LUEBECK Titanium, a material long used in medicine, is now about to make its mark on the world of music. Amrein, a manufacturer of musical instruments in Luebeck, Germany, claims to be the first in the world to make and sell titanium mouthpieces for wind instruments. Manfred Amrein, who owns the firm, was solo trumpeter at the Baltic port city's municipal theater for 25 years.

He says that titanium mouthpieces bring relief to musicians who are allergic to conventional silver- or gold-plated mouthpieces. Amrein says he knows from experience that many musicians who play the trumpet, the trombone and the tuba regularly require treatment for sores and eczema in and around the mouth. Surgeons report that titanium triggers no negative reactions in the human body, and a titanium mouthpiece does not just have medicinal benefits; it has musical advantages too.

The air flows more smoothly and the sound is clearer and purer, Amrein says. In a vacuum, titanium is also applied inside the instrument. Titanium mouthpieces cost about three times the price of a conventional mouthpiece. The Luebeck firm makes about 50 trumpets and trombones a year by hand. It also supplied about 100 mouthpieces a year, usually modelled on original mouthpieces sent in by the individual musician.

(DPA)