Last December 22nd, the last working day for us in 2008, Dave Monette and Dean Willoughby in our shop sat down and brainstormed on what it would take to make the next generation PRANA 3 Bb trumpet for Wynton Marsalis - assuming time and money were no object. They ended up documenting about two dozen changes large and small, including an all-new bell made with the same alloy we use in our RAJA SAMADHI instruments. Among other details, the design called for a special configuration solid sterling silver bell wire, an all-new new valve casing and an all-new leadpipe - the first new Monette Bb leadpipe design in 15 years!

Five months, lots of tooling and too many man/hours of labor later to count, the horn was delivered to Wynton in New York on May 7th, 2009. His reaction, captured in a home video made by his assistant, Jono, as he played the first few notes on the horn, was one word spoken to Dave Monette: “Congratulations.”

Adam Rapa visited the shop several times during the development of the new horn, and got to play it in various stages of completion over the last few months. Below is Adam's description of the process as he experienced it over several months and several shop visits. Thanks to Adam for the great play-testing and for helping us put the finishing touches on this project.

Dave and his crew never cease to amaze me. Their goal with building this horn was to surprise Wynton with a new horn that was superior in all ways to his current one, which was a tall order for sure. I'm very thankful to have been a fly in the wall for a good deal of brainstorming and experimentation during the project. Having play-tested it on several occasions, with major changes being made in between, I learned a ton more about what effects what, about the relationship between the various facets of the horn and how sometimes major improvements require drastic changes while some require truly miniscule ones. I also gained an even clearer understanding of how many light-years ahead Dave is from the pack in building trumpets.

Their goals were very clear: A) Make a trumpet that projects in such a way that even from the opposite end of the shop (60+ feet away) you feel a close, intimate connection to the sound of this trumpet as if it were right in front of you (even at pianissimo!); B) give the sound an unprecedented clarity, with very well-defined edges; and C) make every note slot like you're playing a piano. The results were astounding!

The sound of this horn can embrace you like a warm, loving hug, or unleash the most monstrous can of whoop-ass you can imagine. I take that back - you cannot imagine until you hear it live, because a trumpet has never been capable of producing this tone before. And as I play-tested it, I felt like it was literally quantizing my notes into perfect slots for me, as if all I needed to do was give it an inch and the horn itself would go the mile. While slurring really fast lines, the front of each note was so well defined that it sounded like I was articulating, and it did feel very much like I was playing a piano. This is a trait already common to Monette horns over all others, and I do experience that sensation with my horn as well, though not nearly to the same degree. Dave and his staff crossed many new barriers with this trumpet, and I'm honored to have witnessed the process.

The moment everyone involved gave the final thumbs up, Dave bought a plane ticket to New York and was out the door ten minutes later. Now that's the kind of efficiency one would expect from the worlds greatest trumpet maker! =) And this is a horn truly fit for a king.

Adam Rapa