here for Proposition 65 WARNING
“I’m having fun with the sop Ambika. Good things pop out as I get into it. Each day playing the Ambika, I discover more!” – Jan Garbarek (Keith Jarrett, George Russell, Grammy Nominee, 31 Internationally Acclaimed Albums)
“I love your AMBIKA III Soprano mouthpiece. I just did a recording with it and if you find time, take a listen! I have played it as my main piece since I got it and it has opened up wonderful new immediate ways of expression, THANK YOU!” – Uwe Steinmetz (16 CDs , professor at Rostock University of Music)
“I was using a vintage Selmer Air Flow D that has been refaced or a Vandoren S7 V16. I used to play a Lamberson Fmaj7 that I got rid of because I needed a change. Big mistake. So the AMBIKA and GAIA Wanne soprano pieces are the first mpcs that have made me happy in 4 years. I am leaning towards the Ambika, but the Gaia sparkles as well.” – Dr. Steve Carmichael (San Diego Symphony, NHK Tokyo Symphony, Nelson Riddle Orchestra, The San Diego Wind Ensemble, faculty at Carthage College and the University of Wisconsin)
“Absolutely fantastic! Pitches beautifully and has beautiful resonance. Alto like in low register, perfect resistance and overtones for me. I’ve been at it for 90 minutes with #4 Jazz select reed and 3.5 blue box Vandoren also and nothing hurts! I feel I’ve gained an element of control that I didn’t anticipate. I could not be happier my friend – and the best part – it’s got me practicing!! Thank you my friend!” – Campbell Ryga
“The Ambika III mouthpiece is wonderful, I love it! I’m getting more and more addicted to Theo’s products. I think the world definitely needs more of Theo’s mouthpieces” – Ulrich Drechsler
“Theo, You must be used to superlatives by now, right? If not… I feel like I’ve been searching for the right soprano mouthpiece for my whole playing career. I like my Gaia. I like my Selmer Soloist. I like my Selmer Super Session. I like a couple of pieces that I got from Joe Giardullo, but I’ve always had this nagging feeling that I needed to keep searching (this is not true for tenor and alto, btw). But…after playing the new Ambika mouthpiece, I feel liberated from the search altogether. “Perfect” is not a word that I throw around, but I feel perfectly happy with this mouthpiece. I really can’t find fault with it.” – Mark Miller (Chair of Music at Naropa University)
“Wow guy! I have a new soprano mouthpiece! Retiring my old favorite I’ve been playing on for 20+ years.” – Perry Conticchio (Chuck Levin’s Music)
In 2002 Jan Garbarek flew out to my shop in Philadelphia, and I had the privilege of refacing many mouthpieces for him. I have always been a big fan of Jan’s music, and in particular love his soprano sound, it is just so expressive! The work I did for Jan eventually inspired the design for the GAIA 1 soprano mouthpiece. Jan’s description when he first got the GAIA 1 was “Finally my soprano sounds like a saxophone!” Jan has been playing the GAIA 1 mouthpiece all these years….until this year…
I can never rest with a design, I always want to find a way to make things better. I don’t always succeed, but I must always try. I sent several new designed mouthpieces to Jan, but he always stuck with his GAIA 1. This drove me nuts! Eventually in the process of creating the GAIA 3 alto mouthpiece I hit upon a new design idea & technology, which proved amazing in the GAIA 3 alto mouthpiece. I thought, maybe this will work with the soprano too. So I transferred the new concept/technology over to the soprano and the GAIA 3 soprano mouthpiece was born. It just does everything the GAIA 1 did, but better. It might look like generic shapes in the chamber and baffle, but I assure you, they are not.
Until this year I never made an AMBIKA soprano mouthpiece, as when making a soprano mouthpiece darker, it can turn ‘dead’ sounding. But this new technology from the GAIA 3 mouthpieces created life in the sound, even when the baffle was significantly lowered. So yes, the AMBIKA 3 soprano is darker and less edgy than the GAIA, but instead of going ‘dead’ it becomes warm and full. This was the first time I felt comfortable making a truly dark soprano mouthpiece, as it was full of color and life…while still being warm and very dark.
I sent the AMBIKA mouthpiece to Jan, and he has been using it as his primary soprano mouthpiece ever since then. There is no greater testament than that!
I am passionate about beautiful sound and feel. To me, even more important than the sound coming out of the instrument, is how we feel when playing. Do we feel creative, passionate, and inspired? Only then do I feel a mouthpiece is doing what it is meant to do. So after creating such a dark soprano mouthpiece and receiving the message from Jan ““I’m having fun with the sop Ambika. Good things pop out as I get into it. Each day playing the Ambika, I discover more!” did I feel the mouthpiece was truly a success.
I hope you enjoy it as much as both of us. In many ways the AMBIKA is my Crown Jewel for the soprano. It is a combination of many years of intense study in soprano mouthpiece design, new technology, and the inspiration provided by one of the greatest living legends on the soprano sax, Jan Garbarek!
– Theo Wanne
