Posted: Mon Feb 28, 2011 6:21 pm Post subject: The Pixie Mute
What are the proper applications for a pixie mute? Is there also some sort of technique involved? Is it paired with a plunger? When was the pixie mute's "hey day"? And where can I find some examples of it's use? Thanks! _________________ BSC (Brass Sound Creations) Bb; Bach Mt. Vernon 1962 Bb; Conn 38B Constellation; Bach 239GH, 25S C; Kanstul CCT 920 Picc.; Schilke E3 D/Eb; Getzen Eterna Flugel; Courtois Cornet @ 1966; Naumann 3-Hole; Etc.
Joined: 05 Sep 2010 Posts: 366 Location: San Francisco Bay Area
Posted: Mon Feb 28, 2011 6:56 pm Post subject:
It is usually paired with plunger. Cootie Williams used it effectively in Ellington's band during it's "Jungle Band" Cotton Club phase. Just another effect . Kind of fun sounding (you can make "talking" effects) though not used much nowadays. I use my pixie as a piccolo trumpet mute also (it"just" fits in the bell)
Joined: 29 Apr 2008 Posts: 2450 Location: New York City
Posted: Mon Feb 28, 2011 8:05 pm Post subject:
I am interested in this as well... I've been thinking about buying one forever and somehow I always order mouthpieces instead... _________________ Yamaha 8310Z trumpet
Yamaha 8310Z flugel
Curry 3.
I listened to Cat Anderson play "Satin Doll" as a ballad duo with bassist Jon Burr at a cliinc/concert back at the U of I in Champaign, IL back in '76.
He used a plunger with a pixie mute, starting the tune on Double B. It was ethereal- some of the tastiest playing I'd ever heard. Pretty much stunned us all.
mc _________________ A mouthpiece never missed a note by itself!
Joined: 24 Dec 2010 Posts: 70 Location: Montreal, Quebec
Posted: Tue Mar 01, 2011 7:18 am Post subject:
etc-etc wrote:
Isn't the current H&B pixie mute too big to use with a plunger?
Not if you get the H&B plunger. Which I like in the first place because it is much deeper than your average sink (or toilet) plunger. _________________ Schilke B1
NYTC California C
Yamaha 6310ZG Flugel
Amrein Piccolo
Yamaha 2330II Cornet
Jupiter Soprano Trombone
Posted: Tue Mar 01, 2011 7:28 am Post subject: "pixie mute"
Clyde McCoy used a "pixie" type mute made for him by Conn on his famous Sugar Blues recording. He used a metal ice cream dish as a plunger with the mute. The closest thing to that plunger would be the cup part of the harmon triple play mute.
clyde's nephew, John McCoy was a friend of mine and he brought me Clyde's mute to repair (when I had my shop) after Clyde, near the end of his life, made a disastrous attempt to recork the mute.
I fixed it and received a nice letter of appreciation for my efforts.
When you purchase a modern pixie from Humes and Berg it typically needs some adjustments to work correctly. First off, pull the metal tube from inside the mute...it is a short tube which actually prevents one from making the kind of volume needed to be heard with the pixie/plunger combo...best way to get it out is to place the shank of a tuba mouthpiece into the small end of the mute, wedge against the side of the tube and pull gently...should come right out (Clark Terry showed me this...)...
Next is to file the corks down, evenly on all sides until when placed in the bell, the end of the mute is almost even with the edge of the bell...some like it in more, some less...
Now...plunge away! Another thing CT told me, was to learn to make the "how now brown cow" sound not just the wah wah...the "ow" sound is with the plunger coming in towards the bell...using them both wah and ow is a useful tool to have in your arsenal...
Happy plunging! _________________ Todd A. Stoll
New York, NY
Joined: 15 Sep 2004 Posts: 3131 Location: West Virginia
Posted: Tue Mar 01, 2011 8:31 am Post subject:
tastoll wrote:
When you purchase a modern pixie from Humes and Berg it typically needs some adjustments to work correctly. First off, pull the metal tube from inside the mute...it is a short tube which actually prevents one from making the kind of volume needed to be heard with the pixie/plunger combo...best way to get it out is to place the shank of a tuba mouthpiece into the small end of the mute, wedge against the side of the tube and pull gently...should come right out (Clark Terry showed me this...)...
Next is to file the corks down, evenly on all sides until when placed in the bell, the end of the mute is almost even with the edge of the bell...some like it in more, some less...
Now...plunge away! Another thing CT told me, was to learn to make the "how now brown cow" sound not just the wah wah...the "ow" sound is with the plunger coming in towards the bell...using them both wah and ow is a useful tool to have in your arsenal...
Happy plunging!
Todd,
Thank you for this info. Man, I am so weak at plunger technique. Just an area of my playing that I have avoided and honestly it has bugged me that I am not more together on this skill. I have been listening to all of the old masters lately and you hear those Cat's and how skillfully that they execute...It's a total learning experience!!!! _________________ Freelance Performer/Teacher WV, PA, MD, and OH http://www.neil-king.com
Yamaha NY Bb, Adams F1 Flugelhorn, Schilke P5-4, Stomvi Eb/D Elite, Bach C 229 bell 25A, York Monarch cornet.
Joined: 25 Nov 2001 Posts: 5734 Location: Savoy, Illinois, USA
Posted: Tue Mar 01, 2011 10:13 am Post subject:
wvtrumpet wrote:
Another thing CT told me, was to learn to make the "how now brown cow" sound not just the wah wah...the "ow" sound is with the plunger coming in towards the bell...using them both wah and ow is a useful tool to have in your arsenal...
CT also uses bending of notes in conjunction with the plunger. As you angle the plunger in, if you fall off the pitch slightly, you get a more pronounced "ow" sound. You hear CT do this a lot on slow blues tunes, in the lower register. _________________ Jeff Helgesen
Free jazz solo transcriptions!
Posted: Mon Jun 01, 2020 3:40 pm Post subject: Tom Crown Pixie mute
This has been running on a few different threads but I'll post only here.
When I gig now, it often involves Dixieland.
I usually use three different plungers (from among five that I like) – soft rubber (with a hole), double-walled stainless steel, and Pyrex glass.
A few years ago I bought a new H&B Pixie. It sounded bad, it felt bad, and it played bad. I removed the tube per Al Grey in his “Plunger Techniques” book. I filed the corks. I never got a usable mute out of it.
I had heard about Denis Wick Eb/D mutes being used with a plunger as a Pixie. With TWO gigs (one, next week) scheduled over the next FOUR months, I decided to get one – but – before ordering, I looked on Tom Crown’s site to see if he offers an Eb/D mute.
He doesn’t, but, I saw a “Pixie” mute with a very long throat (which looks like an H&B trombone Pixie), so I ordered one from the Tom Crown site. They filled my order and got it into the mail the same day.
Arrived today and it is a winner!
Plays in tune with itself and has a stable tone down to F# in a couple of old ('40s) Conn cornets with small bells and large throats, and in a modern Edwards trumpet.
It makes everyone of my plungers sound different/better and I can completely close off the bell on any of them – even the ones without a hole – without the pitch jumping up.
If you ever gig Dixie or perform with a plunger, get one of these mutes. Also usable without plunger as a straight mute (which is what it is), especially for an early 20th Century sound. If you’re just into mutes – get one.
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