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dfoo
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Joined: 08 Oct 2014
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 Posted: Tue Oct 21, 2014 4:29 pm Post subject: Harmon style mute |
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| I have a harmon mute bought last year but I find the blow just too tight. My instructor has an old beat up joral bubble mute which is awesome, but the new ones don't play the same. I tried my harmon and a new one joral aluminum and copper and they blow more or less the same. Can anyone advise a harmon which is a freer blow than a real harmon? |
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dadbob
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| Posted: Tue Oct 21, 2014 5:29 pm Post subject: |
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try the Facet Brusio
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Bob Edwards
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MarkZ
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| Posted: Tue Oct 21, 2014 5:49 pm Post subject: |
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| dadbob wrote: | | try the Facet Brusio |
I just bought a used Brusio and love it.
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Bill Ortiz
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| Posted: Tue Oct 21, 2014 6:09 pm Post subject: |
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If you find an older Harmon pre early nineties, you'll have the classic sound. The Harmon brand mutes made after that don't have the right sound imo because they changed the dimensions. I found an older one on EBay....
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Nos Mo King
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| Posted: Tue Oct 21, 2014 6:20 pm Post subject: |
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TrumCor is a lively, free blowing and great sounding harmon. Highly recommended.
My favorite is the Best Brass all aluminum. They have 3 different models and all sound and blow differently. The all copper is great and the all brass is less brilliant than either one. Both the copper and brass harmon blow freely but more intensity is required to make them speak.
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adagiotrumpet
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| Posted: Tue Oct 21, 2014 7:45 pm Post subject: |
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| Ater trying one at ITG, I ordered the Trumcor. The intonation is terrific, and it will cut through a big band, yet sounds great in a small group. It also plays very evenly in the lower register. |
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tonino
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Location: Rome, Italy
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| Posted: Wed Oct 22, 2014 12:42 am Post subject: |
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MON! I prefer ALU harmon mutes, I think they give that traditional sound I like more.
Among the many I've tried I would suggest the Charley Davis harmon mute.
I recently bought it and it's a terrific mute, best-in-tune with a free blow.
I have also a Jo Ral alu bubble but I prefer the CD which also blends better in big band section with the other muted horns.
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Geodude
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| Posted: Wed Oct 22, 2014 4:58 am Post subject: |
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| A while ago I believe somebody mentioned that they had demo'd a prototype of a Harmon-style mute that Trent Austin was developing. I'm not sure if it has made it to market yet but the initial reviews were extremely favorable. It might be worth touching base with Trent at Austin Custom Brass. |
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oliver king
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| Posted: Wed Oct 22, 2014 6:48 am Post subject: |
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| Emo makes a great harmon style mute. |
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VetPsychWars
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| Posted: Wed Oct 22, 2014 6:55 am Post subject: |
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Humes and Berg makes some good Harmon-type mutes.
The "problem" is that the mute response is entirely dependent on your horn/mouthpiece/face combination. If everything matches, yay, super resonant. If not? Super stuffy.
So, unfortunately, about all you can do is try a large number of them and pick whatever works.
Tom
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ljazztrm
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| Posted: Wed Oct 22, 2014 11:56 am Post subject: |
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A beat up Jo-Ral bubble and a brand new Jo-Ral bubble play entirely differently. Google around for Bobby Shew's instruction on how to dent up a harmon mute.. A dented up Jo-Ral aluminum bubble is the nicest harmon I have, and I have owned and/or played a good amount of them. When I first got the Jo-Ral new, I didn't like the sound at all.. after I dented it up according to Bobby's instructions, it sounded fantastic!
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RandyTX
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| Posted: Wed Oct 22, 2014 12:46 pm Post subject: |
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Supposedly this is what Patrick Hession's well-beat-up harmon looks like...
The article about harmon mutes is actually available on Bobby Shew's personal website.
This part of it is probably the most applicable to the above discussion, but there is more content on his site:
| Quote: | | This next suggestion as regards the Harmon mute will probably make all of the manufacturers cringe and write me nasty letters, but although tricky to perfect, will really get some delightful sounds out of a mute. Buy an extra mute rather than using your regular one. Taking a medium sized screw-driver, insert the tip under the lip of the seam on the side of the mute. The seam construction will possibly vary from brand to brand, but all that you want to do is to LOOSEN the seam. No need to take the mute apart. When fairly loose, you should be able to spin the two parts or at least turn them with relative ease. Stick the mute in your horn at this point and play it. You should feel the entire mute rattling like crazy which is merely an extension of the little buzz which you normally get with this mute. Take a pair of pliers and gently squeeze the loosened seam in a few spots around the circumference of the mute seam. About every inch or so will be OK. You may have to go back and forth on this process until you accomplish the precise settings. What you should be trying to achieve with this is to make the mute vibrate more freely which will give you a little bit brighter sounding buzz and therefore add considerable warmth to the sound. Many mutes have a tendency to sound very metallic and I don't think it's as personal of a sound as with a mute that has been altered. I actually have a basic design in mind for a new type of "Harmon" mute which would offer much more than the current ones but as yet haven't found any millionaires that want to go into production on the project. Another thing that you might find a bit humorous; my wife told me that she always found it funny how BEAT-UP our Harmon mutes looked, full of dents, etc., and that when she first met me and saw me playing, she thought that I was probably a very careless person because of all of the dents in my Harmon. It wasn't until later that she saw me take a brand new mute out of a bag and start systematically knocking dents in certain areas of the mute that upon asking me I was able to explain to her that I was trying to change the sound by hammering on it. In actuality, most new mutes with their perfect shape have a very "hollow" and uncentered sound. It always feels to me as if the air is spinning around inside of the mute and fighting for a resistance center. By flattening the rounded corners and then denting slightly all around the walls of the mute, the air seems to have a better "grip" inside of the mute and the sound centers much better. This also will improve the overall intonation of the mute as well as increasing it's comfortability in playing. |
Last edited by RandyTX on Wed Oct 22, 2014 12:52 pm; edited 1 time in total |
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ljazztrm
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| Posted: Wed Oct 22, 2014 12:49 pm Post subject: |
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Yep, that's what mine looks like too.. He probably got the technique from Bobby Shew.. Really amazing the difference denting it up like that makes..
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