Harmon WOW-WOW Trumpet Mute

Product Information

The popular trumpet straight mute (DW5504) has set a standard, which has been widely copied but never equalled. The hand crafting of these mutes gives the high-quality aluminium a ‘work-hardened’ quality, which makes for a very resonant product that will give a wonderful fortissimo when it is needed. It also has the best intonation of any trumpet mute available. Mutes generally affect the pitch of your trumpet. It's better to have a mute that overall makes the trumpet flat than have a generally balanced intonation with some individually funky notes. The reason for this is that you can more easily adjust the tuning of your trumpet to accommodate an overall pitch change with your main tuning slide. If individual notes are affected, you have to be more cognizant of each note's pitch tendencies. For a deeper dive into intonation adjustments, see our guide on how to tune a trumpet. The sshhmute practice mute is a popular choice among trumpet players. Whenever you aren’t in a setting where playing full volume is possible, this tool can help decrease your sound output. Answer: This is up to you. As I mentioned, trombone mutes can change your sound, or they can muffle it. Once you figure out what kind of sound changes you want or volume changes, the more important factor is going to be making sure it’s the right size. All manufacturers will stipulate the type of trombone for which each mute is designed. If it doesn’t specifically list your type of trombone, don’t hesitate to ask the manufacturer. Question: What is the best practice mute?

Most mutes are used by inserting the mute itself into the bell of the trumpet. Regardless of the material of the mute (metal, wood, rubber), the majority of mutes have corks glued onto the sides of the mute which help position and hold the mute in place when it is inserted into the trumpet. Some mutes, like the plunger mute and various hat mutes fit around or over the bell, rather than being pushed into it. Unlike the straight or cup mutes, the Harmon mute completely restricts all airflow from escaping the bell. Instead, there is a hole in the middle of the Harmon mute that the air has to pass through, which causes the trademark Harmon mute sound. The lead trumpet and lead trombonist of a pro big band often make sure their sections are using the same brand of mutes for a completely cohesive sound. Of course, this isn’t always the case with session musicians in studios.

Plunger Mute

This mute works on large bore trombones and fits into the bell bass trombones, which means it’s much more widely applicable than some of the other beginner models. You can buy a plunger from any hardware store, although many professional trumpet players alter their plungers slightly, drilling holes or inserting a penny into the nub on top of the plunger to get a bit of extra “rasp”. You can find trumpet/trombone specific plungers produced with these modifications, if you’re looking for a more premium option. Summary: Knowing how to find the best trombone mute means knowing whether you need something to quiet your practice or to change the tone/volume of your sound. Yep, the last one makes more sense for our discussion.A mute for a trumpet (or cornet and less so for the flugelhorn) does just that, it softens the sound coming out of your horn.The primary reason they are used however is to alter or change the “color” of your sound for a passage of music or song. The sound can be just made a bit softer. Mutes have been around a long time. They moved from classical to contemporary music with their use in jazz music with the popularity of players like Miles Davis. This software will not function in full within the FREE Kontakt Player engine and will only be available in DEMO mode.

This mute does exactly what it says on the tin. Although nowhere close to being silent this mute greatly muffles the player. This isn’t a mute you’ll ever see scored on a piece a music but nevertheless it is an extremely useful piece of kit that allows you to practice without overly disturbing others as well as proving useful for warming up before a gig. Where the name for this mute came from is not too hard to guess. With a similar basic construction to a straight mute that fits your instrument in the same way the addition of the cup on the end helps create a mellower and softer sound. Mutes for brass instruments come in a variety of shapes and types, and in differing materials to produce specific ‘muted’ effects. Mutes do not necessarily make the instrument quieter. When a muted instrument is played fortissimo an aggressive, harsh sound can be produced. It is worth trying out as many different makes of mute before you buy- play them over the whole range of the instrument from high to low, pianissimo to Fortissimo. Some mutes can muffle and almost choke-off the lower notes whilst some can make the instrument sharpen in pitch! Some French horn mutes in particular can alter the pitch completely. According to The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians, a mute is a "device used on a musical instrument to modify its timbre by reducing the intensity of certain partials and amplifying others". [1] More generally, it refers to "any of various devices used to muffle or soften the tone of an instrument". [2] The act of using a mute is called "muting". [2] Brass mutes are occasionally referred to as "dampers", [2] but "dampening" usually means reducing or deadening the sound after it has been played. [3] The most common materials that a cup mute can be made from are stone-lined cardboard and aluminum, though it isn’t uncommon to see copper cup mutes, too.

Filters

French horn players can use standard mutes, but often use their hand to mute the sound, a technique known as stopping. By inserting their hand fully into the instrument, airflow is limited, producing a quiet and nasal sound. The shortening of the air column raises the pitch by approximately one semitone, so the player must adjust by playing a semitone lower. [6] [44] The technique was developed and popularized by Anton Joseph Hampel in the mid-18th century. [45] He also invented physical stop mutes for the French horn, which now come in both transposing and non-transposing variants; the latter does not require the player to change their fingerings as they would when hand-stopping. [46] Other [ edit ] Solotone [ edit ] Jazz musicians can benefit from this Harmon mute because of its edgy tone. The JoRal Harmon mute changes your trumpet’s tone, giving it a “meaty buzz.” Because it has a copper bottom and an aluminum body, you can achieve a dark, rich sound ideal for jazz styles. A practice mute is similar in appearance to a straight mute, is made of a harder material like plastic, and creates a tighter seal that brings the volume down to much lower levels. This mute is not typically intended for performance purposes, but rather to be able to practice independently in a quieter space. It is important to note that this does not entirely mute the trumpet (others can still hear you when they are nearby) but it does substantially lower the volume. Other tips for using trumpet mutes