TromboneChat

My orchestra has lots of old mutes but many damaged and some are not that great. Maybe we’ll get some new ones; straight mutes feels particularly important. Preferably one set wooden, one set metal.
Recommendations? Which are the best mutes nowadays?

For what it's worth, I'm impressed with the Denis Wick mutes. Straight mutes are typically the only ones required for symphony orchestra.

The modern piece last week called for straight, harmon, cup, plunger and practice mute(!)...
But agreed, straights are the only ones needed for core repertoire!

Romera Brass mutes are amazing! http://www.romerabrass.com/romerabrass_ ... _p1_o1.php

Thanks for the tip, will look into those! Looks interesting!
How about wooden ones? Any ideas? I like them for the German stuff. Strauss

My favorite straight mute is the Stonelined aluminum mutes. Best sound as far as I'm concerned.

I still love my trusty Jo-Ral.

I like the Humes and Berg (Stonelined) metal mute. Kinda heavy, but great intonation and a lot more core to the (muted) sound than most of the other metal mutes out there.

Side note, make sure you test your fiber/cardboard mutes thoroughly... I just played a concert and used one on a whim during a piece to help with a quick mute change. Turns out the mute doesn't work below the staff!

I like trumcore for fiber mutes, and jo-ral for metal ones in most cases

StoneLine tenor mutes don't like A or Ab on yhe bottom of the staff. My Wick straight doesn't like D below the staff, but I rarely need to play that in tenor parts.

For wood, check out Peter Gane. I have a Facet that I like, but they seem to have not caught on and the went down.

Chatname wrote: ↑Tue Nov 26, 2019 9:16 am How about wooden ones? Any ideas?

Trumcor Lyric

BGuttman wrote: ↑Tue Nov 26, 2019 11:39 am StoneLine tenor mutes don't like A or Ab on yhe bottom of the staff. My Wick straight doesn't like D below the staff, but I rarely need to play that in tenor parts.

For wood, check out Peter Gane. I have a Facet that I like, but they seem to have not caught on and the went down.

The Stoneline mutes being suggested are the metal versions, not the fibre ones. They play through the range, and are not bad mutes, but are very heavy and make the horn quite front-heavy. The one that I have hurts my left arm/hand to use for any length of time. My usual go-to straight mute is my Joral - usually the copper bottom one.

Jim Scott

Metal: Copper bottom Jo-Ral
Wooden: Peter Gane

It's interesting the comments about Jo-Ral. I prefer them over the Wick too although I don't see many being used.
Tom Crown enjoyed a period of popularity but I still perfered my Jo-Ral.

I'm partial to Wick aluminum straight mutes. The bass trombone one responds better for me below the staff than Crown or Jo-Ral, and the (much!) more expensive ones available now don't really respond better or sound better to my ear. I particularly like that the Wick straights still have some mute rasp at lower dynamics. I like the Wick wooden straight mutes as well. And they're not expensive.

That said, I have lots of mutes. There are places I go where the section prefers Jo-Ral or Tom Crown (particularly copper bottom), so I have good examples of them to use if I need.

Marcus Bonna mutes were popular around Boston for a while, so I have a couple of those as well. They come in handy when you need a mute that actually makes you louder.

When the Humes and Berg aluminum mutes are mentioned, are we talking about the Symphonic (contoured shape) or the Philharmonic (bubble end)? I have the latter (actually just got it) and it feels pretty light in weight to me. As for playability low G is fine when blown straight through, and it has a great sound.

I have no experience with the Symphonic, let alone seen one in the wild.

Apologies for bumping this back to the top.

Kevbach33 wrote: ↑Thu Dec 12, 2019 12:47 am When the Humes and Berg aluminum mutes are mentioned, are we talking about the Symphonic (contoured shape) or the Philharmonic (bubble end)?

The one I like is this one (I've got the more traditional white and red version). New Stonelined Symphonic aluminum straight mute, In my 88h, it gets a little squirrelly at low D under the staff, but this is a tenor mute.

The H&B and New Stonelined appear to be the same mute, just branded differently. Not sure if that's true, but they look the same.

I had a Crown, and Alessi/Vacchiano and wound up selling them. I have a Wick, but don't use it. Just don't like them as much as my Stonelined aluminum.

https://www.wwbw.com/Humes-Berg-Stoneli ... vQQAvD_BwE

https://humesandberg.com/home-page/prod ... bone-mute/

hyperbolica wrote: ↑Thu Dec 12, 2019 8:08 am

Kevbach33 wrote: ↑Thu Dec 12, 2019 12:47 am When the Humes and Berg aluminum mutes are mentioned, are we talking about the Symphonic (contoured shape) or the Philharmonic (bubble end)?

The one I like is this one (I've got the more traditional white and red version). New Stonelined Symphonic aluminum straight mute, In my 88h, it gets a little squirrelly at low D under the staff, but this is a tenor mute.

The H&B and New Stonelined appear to be the same mute, just branded differently. Not sure if that's true, but they look the same.

I had a Crown, and Alessi/Vacchiano and wound up selling them. I have a Wick, but don't use it. Just don't like them as much as my Stonelined aluminum.

Welp, looks like I got the wrong mute for the Holton 168 I just got a few weeks ago... Time to spend more.

Thanks for confirming.

H&B just seems to have THE sound, no matter what mute you get. Looks like the Philharmonic (I also got the white and red version) will replace my Protec liberty small bore mute for my 6H.

BGuttman wrote: ↑Tue Nov 26, 2019 11:39 am StoneLine tenor mutes don't like A or Ab on yhe bottom of the staff. My Wick straight doesn't like D below the staff, but I rarely need to play that in tenor parts.

For wood, check out Peter Gane. I have a Facet that I like, but they seem to have not caught on and the went down.

I drill a hole in the center of the mute bottom. It helps emmensly with those problem notes.

bigbandbone wrote: ↑Fri Dec 13, 2019 5:20 pm

BGuttman wrote: ↑Tue Nov 26, 2019 11:39 am StoneLine tenor mutes don't like A or Ab on yhe bottom of the staff.

I drill a hole in the center of the mute bottom. It helps emmensly with those problem notes.

This. I have a black DW aluminium practice mute, which never worked well as such. It is essentially a straight mute with two small holes in the side, and a circular Cork. I re corked it like a straight, and the two holes make it the best straight I ever had. No wonky tones at all, it plays nice and secure from bb to the valve register, down to pedals.

Same trick with two small holes at the base of a cup mute makes it play well in all registers.

Denis wick aluminum works great with my 8HT in all registers.

The Yamaha (ugh) aluminum straight mute works great in all registers on my 6H.

When i had my 72H, the denis wick aluminum straight was awesome. The copper bottom tom crown works great on my 71H.

I bought a charlie Davis aluminum straight mute and it is crap. Only reason i bought it was because it was cheap and i want him to sign it.

I like my classic Tom Crown straight mute. Makes a really nice, loud noise with high overtones when I drop it on the floor.

AndrewMeronek wrote: ↑Wed Jan 08, 2020 8:58 am I like my classic Tom Crown straight mute. Makes a really nice, loud noise with high overtones when I drop it on the floor.

I was told once the loudest percussion instrument is a trombone mute hitting the floor. Unfortunately, I have proven that theory more than once...