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What mutes are a must in your stable?


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chef8489
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Location: Johnson City Tn

PostPosted: Sat Aug 28, 2021 12:18 am    Post subject: What mutes are a must in your stable? Reply with quote

As I am exploring my comeback I am looking at my mutebag from before and wondering what mutes are in everyone's stable and what are a must for you. I'd like to have a well rounded collection and just about everything was from my comeback before my last break in 2018. Here is what I currently have.
Jo-ral copper bottom straight mute
Jo-ral copper bubble mute
JO-RAL copper bottom bucket mute
Jo-ral tri tone cup mute
Trumcor vintage tone mute

I feel I still need a plunger mute but not decided which as of yet and not sure what other mutes I still need for a well rounded collection. Could use some ideas or suggestions.
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deleted_user_687c31b
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PostPosted: Sat Aug 28, 2021 4:05 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Got the staples (straight, cup, harmon, plunger & bucket) way back when I first needed them (i.e. first orchestra for the straight and cup, first bigband for the others). Was in the pre-internet age, which around here meant buying whatever the local store happened to have. They're all Dennis Wick I believe, and the plunger came from the local hardware store. I'm still using them except for the harmon: the cork wore off and I purchased a new, copper one. And my plunger dried out after 25 years of use. The mutes seem sufficient to me, though to be honest I'm not too much into mutes (I hear the differences between them, but I don't find it significant enough to be ale to pick one over the other).

My favorite is the plunger though, and not just for the wah-wah effects. Because it's an actual rubber plunger, it can be bent into different shapes to alter the effect on the sound, which I occasionally use for the 'faraway-lonely-trumpet-in-an-old-downtown-detective-movie' effect.

You've got a nice collection though, and they look cool together.
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ayryq
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PostPosted: Sat Aug 28, 2021 4:23 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

My standard kit for jazz big-band gigs:
Tom crown aluminum straight
Wick adjustable cup
Trumcor Zinger (bubble/harmon)
plunger - usually hardware store
If music calls for bucket, the last band I played in used flugels.

Orchestra depends on the music but usually for standard "con sord" stuff either
Trumcor lyric OR
Tom crown gemini copper-bottom

Concert band/wind ensemble depends mostly on the other players. An upcoming concert calls for Harmon and we're using Joral coppers.

Eric
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zaferis
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PostPosted: Sat Aug 28, 2021 4:41 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Denis Wick straight and adjustable cup. Jo-Ral straight are comparable.
Stone Lined cup - to match and use in jazz band section work
-for my Bach Commercial Trpt (which has a slightly larger bell) I like a Jo-Ral cup mute as the cup covers/matches the bell size)

Jo-Ral Bubble mute great sound but heavy
Soulo harmon style - sounds great (much lighter than the previous)

KR Indigo Max - the best plunger (MUTEC MHT 160 also very good)
& Huber Kellso Pixie

EAZY Bucket mute

MuteMeister SoloTone

I also have a complete set of Soulo mutes, that I like and often use in combo or pit orch. situations, when I'm not worried about matching others (section work)


* IMO get rid of the Jo-Ral Bucket - this is a terrible mute. The rest of Jo-Ral's mutes are great.
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nltrumpet
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PostPosted: Sat Aug 28, 2021 6:44 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

If you’re doing ensemble work with exposed playing, it wouldn’t be a bad idea to get a “soft” straight mute. The Trumcor Lyric is a popular go-to, but I really like the plastic BrassSpa straight mute, as it sounds great except in the very softest soft’s and the very loudest loud’s.
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chef8489
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Joined: 16 Aug 2011
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Location: Johnson City Tn

PostPosted: Sat Aug 28, 2021 8:44 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

zaferis wrote:
Denis Wick straight and adjustable cup. Jo-Ral straight are comparable.
Stone Lined cup - to match and use in jazz band section work
-for my Bach Commercial Trpt (which has a slightly larger bell) I like a Jo-Ral cup mute as the cup covers/matches the bell size)

Jo-Ral Bubble mute great sound but heavy
Soulo harmon style - sounds great (much lighter than the previous)

KR Indigo Max - the best plunger (MUTEC MHT 160 also very good)
& Huber Kellso Pixie

EAZY Bucket mute

MuteMeister SoloTone

I also have a complete set of Soulo mutes, that I like and often use in combo or pit orch. situations, when I'm not worried about matching others (section work)


* IMO get rid of the Jo-Ral Bucket - this is a terrible mute. The rest of Jo-Ral's mutes are great.

