These are not, as some claim, related in any way to Martin saxophones.
Sometimes called a "salt shaker" cap, it features three holes in the top, usually some fancy embellishment, and the M Martin logo inside of a diamond (generally a double diamond). They were available in brass, lacquered brass, nickel plate, and silver plate for all size mouthpieces. They are still available in brass and nickel plate, and by special order, in silver or gold plate. That's right, they are still available, although presently without the Martin logo stamped on them. They are, however, available with custom logos, like Selmer, Leblanc, Vito, Buffet Crampon, etc. You have probably seen or owned those as well.
In order for Riffault et Fils to market it's mouthpieces in France and abroad, they needed to be complete with a properly fitted cap and ligature (and sometimes even a reed). I learned that they sourced their caps and ligatures from Hérouard & Bérnard, a company located close by in Ezy sur Eure, the historical center of woodwind manufacturing in France. Ezy sur Eure became a center because of the abundance of boxwood in the area used to make early woodwind instruments. When the mature boxwood trees were used up, the industry shifted to ebony wood, but stayed in and around La Couture-Boussey (starting about the 1500's, way before the saxophone). I made arrangements to visit the manufacturing site of Hérouard & Bérnard.
It's not clear to me exactly how "Martin" became the logo, in part because of the intertwining of the families that were involved in the woodwind industry. I'm talking about local family names like Buffet, Noblet, Thibouville, and Leblanc. "Martin" was one of those names, in fact, Madeliene Martin was a descendant of Claude Buffet. Presumably, Madeliene is what the "M" in "M Martin" stands for.
From what I've gathered, Rose Buffet (sister of Claude Buffet) married instrument maker Jean Jacques Hérouard in La Couture-Boussey in 1800. Their grandson, Alfred Hérouard, born 1866, developed and improved the manufacture of metal ligatures. Their great grandson, Pierre Hérouard, developed a metal cover (now called a cap) for protecting the mouthpiece and reed. The company is still run by the great, great, great, great grandson of Jean Jacques Hérouard, Mr. Robin Chevreteau, making Hérouard & Bérnard France's oldest continually family run woodwind business. I was given a tour by Mr. Chevreteau.
The surprisingly large low-rise factory is right behind this house in a residential area of Ezy-sur-Eure. The home's living room is now the showroom and other rooms have been converted to office space. Mr. Chevreteau explained that it was his grandfather's house and was used as a residence until recently. Given the history of Hérouard & Bérnard, "recently" may be decades ago.
Rolls of brass sheet metal for making caps and ligatures.
Cap sheet metal stamped, partially formed, waiting for the "salt shaker" end piece and final brazing.
The three-hole "salt shaker" end pieces. Each size cap requires it's own end piece, so there were many different sized end pieces.
I hadn't really thought that much about metal mouthpiece caps, but the process was way more complicated than I would have imagined. After final brazing, the cap is polished so that the braze line disappears, then lacquered or plated. It was impressive to look at that many perfectly shiny caps, thousands of them, all lined up. I'm used to seeing old tarnished and dented caps that are mismatched to the mouthpiece and ligature.
These ligatures, minus the screws, appear to be acid etched and ready for nickel plating.
Again, there were thousands of ligatures in all stages of fabrication. I had never thought about how ligatures were manufactured, though I was aware that not ever tenor ligature fits every tenor mouthpiece. Not by a long shot. But seeing the stages of fabrication made it obvious that when a mouthpiece manufacturer like Riffault et Fils, Selmer, or Vandoren ordered ligatures for a certain size mouthpiece, a company like Hérouard & Bérnard could custom fabricate a perfect fit for that model.
A jig representing the mouthpiece is fabricated. The correct size metal strapping band is made and formed around the jig so that the ends leave the right amount of gap. A little metal tube, with one half threaded, is brazed on across the gap. Then the metal tube is cut in half, leaving a threaded piece on one side and an un-threaded piece on the other. That way, it is perfectly aligned to fit the tightening screw. (I always wondered how they got the screw holes between the two sides to line up perfectly.)
