| View previous topic :: View next topic |
| Author |
Message |
acritzer
Heavyweight Member
Joined: 29 Nov 2009
Posts: 827
Location: Cincinnati, OH
|
 Posted: Wed May 23, 2018 5:30 am Post subject: solotone mute intonation? |
 |
|
Any suggestions for intonation issues here? Specifically for the mid/low register.
I have a stonelined that's incredibly sharp most anywhere below third space C. I've already beefed up the cork some with rubber, which seems to help on the mid/upper register.
I can always try and yank the slide, but am curious what others try. If you know the book...I'm doing Seussical...How Lucky You Are. A melody line that's all around G in the staff. |
|
| Back to top |
|
 |
Turkle
Heavyweight Member
Joined: 29 Apr 2008
Posts: 2450
Location: New York City
|
| Posted: Wed May 23, 2018 6:28 am Post subject: |
|
|
I own an Emo Solotone mute. It is also extraordinarily sharp. I don't worry about it much if I'm just using it for a special effect or something, but if I'm going to be playing anything extended on it I have to pull the slide out an inch.
_________________
Yamaha 8310Z trumpet
Yamaha 8310Z flugel
Curry 3. |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
acritzer
Heavyweight Member
Joined: 29 Nov 2009
Posts: 827
Location: Cincinnati, OH
|
| Posted: Wed May 23, 2018 6:41 am Post subject: |
|
|
| Yeah...an inch at least I think. C and above it's tolerable, but around G it's awful. |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
trpthrld
Heavyweight Member
Joined: 09 Mar 2007
Posts: 4806
|
|
| Back to top |
|
|
Danbassin
Veteran Member
Joined: 13 Oct 2013
Posts: 460
Location: Idyllwild, CA
|
| Posted: Wed May 23, 2018 7:35 am Post subject: |
|
|
| trpthrld wrote: | Ya gotta yank the slide.
And quite honestly - Harmon with stem will work fine. Ya still gotta yank & back off, just not as much. |
I was going to mention the harmon route - as long as your conductor is cool with it, and your fellow brass players don't tease you mercilessly, the intonation and projection will be far better, and the sound difference will be lost on all but brass players and collectors of 78rpm records.
It should be said that the 'cleartone' mute by H&B is a variant of the Shastock 'solotone' and that vintage models (in good condition) retain better sound and playing characteristics. I have both an EMO and Warburton/Igram "Mute Meister" 'Showtone' mute. The Emo was a revelation, in that I actually found it to be playable, while the H&B models I'd previously tried out were barely so. As a previous post mentions, it's still quite sharp, however it doesn't have nearly as bad pattern intonation problems when playing moderately high or low, or at different volumes. I expected even more from the Mute Meister version, but perhaps its hard plastic construction - and equally perhaps my own expectations of feedback, blow, and the familiarity I've gained in using the EMO - has thus far yielded a sound that I don't prefer, and not much more benefit in the intonation department when compared with the EMO.
I recently came into a Walt Johnson 'Miles Mute' harmon, and would LOVE to get my hands on his 'Gatsby Mute' solotone to really make a comparison of what non-vintage options out there can best satisfy the sound expectation for the music and the playability we expect with modern equipment.
What a great show, though - I have the opportunity to do a run of it once, and rank it right up there with Gypsy! for a musical I'd love to have another shot at in my old age...
Happy practicing!
-DB
_________________
Daniel Bassin
Conductor/Composer/Trumpeter/Improviser/Educator
I play:
Monette - CORNETTE/PranaXLT-STC Bb/MC-35/Raja A Piccolo;
Kromat C-Piccolo; Thein G-Piccolo; Various antique horns
MPCs - Monette Unity 1-7D and DM4LD |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
helsinkiscott
New Member
Joined: 26 Jun 2018
Posts: 5
|
| Posted: Tue Jun 26, 2018 1:02 pm Post subject: |
|
|
| I've only ever had to play a solo tone twice in all my years in orchestra; once on a recording. I never did find a solution, just had to practice working around the intonation problems. Mouthpiece buzzing while covering up most of the backbore. That helped more than anything. |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
zaferis
Heavyweight Member
Joined: 03 Nov 2011
Posts: 2317
Location: Beavercreek, OH
|
| Posted: Tue Jun 26, 2018 5:37 pm Post subject: |
|
|
there is no help for the H&M SoloTone.
Get a Mute Meister "ShowTone" - old school sound and plays in tune.
http://www.mutemeister.com
I use it quite often in Musicals, and in Big Band/combo settings.
_________________
Freelance Performer/Educator
Adjunct Professor
Bach Trumpet Endorsing Artist
Retired Air Force Bandsman |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
matthes93401
Heavyweight Member
Joined: 26 Feb 2006
Posts: 640
|
| Posted: Tue Jun 26, 2018 7:23 pm Post subject: |
|
|
| The MuteMeister Showtone is a major improvement over the Humes & Berg, though I really wish it were louder. It would have benefited from a maple resonator, like the excellent MuteMeister straight mute. |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
bike&ed
Heavyweight Member
Joined: 24 Dec 2004
Posts: 1837
|
| Posted: Wed Jun 27, 2018 5:11 am Post subject: |
|
|
| I like my H&B Solotone, but that’s probably because I use it on gigs several times a week... |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
Denny Schreffler
Veteran Member
Joined: 14 Apr 2005
Posts: 390
Location: Tucson
|
| Posted: Fri Jun 29, 2018 4:40 pm Post subject: |
|
|
I have a vintage H&B Clear-Tone that has no significant intonation problems with itself. Sounds "characteristic" to me and cuts thru pretty well. If I had two of them (one on which to experiment) I'd take out the center tube to see if it would change this mute in the way that it improves the Pixie.
However, in small-band playing without an MD to please, I use the H&B Mel-O-Wah. It has a similar "megaphone" sound. The Clear-Tone tends toward a strong, straight mute megaphone sound while the Mel-O-Wah tends more toward a cup mute, megaphone sound. Sounds great on mic.
The Mel-O-Wah can be used on tpt to wa-wa if one's arm is long enough but it's much easier with a short cornet
-Denny |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
Tpt_Guy
Heavyweight Member
Joined: 16 Jul 2004
Posts: 1101
Location: Sacramento, Ca
|
| Posted: Fri Jun 29, 2018 5:09 pm Post subject: |
|
|
| Denny Schreffler wrote: |
The Mel-O-Wah can be used on tpt to wa-wa if one's arm is long enough but it's much easier with a short cornet
-Denny |
I played the 2nd book on Chicago and it calls for wa-wa effects with a Solotone while the lead player is using a Harmon. 
My first thought was that I wanted to shoot the arranger because my arm isn't long enough to play that, but then decided I should just use a Harmon with the stem in.
_________________
-Tom Hall-
"A good teacher protects his pupils from his own influence."
-Bruce Lee |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
Denny Schreffler
Veteran Member
Joined: 14 Apr 2005
Posts: 390
Location: Tucson
|
| Posted: Fri Jun 29, 2018 5:41 pm Post subject: |
|
|
| Tpt_Guy wrote: | | Denny Schreffler wrote: |
The Mel-O-Wah can be used on tpt to wa-wa if one's arm is long enough but it's much easier with a short cornet
-Denny |
wa-wa effects with a Solotone while the lead player is using a Harmon.
|
 |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
|