What don't you like about the jo ral bucket? I always prefer it to the clip on bucket mutes.
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Tpt_Guy
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PostPosted: Sat Aug 28, 2021 10:13 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

chef8489 wrote:

What don't you like about the jo ral bucket? I always prefer it to the clip on bucket mutes.


While I can't speak for anyone else, in my opinion the Jo Ral bucket doesn't have a traditional bucket sound. It is easier to use than clip-on buckets for sure.

You may look into the Peter Gane or Mike McLean buckets. They are easy to use like a straight or cup mute but give a great bucket sound.
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zaferis
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PostPosted: Sat Aug 28, 2021 11:43 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

The Jo-Ral "bucket" doesn't sound like any other bucket, really messes with pitch, and if the stuffing isn't cared for gets even worse. This is the one mute that if I see someone in the section using, I will offer them use of one of my other buckets, lobby to use other mutes/flugel, or lie and say I don't have one with me so the section leader calls for something else.


There are several that are far better, including the old clip-on red & white stone-lined.
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Andy Del
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PostPosted: Sat Aug 28, 2021 11:47 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

zaferis wrote:

* IMO get rid of the Jo-Ral Bucket - this is a terrible mute. The rest of Jo-Ral's mutes are great.


Interesting. I own, and never use, an aluminium JoRal bucket. Terrible mute. My go to was a very old Humes & Berg.

Until I unwisely loaned it to a student. She sat on it in the school show and made pancake. And was mortified. Poor thing, I just agreed to let her pay for a new one, I’d go find one I liked. So apart from a very red face, there was no angst. And to be truthful, as a state rep, sport nut jock, I was just a bit scared!

I found a sale! We have had our share of corporate take overs / mergers of music shops which always end in closure. There was a bargain bin full of expensive mute for almost nothing. I got a copper based JoRal bucket mute for $10. It, compared to the all aluminium is wonderful, it stacks up as well as any and I still use it.

Best mistake…

Cheers

Andy
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chef8489
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Joined: 16 Aug 2011
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PostPosted: Sat Aug 28, 2021 12:25 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Andy Del wrote:
zaferis wrote:

* IMO get rid of the Jo-Ral Bucket - this is a terrible mute. The rest of Jo-Ral's mutes are great.


Interesting. I own, and never use, an aluminium JoRal bucket. Terrible mute. My go to was a very old Humes & Berg.

Until I unwisely loaned it to a student. She sat on it in the school show and made pancake. And was mortified. Poor thing, I just agreed to let her pay for a new one, I’d go find one I liked. So apart from a very red face, there was no angst. And to be truthful, as a state rep, sport nut jock, I was just a bit scared!

I found a sale! We have had our share of corporate take overs / mergers of music shops which always end in closure. There was a bargain bin full of expensive mute for almost nothing. I got a copper based JoRal bucket mute for $10. It, compared to the all aluminium is wonderful, it stacks up as well as any and I still use it.

Best mistake…

Cheers

Andy


I like the copper bucket. But hey maybe others don't and I currently don't play in a section. If it comes to a day where I am again and I need a bucket and it doesn't meet my needs I'll adapt.
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Tpt_Guy
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PostPosted: Sat Aug 28, 2021 2:18 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

chef8489 wrote:
I like the copper bucket. But hey maybe others don't and I currently don't play in a section. If it comes to a day where I am again and I need a bucket and it doesn't meet my needs I'll adapt.


This is the beauty of having so many different mutes available.

I suppose I should chime in on your original question.

The standard types of mutes most people have are Straight, Cup, Harmon (wah-wah) and a plunger. Add to that a pixie (used with a plunger), a bucket, and a solotone and you have just about everything you'd ever need to use.

If you get into jazz or even pit playing, you may need to use a hat mute from time to time, and the Humes & Berg Derby is pretty good. You could throw in an actual hat and make a felt crown - a few years ago I was unlucky enough to have to play the 1st part on the Gershwin Piano Concerto after not playing in an ensemble for eight years. I bought an inexpensive felt hat at Walmart and cut the brim off to make a felt crown for the second movement solos.

Something else to consider is the various materials mutes are made of as well as the different shapes. For example, I have fiber mutes and aluminum mutes. A great soft sounding mute in my collection is a slightly battered vintage Free-Tone straight mute. My JoRal straight is very different from my Tom Crown and Wick straight mutes, even though they are all aluminum, with the JoRal sounding the heaviest of the three and the Wick sounding neutral. Phil Smith used a Bach plastic straight mute with some cotton balls in it for certain passages, so I got one and tried it and it works very well - and it's not expensive.

