HFL 161 Wayne Tanabe

Wayne Tanabe joins the podcast from outside Waco, Texas after leaving New York City during the COVID-19 shutdown, discussing how the pandemic affected musicians, venues, and safe in-person instrument work. He describes continuing Yamaha-related R&D from home while planning safety protocols for customer visits, including concerns about aerosols and sanitation when testing brass instruments. Tanabe explains misconceptions about brass airflow and shares demonstrations showing that brass playing produces less outgoing airflow than many assume, with flutes posing more concern than brass for room spread. He clarifies that he is not a trumpet player—he studied percussion at DePaul—and recounts formative experiences hearing major trumpet artists and being surrounded by Chicago-area musical icons. Tanabe outlines his path through repair training at Allied Repair (alongside Dave Monette), running a repair-focused business for 24 years, and pursuing technology-driven approaches such as cryogenic freezing, precision valve alignment, computer analysis with the University of Vienna, ultrasonic cleaning, and the patented Magnetic Dent Removal System using rare-earth magnets. He explains how educational writing and online participation under the name Brass Rx helped grow national demand for his specialized services. Tanabe details how his connections with Chicago Symphony players like John Hagstrom and Yamaha prototype work led to Yamaha opportunities, and he describes his philosophy of tailoring instrument response to individual players through reversible adjustments, careful listening, and shared vocabulary about sound and response. He and the host discuss examples of small changes producing major results, including mouthpiece clocking, and Tanabe explains how manufacturing, polishing, plating, and receiver tolerances can create “sweet spots.” He shares repair stories ranging from heavily damaged student instruments to working with historic and iconic instruments and musicians, including visits to the Louis Armstrong House and composer graves in Vienna. Bob Malone briefly joins late, noting his long Yamaha development history dating back to work on the 6310Z trumpet, and the conversation touches on Yamaha’s scale alongside its boutique craftsmanship and the success of the Chicago Artist/Xeno trumpets, before the recording ends amid audio-connection troubleshooting.
00:00 Wayne Tanabe Interview - Yamaha Brass Craftsman
01:32 Introduction
05:15 COVID-19 Impact on Music Industry
15:09 Wayne's Background as Percussionist
17:26 Starting Brass Rx Repair Business
26:25 Joining Yamaha
32:10 Working with Professional Musicians
35:35 The Art of Instrument Customization
01:05:25 Bob Malone Joins the Conversation