Protec Vulcan Fiber straight mute

[Andy Cooper]

The short story – all of my fiber straight mutes were damaged about 15 years ago in a flood and I have just gotten around to replacing them. My Tom Crowns and Bach Elite mutes are waterproof and have been enough. Still - I thought it time.

I found a Shastock and restored it, purchased a plain old Humes and Berg, a Pro-Tec Vulcan fiber, and a plastic Denis Wick.

I had time today to sit down with a tuner, nail files and sandpaper to zero all of them in. My goal – a good loud and soft low F# and to have the mute play in tune without changing my tuning slide.

The real star is the Vulcan. Made from vulcanized fiber like the H&B but glued, no rivets , no stone lining, no heavy paint job, and no inside dual wall reinforcement where the corks are. The sound is between the Shastock and the H&B but it is more open and more resonate. I used this in an inside concert and was pleased with the section blend and feedback. The only downside is that it is very light weight and not “robust” – you probably need to keep it in the box or a tennis ball tube. Oh – it’s also under $20 including shipping. I think a similar mute is available overseas under the Coppergate brand.

I’ve trashed the “student” H&B straight mute for decades but I have to admit - I never spent 20 minutes with one - filing corks and testing. It has a certain sound and actually plays well within the staff. I’m probably going to start using it for section work in outside concerts where I want to blend better.

The Shastock is as I remember it – extremely even from lowest notes to the top of the staff. In my youth it was “Shastock straight mute with a maple resonator and a felt ring” – you had to have one. If I still played in small ensembles – inside – this would probably be my go-to mute.

Denis Wick plastic mute. This should be the mute – the material is extremely resonate. The problem is that it has a much larger diameter cone than the other mutes. When the mute is in tune (by filing the corks) the cone is so close to the bell the sound is rather soft. This might be just the thing for large throated cornet bells - keeping the cork thick - but not for 37 style trumpet bells. As it is, I could only use it if the music called for an off stage sound. Nice sound - too soft.

[mafields627]

I used one recently as a poor man's Trumcor Lyric mute mute and it was very effective. I don't need that sound very often, but I'll use the Vulcan when I do since I don't own a Trumcor.
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--Matt--

No representation is made that the quality of this post is greater than the quality of that of any other poster. Oh, and get a teacher!

[Andy Cooper]