TromboneChat

Looking for opinions on straight for tenor trombone.

1. Opening a can of worms: What's your preferred straight mute? How does it compare to a Denis Wick straight mute?

2. What characteristics are you looking for in a straight mute?

3. What are your principal complaints on straight mutes you played so far?

4. What brand is "the standard" where you play?

Denis Wick.

It sounds like a mute at every dynamic.

The straight mutes I use.

Humes and Berg fiber straight mute- The classic straight mute sound. I use this one for when the pit books just says "muted"
Trumcor Lyric straight mute- This is like the HB mute but a little louder and warmer sounding. I use this one for muted lyrical lines.
Denis Wick straight Mute- The middle of the road everything straight mute. This mute would fit in any situation.
Tom Crown copper bottom straight mute- The straight mute I use when I want a brighter edgy sound.
JoRal copper bottow straight mute- I use this one when I need to play "loud" muted parts.

Humes and Berg straight mute for jazz with small bores & Tom Crown straight mute for medium and large bore classical playing.

/Tom

For what setting? Playing from the back of an orchestra in a 2,000 concert hall and playing mic'ed in a big band might require very different things. And there are a million other scenarios, too....

A little more info from the OP might get more focused answers.

I like the aluminum stone lined mute straight. The sound is great, and the intonation manageable.

For cup mutes I used to have a Denis Wick adjustable, but never could make peace with it. I now prefer the H&B fiber,

The Denis Wick mutes remind me of the old Alesi/Vacchiano mutes, which worked but to me weren't anything special.

I like my old solo tone mute - also fiber.

For bucket mutes, I use EazyBucket.

And for a practice mute Yamaha Silent Brass.

For Jazz Band I use a Harmon Triple Play (straight, cup, plunger). The plunger part is great for plunger work (and also to simulate a bucket by holding the plunger about 3 inches (75 mm) from the bell). The straight has problems with notes down near low A (as most small straights do). For symphonic work I like my Tom Crown copper bottom. You need a larger mute on large bores, especially when the music goes into the staff (and lower).

I've used the pear-shaped Humes and Berg aluminum and the straight part of a Denis Wick.a Humes and Berg conical straight, and several others. They all work. Nothing is perfect and you have to learn how to work with the mute you get. Most straights tend to make you play sharp, so learn to compensate for it.

ChadA wrote: ↑Mon May 04, 2020 7:25 am For what setting? Playing from the back of an orchestra in a 2,000 concert hall and playing mic'ed in a big band might require very different things. And there are a million other scenarios, too....

A little more info from the OP might get more focused answers.

Let's limit this to "legit" styles. Symphonic, Wind Band, British style Brass band.

Good to know. That's mostly how I use my own mutes. I have both Tom Crown and Jo-Ral straight mutes. I use my Tom Crown most often. They are both older (tenor is close to 30 years old; bass more like 20). My Jo-Ral are less than 20. I prefer the sound and the pitch is less wonky with the Tom Crowns for me. Some of my colleagues prefer Wick straight mutes.

Where this gets even harder is that makers have changed. I've had older and newer Jo-Ral cup mutes and the older one was better made and played better than the new one. I have no idea what current conditions are as none of my straight or cup mutes are very new.

I used to use a copper bottom jo-ral. If felt like the most versatile. Was never happy with the Wicks, felt a bit boring to me. Tom Crowns have a lot of character and a great feel, but it felt like that character was sometimes wrong for the music whereas the Jo-ral was always at least okay.

I wonder, though, about what sound the composers we typically need mutes for (at least in the core symphonic repertoire) actually had in mind. In Mahler's or Stravinsky's time, as far as I know, wooden mutes were used, not metal.

I'm with Gabe on the Denis Wick. BUT - I find the Yamaha behaves very much like the Wick. What I like best about it is that it has an indentation in the bottom that fits your middle finger perfectly, making it really easy to pull quickly.

Jo-Ral Copper-bottom straight is my go-to mute. I have several others, and I quite like the Soulo for stuff where I want a buzzy sound. I also have a Marcus Bona fibreglass that sounds great for certain playing and I recently used an Ion Balu wooden straight mute for a very soloistic part in a modern piece. It had a great sound for the passages where I needed it, but it would probably not blend well with metal mutes. The Jo-Ral lives in my locker at work, so it gets played the most, and the Soulo and MB are both light and fit well in my MB case, so they are favourites for stuff away from the concert hall.

Jim Scott

I also use a Jo-Ral copper bottom for all orchestral/commercial work as well as most chamber pieces. The projection and color really fit most work that I do.

For fibre mutes I use a trumcor lyric straight for most pieces, and occasional pick out a trumcor super stealth for some chamber and solo music.

Denis Wick all the way!

As far as playability, I really like the Soulo metal straight and their fiber cup mutes. I have a full complement of straights and cups from pretty much everyone, but if I am bringing mutes as the only trombone player, I bring the Soulo mutes. I do not use their bucket however. I use the EZ bucket just because I think it sounds a bit more traditional and is very easy to put on/take off.

I hate Yamaha in all forms, but their aluminum straight mute works well for my jazz horns. Not so much with my bug horns.

The Wick straight mute works great with my big horns and not so well with my jazz horns.

I have a Wick and Jo ral copper bottom for bass and they both work well. The Wick has a bit more quack than the jor al, but the jo ral is a bit darker.

In mutes i look for sound and how freely it blows.