BUENA PARK, Calif. — To get the right sound in the esoteric world of high-caliber musical instrument repair, some say it takes a certain touch, perhaps even a degree of voodoo.

Musical instrument giant Yamaha Corp. has a different approach, involving cryogenics, fiber-optic endoscopy and an ultrasonic cleaning lab.

Yamaha this month debuted a Buena Park service center that puts a modern twist on an old-world craft, featuring technology used in medicine and automotive manufacturing.

The 5,000-square-foot facility is only the second such center in the U.S. and, unlike Yamaha's first foray in New York, goes beyond repair to research new ways to improve how musicians do what they do.

Here, instruments can be altered slightly — a component could be shaved by 50-millionth of an inch — or dramatically — a french horn might be plunged into liquid nitrogen, freezing it to 300 degrees below zero to enhance its sound.

The machines, starting at $5,000 apiece, are simply "additional tools in the tool chest," said Bob Malone, a brass instrument expert who built his name in the Los Angeles music scene before he was hired by Yamaha in 2001. "You have more choices to work with in any given situation," he said.

FOR THE ELITE

For Yamaha, the center is a marketing tool combined with research and development. Malone's crew will offer their free services exclusively to top artists, from a simple tune-up to completely overhauling instruments or designing new ones. And by putting its instruments in prominent musicians' hands, the Japanese company also hopes to attract aspiring music students to the brand.

"Our development strategy is to focus on one highly regarded player, then go through the process of developing an instrument that the player is 100 percent happy with," said Malone, director of both U.S. facilities.

Trumpet player Wayne Bergeron plans to frequent the joint.

"We (musicians) are always trying new things, searching for the perfect mouthpiece or the perfect instrument," said Bergeron, a Grammy-nominated studio artist who plays lead trumpet for the musical "Wicked" at the Pantages Theatre in Hollywood.

The high-tech gadgets allow technicians to tweak instruments in ways not imagined by centuries of artists and artisans.

By freezing brass instruments in a computer-modulated cryogenic machine, technicians alter the molecular structure of the material and significantly change the "color" of the sound.

Using fiber-optic endoscopes with a diameter of 7 millimeters or smaller, technicians view the inside of instruments much like a doctor looks inside a patient's intestines, to identify obstructions.

CRAFTSMANSHIP COUNTS

A machine akin to a key machine can duplicate all dimensions of a prized mouthpiece.

The crew also has at its disposal prototyping lathes, microscopic arc welders and micro-flame generators — all to create customized sounds and make instruments easier to play.

But excited as he is about the high-tech gadgets, Bergeron contends the magic can't be taken out of the craft. "There's no rhyme or reason to it," he said.

And that's where people like Malone come in.

Himself a trumpet player, Malone started learning the trade at Minick's Music Instrument Co. from Larry Minick, as a way to pay the bills. One of only a handful of craftsmen that top performers would trust, Minick believed in the old way of doing things. Malone apprenticed with mandrels and burnishers under Minick and eventually set up his own shop, which he ran for 18 years.

Malone says Minick, who died a few years ago, would have appreciated some of the equipment but would be horrified at the idea of putting instruments through others. The center's woodwind technician, Jeff Peterson, is another who honed his skills the old-fashioned way. Peterson is a saxophone player who started tinkering with instruments in his garage in the early '90s, using little more than screwdrivers, pliers and butane torches. Peterson said he learned over the years through trial and error, leading to his own shop and a reputation that caught Yamaha's eye.

"Their touch is at the highest level, they know how to manipulate the material to get what the artists want," Malone said of his team.

Because musical instruments require this "touch," Malone says no matter how advanced the science becomes, the old-world craftsmanship will never become obsolete.