Mutes for Music: The "Wa Wa" Edition

Alright, I'm  starting another post yet again with alright! Now in this continuation of mutes for music the "Wa Wa" edition we are going to be talking about mutes that you can "Wa Wa" with, even though that sounds weird. Anyway lets get started.

Harmon Mute

Now lets talk about the harmon mute otherwise know as the "Wa Wa" mute. If you'll excuse all the alright's in this post you'll find out that yes, this is another jazz specific mute! The reason for this is that jazz is reigns superior or classical, but that's all I have to say about that. But, not about the harmon mute. The harmon mute is a two part mute. The first part is almost a mold of your bell and the second part is call "the stem" I don't know why, maybe a bunch of mute inventors were around a flower field and got their idea for the harmon. Pardon the utter randomness and Here's how it sounds. If you need help please refer to the underlined section above. Now even though it sounds like he's playing classical music at the beginning he it turns to jazz because you can't deny jazz man/woman, you can't. Oh I almost forgot you call it the "Wa Wa" mute because when you take out the stem, cup your hand in front the bell and move it in and out while you play it sounds like "Wa Wa". Next is the plunger mute.

Plunger Mute

Lastly is the plunger mute(it also "Wa Wa"'s). Now I'm going to show you a very awesome brace yourself for "the incredible, the invincible, awe inspiring, the amazing, bunch of other 1980's WWF introductions". Wycliffe Gordon! Now after witnessing that amazingness you can see why my favorite is the plunger. It can double as a toilet pumper and a "Wa Wa" specialist. Just kidding that's disgusting get a new plunger from your local Walmart not your grandma's bathroom, please.

Hat Mute

Lastly is the hat mute or the "derby" hat mute. Now the hat mute is what you get when a plunger and a fedora have kids. The Hat mute is as hard as a regular fedora that has been sprayed with liquid nitrogen. Basically a hard hat that you can "Wa Wa" with. It does the same thing that the plunger does but its purpose it have a cool visual effect.

Ok guys that's all the mutes I can tell you about thanks for reading and have a nice day and watch Wycliffe Gordon on your way out!

Wycliffe Gordon Plunger Warmup

Mutes for Music

Bunch of Custom Straight Mutes

Hey guys today's post is about mutes. I'll talk about the types of mutes out there. Oh, and I forgot to tell you that this only applies to brass. If you haven't figured it out by now that this blog is mostly about brass.

Straight Mute

Alright lets start this post off with the fact that I honestly only own one mute. It's a Denis Wick Straight mute and I use it in my symphonic band.  That link will show you what it sounds like on a trumpet. Anyway before I go on let me tell you that mutes aren't there just to make your bass instrument look cooler. They are used to express something musically in a song. The mute changes your tone quality usually to dampen the sound. In the Straight mutes Case its job is to give the instrument a more brassier and metallic sound. Next is the cup mute.

Cup Mute

So, the cup mute. Its a straight mute with a cup on the end. The sound and tonal quality is a softer and more muffled than that of a straight mute. Heres a link to a trumpet playing a straight mute. In the video he reviews the mute and plays for you a little. If you noticed (if you are not blind of course) this is a different guy in this video. The person playing the straight mute in the first was having too much trouble actually playing the instrument to be able to show off the what the mute. This was especially true in his cup  mute video, so you won't be seeing anymore of him. So if you also noticed that the man was playing jazz you have a good ear. The reason he plays jazz in the video is because the cup mute is more geared for jazz. I am yet to see a classical piece with cup mutes but maybe I just don't play the classical music that uses them. But don't forget Straight mute is for classical and cup mute is for jazz.

Bucket Mute

Next up is the bucket mute. Now the Bucket mute is more of a muffler. It's not a scarf or a car part, it just muffles the sound more than the other mutes. In this video the same guy that did the last video shows off the bucket mute. Just skip ahead to the part when he has the horn on his face and press play, its ok I'll wait... . Alright by now you've either watched the video and you are critiquing my writing structure with those dot dot dots or you just kept on reading and are also critiquing my writing structure with those dot dot dots. Either or, you get the idea. This mute is also used in a jazz setting like the cup mute. I don't know what the composition of his mute was but mine has tons of cotton balls in it to make it a true muffler. Alright guys the next post is the "Wa Wa" edition and I get into the coolest mutes out there.

Christmas Carol Quintets

That time of year is approaching again. Yep, that's right it's the holidays and now somehow its our job to play everybody a christmas song or whatever else they want to hear. All the family will be coming over to celebrate and they've never seen or heard you play it before. "Play us a song!" they'll say and you don't know any melodies to the songs they want to hear.

