What mutes are a must in your stable?

[SMrtn]

JO RAL tri-tone cup mute - any good?

[chef8489]

[SMrtn]

[Dayton]

[chef8489]

[Crazy Finn]

I have quite a few mutes, but most aren't interesting and I've just gathered them as I bought used horns. I also inherited some mutes (my Wicks) from my old college buddy when he sold his Strad and got rid of his trumpet stuff.

I don't love mutes in general. I spent a long time working on my sound and tone and now I'm sticking this tin can in my bell to make myself sound annoying or whatever. But, hey, composers write for mutes and want that sound, so I use them. The cup is by far my favorite as it tends to have nice tone.

Straight: Denis Wick. It's in-tune, has a solid sound and even response. I also have an old Tom Crown, it's pretty good, but not as good. My old Vacchiano I used for decades isn't as good as the Wick but has a buzzier sound, so sometimes I need that one.

Cup: Denis Wick and H&B. Wick is good because it's flexible. It can be a tight cup or an open cup, it can fit on my Benge or my Selmer Radial. The sound is a little dull and uninspiring, but not unpleasant. The H&B has a better sound, but you need different cups for open or tight or different horns so they fit properly. I do have several, I used these before and sometimes still do. Someday I'll get one that really floats my boat as far as sound. I do have a H&B Mic-a-Mute, but haven't really put it through the paces, yet.

Harmon: H&B bubble. It's got a nice sound, it's not super stuffy, and is solid as far as intonation. It's a bit heavy. I also have a few older Harmons, one that works fairly well, but isn't as good as the bubble except for having the Harmon sound. This might possibly be my least favorite mute type.

Plunger: Black one from Menards for $2. This IS my least favorite mute type. I cut a hole where the stick would go and it plays alright. I'm sure some of the nice plungers out there are marginally better, but that's an investment I have little interest in. The clay colored plunger I used for decades is somewhere in my basement, but I couldn't find it after it not being used for about a dozen or more years, so I got a new one.

Practice: I have an older H&B Mannie Klein that I use, but isn't great, but practice mute are rarely great. I played on a ProTec or Liberty or something that was nicer, but I didn't pull the trigger when I was working music retail. I also have first generation Yamaha Silent Brass that I used exceptionally sparingly about two decades ago, but toted the mute part around sometimes for warmups because it was smaller than my Mannie Klein.

Other mutes: I have the Hickman Sotto Voce I bought on a whim, which seems really good for what it does - but I haven't had the need for it, yet. I have a new H&B Clear Tone / Solotone (store discount) that isn't as good as the vintage one I blew on once, but who knows when or if I'll need it. I have a E-Z Bucket Mute, which is great - but doesn't fit on my Radial but works fine on my Benge. I also made a mute clamp holder - inspired by a YouTube video I saw here on TH, but I can't find it at the moment. Basically it lets you clamp your straight to the stand and play it by moving your bell to the mute for quick changes. It works great.

Mutes I've not bought: I don't care for the Jo-Ral cup as it's a worse version of the Wick with a sound that's also kind of unpleasant. The felt rings can improve to it varying degrees, but you can do a similar thing to the Wick or any cup to better effect. I have a H&B rigged up with stuffing wedged in the cup and it sounds nice. The Jo-Ral Bucket is Ok, but doesn't sound like other buckets and I like my EZ Bucket better, anyway. Their Bubble is pretty good, but not better than my H&B.

Mutes I might buy or should have bought: Cups are my favorite trumpet mutes and I should get one I actually like a lot. I played on some wood Facet mutes about a decade ago at ITG and thought they were super. I've played on a friend's Soulo Cup and it's pretty good, but didn't blow me away. I've looked at Huber mutes and watched a lot of "Mute Monday" videos, but haven't pulled the trigger on anything, yet.

Edit: clarified a few statements with words in italics. This might possibly be my least favorite mute type. This IS my least favorite mute type.
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LA Benge 3X Bb Trumpet
Selmer Radial Bb Trumpet
Yamaha 6335S Bb Trumpet
Besson 709 Bb Trumpet
Bach 184L Bb Cornet
Yamaha 731 Bb Flugelhorn

[Rapier232]

A lot of composers have no idea about mutes unfortunately. I played a show that required 6 different mutes, and often with a quaver rest to change to another. The most annoying change was Harmon mute stem in, next bar Harmon stem removed. Few bars later stem in. I had to buy a 2nd Harmon.


I was asked to play for a First World War piece, by the composer. One section just said mute. I asked which mute they wanted. They didn’t know there were different types. I then had to play the passage with the 8 different mutes I had in my bag and the orchestra voted for the one they liked best. Which was HB Wah Wah Du All. 🤷🏻‍♂️
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"Nearly as good as I need to be. Not nearly as good as I want to be".

Smith-Watkins Bb
Will Spencer Bb
Eclipse Flugel
Smith Watkins K2 Cornet
JP152 C Trumpet
Besson Bugle

[gwood66]

The only mute I didnt see in the thread was an H&B Mic-a-Mute. Basically a felt lined cup. I got one free with a horn that a bought and use it in place of a standard cup mute. I like the sound and intonation better.
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Gary Wood (comeback player with no street cred)

GR 66M/66MS/66**
Bach Strad 37
Getzen 3052
Yamaha 6345

[plankowner110]

any metal straight mute
Harmon wah-wah mute
Humes & Berg cup mute
Humes & Berg bucket mute
hardware store rubber plunger

These will last a lifetime of gigs.
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C. G. Conn 60B Super Connstellation
Getzen 800S Eterna cornet
Bach 5C (Jens Lindemann is right)
https://www.trumpetherald.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=26763