Who We Are
Alpine Mouthpieces is the continuation of a decade-long collaboration between horn maker Jacob Medlin and mechanical engineer Keith Durand. Together, we have a combined 30 years of experience bringing modern technologies and techniques to what is usually regarded as an old school traditional craft.
Together, we are a powerful pair of different interests both pointed in the same direction; to make great quality instruments and accessories that help players maximize their potential. Alpine Mouthpieces is just the latest endeavor in this adventure. We hope you love our efforts!
Our dream
Alpine mouthpieces began primarily to finally give Jacob an option for a great mouthpiece to recommend to customers playing his handcrafted horns. With so many options, we had a hard time finding a mouthpiece that was not only a good fit for the horn, but made with consistency. As we got deeper into the research, we found it impossible to sort through all the different makes and models available. We just wanted a simple design that worked well and was extremely well made. Since we couldn’t find this, we decided to make it ourselves. Our dream is to finally give people much better (and fewer!) options for finding a great mouthpiece.
Manufacturing
The machine that makes each Alpine mouthpiece is an ultra precise EMCO E25, an Austrian-made CNC lathe which is perfectly suited for horn mouthpiece production. Each mouthpiece is manufactured and inspected to tolerances of well less than 0.001 inch. These tolerances are rarely used in musical instrument manufacturing; they require careful process planning, exacting measurement tools and techniques, and monitoring of tool wear. Keith has decades of advanced manufacturing experience and has luckily been talked into using it for the advancement of horn playing.
Our hard-working robot friend
About half-way done
Keith hiking at the top of Stockhorn (Zermatt)