The flat spot is where the metal tube is brazed on to the ligature band spanning the ends. It is then cut in half on the indentation line, leaving one half with threads and the other un-threaded.
Then it's all polished (without deforming the soft brass!), plated or lacquered, quality inspected, and ready for sale. Again, a much more complex and time consuming process than I would have imagined.
And although the stamping, bending, and brazing of the brass sheet metal doesn't sound too complicated, the machines and fabrication parts wear out and have to be repaired or re-manufactured on site. Also, the tiny screws and screw barrels are machined on site with rather complicated CNC machinery. So the facility that produces little ligatures and caps includes an elaborate machine shop that looks like this.
Although some of the fabrication machinery was state-of-the-art, there remained some equipment that had obviously served it's purpose for a long time.
Every item goes through quality control.
Hérouard & Bérnard has branched out from the original M Martin salt shaker type of cap and two screw ligatures. They are also the licensed producer of Bonade brand ligatures and caps, a line of single screw real leather ligatures similar in style to the familiar Rovner, as well as a line of traditional ligatures available with your custom logo on them.
They also manufacture saxophone, clarinet, and flute pads, again an enterprise with a long history. In 1827, a 27 year-old woman by the name of Valantine Chanu started fabricating clarinet pads for the local woodwind industry. Her descendant (grandson?) married Madeleine Martin, later forming the Martin-Chanu company. In 2007, a division of Martin-Chanu was purchased by Hérouard & Bérnard and they still makes pads for clarinet, saxophone, and flute. They also fabricate resonators, including the on-site injection molding of the familiar brown plastic resonators sometimes referred to as "Selmer style" resonators. (Gosh, I wonder where Selmer gets theirs?) The other division of Martin-Chanu continues on with making small precision parts, but not specifically for the woodwind industry.
Again, the woodwind pad making process is not as simple as I thought. Leather, felt, and cardboard backing are all stamped out on a huge conveyor-belt type of punch.
Below, you can see some of the felt and "Martin-Chanu" logo card stock that has been previously punched for various size pads.
A complete line of resonators and rivets, with the "Selmer" style plastic resonator on the bottom left.
When I asked Mr. Chevreteau what type of leather they used, he just smiled and said "animal." Okay, I get it. There are some trade secrets involved. I just thought that I would ask.
Each pad is then measured. Even though the pad was stamped out to be a certain size, that is double checked at this work station.
As you might imagine, producing a full line of pads for the full range of clarinet, sax, and flute creates a bit of an inventory nightmare. There were quite a few rows of shelving with bins and bins of pads. In the foreground is the riveting station for adding a variety of different style rivets and resonators.
Hérouard & Bérnard also produces an extensive line of woodwind neck straps and harnesses, all fabricated in house. (Sorry, no pictures of the sewing machines, etc.) They market the straps under their own name as well as trademarked names that you have probably heard of. One of their models is the Harnais Be Bop that allows the player more freedom of motion than a standard harness (to jump and jive?).
In 2001, Hérouard & Bérnard purchased Riffault et Fils and still produce a line of woodwind mouthpieces in a separate area of the same facility.
Clarinet mouthpiece blanks ready to be hand finished as was done at Riffault et Fils.
The area has a long history of one woodwind business helping another. Below, Mr. Chevreteau explained, is a worker polishing the ebonite bell piece for a local clarinet manufacturer. Hérouard & Bérnard has all of the equipment necessary for polishing ebonite because of its mouthpiece production. Although this was normally the factory workers' day off, he found somebody willing to work "overtime" and do some fine finish work for one of the local woodwind businesses that purchases H&B accessories.
Can you guess which French woodwind manufacturer this order of hand-finished clarinet mouthpieces is for?
As was traditionally the case with Riffault and Fils, many Hérouard & Bérnard mouthpieces go out the door with no embossing. The "brand name" is added by the subsequent wholesale purchaser and then players swear by that brand name.
If you want to contact me with information on Riffault et Fils or Hérouard & Bérnard and not have your comment published in this blog, simply state that in the comment. If you want me to contact you, you will need to include your email address with your comment.
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