To sum up, I'd say a solid set of mutes would be:

Straight (a metal and a fiber one)
Cup (I personally prefer non-metal)
Harmon/Wah-Wah
Plunger (hardware store, though the KR Indigo is supposed to be tops)
Pixie (the Wick Eb straight is good for this, and the Huber Kellso Pixie is reported to be excellent)
Bucket
Solotone
Hat Mute (I have a Humes & Berg Derby)
Felt Crown

If you need one, a practice mute would be good to have. I have a couple, but the one I used most is the Best Brass Nano - it's a small insert that plugs into a Harmon and turns it into a practice mute. It isn't the quietest, but I don't need it to be.

But what determines what you should have in your collection is this: What is it that you are looking to do in terms of mutes? Do you want just one of each? Or do you want a few of each in different materials for different sounds?

A good YouTube channel you could follow is Josh Rzepka's channel. He has a series called "Mute Mondays" where he reviews and demonstrates different mutes.

https://www.youtube.com/user/JoshRzepka

It's very well organized and quite informative.
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chef8489
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PostPosted: Sat Aug 28, 2021 5:11 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

I went ahead and ordered the KR Indigo max plunger mute.
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chef8489
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PostPosted: Fri Sep 03, 2021 1:51 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Just arrived in the mail.

This gives me a pretty good rounded stable. Is there anything else I need?
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Goby
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PostPosted: Fri Sep 03, 2021 2:01 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Ullven BeBop mute
MuteMeister cup mute
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Tpt_Guy
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PostPosted: Fri Sep 03, 2021 5:33 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Goby wrote:
Ullven BeBop mute
MuteMeister cup mute


I forgot about Ullven. They were unavailable for so long I forgot they are back in production.

Time to start saving again...
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nieuwguyski
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PostPosted: Sat Sep 04, 2021 4:44 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

My basic set of mutes is: Denis Wick straight, H&B cup, Trumcor "zinger" harmon, Walt Johnson "Pail" mute (his version of a bucket), and a 5" toilet plunger. I had a Walt Johnson solo-tone but it was stolen at a gig, so now I have a much-inferior H&B.

I have a few other mutes but almost never find a reason to use them.
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chef8489
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Joined: 16 Aug 2011
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Location: Johnson City Tn

PostPosted: Sat Sep 04, 2021 4:54 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

nieuwguyski wrote:
My basic set of mutes is: Denis Wick straight, H&B cup, Trumcor "zinger" harmon, Walt Johnson "Pail" mute (his version of a bucket), and a 5" toilet plunger. I had a Walt Johnson solo-tone but it was stolen at a gig, so now I have a much-inferior H&B.

I have a few other mutes but almost never find a reason to use them.

Was that the Gastby mute? if so I wish I had bought those before my last break as they are not made any longer and that is what I was looking for this time and couldn't find it.
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nieuwguyski
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PostPosted: Mon Sep 06, 2021 4:02 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

chef8489 wrote:
nieuwguyski wrote:
My basic set of mutes is: Denis Wick straight, H&B cup, Trumcor "zinger" harmon, Walt Johnson "Pail" mute (his version of a bucket), and a 5" toilet plunger. I had a Walt Johnson solo-tone but it was stolen at a gig, so now I have a much-inferior H&B.

I have a few other mutes but almost never find a reason to use them.

Was that the Gastby mute? if so I wish I had bought those before my last break as they are not made any longer and that is what I was looking for this time and couldn't find it.


Yes, it was the Gatsby mute. I'm peeved that somebody snagged it when my back was turned.
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gregplo
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PostPosted: Mon Sep 06, 2021 5:21 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Straight (Jo-Ral Copper Bottom)
Dennis Wick Adjustable Cup Mute (I use this mostly closed down as my bucket when called for)
Harmon Mute (the one I use is an old red and white painted mute with no label that came with a used horn I bought, and it is the best harmon I've ever used)
Metal "plunger"/"hat"

I don't get enough call for the more specialized mutes to make it worth the $$$
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chef8489
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PostPosted: Mon Sep 06, 2021 11:56 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

nieuwguyski wrote:
chef8489 wrote:
nieuwguyski wrote:
My basic set of mutes is: Denis Wick straight, H&B cup, Trumcor "zinger" harmon, Walt Johnson "Pail" mute (his version of a bucket), and a 5" toilet plunger. I had a Walt Johnson solo-tone but it was stolen at a gig, so now I have a much-inferior H&B.

I have a few other mutes but almost never find a reason to use them.

Was that the Gastby mute? if so I wish I had bought those before my last break as they are not made any longer and that is what I was looking for this time and couldn't find it.


Yes, it was the Gatsby mute. I'm peeved that somebody snagged it when my back was turned.

I found 2 websites that had them listed in stock. If that's actually the case I'll let you know..
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