Cornet Mutes

northern · New Member Joined: 09 Jun 2017 Posts: 5

Hello,
This is a question for the brass banders on here. I am curious as to your thoughts on cornet mutes?
I've been using my Bb trumpet mute set, (Full Copper Tom Crown Straight mute, Dennis Wick Cup Mute) which sounds OK... Though I find the straight mute a little bright and not the greatest sound for blending within a section. The corks are worn for my trumpet so they don't fit my cornet particularly well so I'm considering getting a separate set for cornet use.
What are your mute preferences? Also, any thoughts on matching mutes between soprano and the rest of the section?
Thanks in advance!

Jabroni · Veteran Member Joined: 25 May 2015 Posts: 146

I am also interested in this subject. Any info would be great.

Thanks

AJCarter · Posted: Fri Jul 21, 2017 8:59 am Post subject:

I always thought Denis Wick straight mutes and cup mites were the standard for brass band. When i regularly played in one that did NABBA, we always used wick. I played soprano and did buy soprano versions of cup and straight from wick but they sounded not so good on the Xeno i was using. Tuning went WAY off with the straight mute and did not center well.

Perhaps some of the brits will chime in to let us know their preferred mutes.
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Louise Finch · Posted: Fri Jul 21, 2017 9:18 am Post subject:

Hi

As a British Brass Bander, my experience is that most players, at least in the bands I've have played with, and I am talking about primarily local non-contesting bands, are using Denis Wick mutes.

Everywhere I go, everyone seems to have the Denis Wick cup, and most players also seem to have a Denis Wick straight.

The Denis Wick ET is also fairly popular. I have a mixed opinion of this mute. I've never been sure of its sound on trumpet for big band playing, and tend to use a JoRal bubble in big bands, along with a Humes and Berg cup and straight, but I like it on cornet in brass bands and concert bands.

I've found that I've also needed a plunger and bucket for Glenn Miller selections and other more big band orientated repertoire, and use a Denis Wick plunger and Humes and Berg bucket. I've noticed a variety of plunger and bucket mute choices in brass bands, and these happen to be my two preferences, the Denis Wick plunger simply because I've never used anything else, I'm used to holding a flat bottom plunger with no handle, and it does the job well enough in my opinion, and the Humes and Berg bucket, because I feel that it gives me my idea of a bucket mute sound, and I personally don't find it awkward to use.

To get to the point, I'd suggest a Denis Wick straight and cup for brass band playing, and probably a Denis Wick ET as a harmon.

I wouldn't think that there would be a great need to use the same mutes on soprano, since the sop has a different sound anyhow, but I'm not a soprano player, and having a soprano at all is often a luxury in my part of the world, and my band has just got a new soprano player after I reckon almost two years.

I really hope that this will help.

Take care

Lou
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Cornets:
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john sop · Posted: Fri Jul 21, 2017 4:21 pm Post subject:

As far as Bb cornet mutes go in brass bands, Wick are the standard for Straight, Cup and Harmon. I do, however, think the Wick Harmon is a poor mute, but that is just opinion.

As a Soprano Player in a Championship Brass Band here in England, I may be able to offer some advice for mutes here:

Wick soprano mutes aren't very good. Tuning and sound are all poor, as far as my experience goes.

Wallace make some excellent mutes for soprano (or Eb/D trumpet). The straights they offer (all copper and copper bottom) are excellent. I prefer the copper bottom. Their Harmon is very good, with two stems on offer for different sounds. I am less keen on their cup mute, but others I know love it.

I also use Peter Gane fibre straight and cup mutes. His cup is the best for tuning and sound I have used. The fibre is also excellent for when a softer straight is needed.

Another popular Harmon mute is by Stolzel. Fairly good tuning, however, quite a 'nasal' sound in my opinion.

I hope this is of some help.

zaferis · Posted: Fri Jul 21, 2017 5:06 pm Post subject:

another yes for Denis Wick mutes - straight and cup, the harmon is ok (small size is nice as it fits more comfortably in a cornet case), but a Jo-Ral plays/sounds better.

I'm not a fan of Tom Crown mutes in a section, unless everyone has one-they sound different.

Jo-Ral copper bottom st. mute is also a fine mute that blends with others.

But if at all possible I prefer the section to match mutes as much as possible. As a free-lance player I have a variety of each to match the band/principle trumpeter.

I use the Eb versions of Wick's St. and Cup mute with my Schilke Soprano cornet... they work pretty well. Important to file the corks to fit properly.
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Dennis78 · Posted: Fri Jul 21, 2017 6:55 pm Post subject:

Wick is the way to go
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a few different ones

Seymor B Fudd · Posted: Sat Jul 22, 2017 1:31 am Post subject:

northern · New Member Joined: 09 Jun 2017 Posts: 5

Thank you all for your thoughts!
Sounds like I will be ordering some Dennis Wick mutes!

Louise Finch · Posted: Mon Jul 24, 2017 7:43 am Post subject: Re: Thanks!

TKSop · Posted: Mon Jul 24, 2017 7:56 am Post subject:

The Wick Straight and Cup mutes are okay - they'll get the job done without massive intonation issues, but they're a bit boring - for me, they're the baseline of acceptability, anything less isn't worth touching but there are many mutes I'd choose first...

Having said that, they're the standard for brass band use so if you're going to be sitting in a section, odds are that's probably what will be in use.

The Wick ET mute (harmon type) is awful, the only nice thing I can say about it is that it's lightweight....
But again, it's the standard with brass bands (god knows why).

There have always been some bands that go down different routes, especially towards the top of the tree (where there's generally a bit more cash floating around to buy a full set for the whole section), but if you don't know what the band is using, the odds are it'll be Wicks.

TKSop · Posted: Mon Jul 24, 2017 8:06 am Post subject:

On the sop mutes question (I primarily play sop, championship section)...

No, there's little to no point in brand-matching to the rest of the section.

For starters, the Wick sop mutes aren't very good and for seconds you generally want to alter the sound a bit more than the Wick Eb-Cup will, the Gane (fibre) cup mute has been popular for a long time for precisely that reason - it softens the tone more and seems to match a section of Wick-cupped Bb cornets better.

The Wallace sop straight is excellent - but I'd agree with the previous commenter that the cup doesn't do much for me.

Another that ought to be mentioned are the Mike McLean mutes - the cup is excellent, as is the straight... and for dedicated quiet-mute/practice-mute (which is starting to get called for in music sometimes, and useful to use sometimes anyway) the McLean is probably the best out there for a sop.

ET-wise... I get by with a H&B Wah-wah-du-all - which fits my Eclipse proto (recently released, so I'm looking forward to some getting this one plated

) perfectly.
I've never tried it in any other sop though so I can't really comment on that.

dacman · Veteran Member Joined: 10 Mar 2004 Posts: 199 Location: WA

TKSop · Posted: Mon Jul 24, 2017 9:56 am Post subject:

Personally, the copper bottom just shades it