I've been in that situation before. All I had was some backgrounds for some of those songs, so with my family being so geared up to hear me play I had to do improvisation for five minutes. (Good thing I was in jazz band). The solo was bad even though all my family clapped and applauded. This year I'm ahead of the curve. I bought music for a full trombone quintet to play for two concerts. Ten songs five part harmonies, the works and I couldn't be more excited. Now I don't have to improvise and I can actually play the songs that my family wants to hear. Christmas music is fun but it isn't free. You have to buy the music if you want to get legitimate copies. Sure if you go to this link you can just print the preview pages which might just be a couple of free christmas songs. Getting a group together is such a fun thing and everyone out there with an instrument should really think about doing. It gets everyone together, and is just overall a good time.

Hip Hop Trombone Quartet Crew

Look at these guys are having the time of their lives doing chamber groups. These guys could be you guys. My quintet and I are doing a rehearsal tomorrow and It's going to be great. If you want to be a better player getting into or starting a chamber group is a great idea. Also If you want to do a solo that would be a great idea as well if you just wanted to know the melody without having to worry about harmonies. Thanks for reading and I'll talk to you guys another time.

Concerts

           Concerts they're the things that you work towards. They are the things that not only show your talents, but they show your flaws. Last night I had a concert with Park City's Symphonic Band and their were definitely some flaws show. The percussion I believe, did really well I didn't hear them do anything wrong. The Percussion owned the night, the rest of the ensemble did relatively well, what I depend on to know what the conductor thinks of the band is just to look at his face. Whether it's during the song or right after you will get a visual confirmation of what he thinks. Right after the last song we played was called Earth Dance he mouth the word "awesome" this is a link to what it sounds like on Youtube. Of course we were not as good as that ensemble, but we tried. I think that out of all the pieces that we played that one went the best. It was a pretty easy song in a rhythmic sense, but the real feat was maintaining tone quality and energy throughout the entire song. I'm sure it would of sounded better if we had more than three rehearsals to look at it, but we didn't have the time.
       
          So, I was not 100% happy with our performance, but the Wind Ensemble did an amazing job last night. The music was incredibly challenging and they maintained tone quality and note definition throughout their performance. Although there were some parts I could tell were extremely hard for them they powered through and made the night enjoyable. So, when preparing for a concert you have to make sure that you can play everything in the piece. If you can't then identify what's giving you trouble and work on that part, it seems pretty self explanatory, but there are lots of people that don't know how to practice and get better at their instrument.  Also It's nice to know what the piece sounds like or even have an accompaniment, so it's good to find the music that you are currently playing with your music group and match the playing of the people playing in the video or mp3 you find. If that's not the sound that the group wants then you can amend that sound to fit what your group wants.

            Also If you do base your playing off another group make sure that you fit into your group and don't over and under play, because the point of an ensemble is to make music as a group and not to be an outlier when you're making music. For example you don't want to recreate the sound exact sound of a band like this...

Dallas Millennial Choir and Orchestra 

                                                 
                                                        If you are in a band like this

Navy Band Brass Quintet

         So, find the sound that you want for your band and make sure that it matches the size and the style that the group wants. Make sure that you know your part and have it down and after all of this you can be ready for the concert.

Finding Your Band

Whether your a trombonist or a flutist, if you want to enjoy your musical experience. You can do this by find a band to play with or making your own. First you're going to have to find a music that you like or a musician you like. I have found a webpage just for this topic. On 4BarsRest It's shows some of the greatest trombonists ever: Joseph Alessi (Classical), Frank Rosolino (jazz), Arthur Pryor (Sousa), Don Lusher (Ballad), Nick Hudson (Classical), Denis Wick (Classical and his name is on one of the most esteemed mutes companies),

Denis Wick Mutes

 Christian Lindberg (Soloist),  Bill Watrous (Big Band),  JJ Johnson (Be-Bop),  and Ian Bousfield (Classical).  Some of my Personal Favorite trombonists are Andy Martin (Jazz), Trombone Shorty (Funk), and Wycliffe Gordon (Jazz). I just jotted down one of Andy Martin's Solo's to learn and play Doxy. I'm  getting better at using a plunger mute, because of this video by Wycliffe Gordon. Lastly I just listen to Trombone Shorty for Fun. Pick which artist you like and make or find a band that fits their style. Make sure you can play their music before make an entire band, so that you can lead the band rather than be failing at the music you made a band for. In my opinion you should try out all the genres to find the one that fits you best. If you're lucky your school might have different band programs or you, your friends or your band director can help you make one.

Musical Opportunities

In my last post I talked about how to change your tone quality from a darker tone to a brighter tone. Today in my post I'm going to talk about not being modest. Of course there is a time and place for modesty, I myself am very modest, but don't let modesty get in the way of what you want to do. For example if there is a band that you have the opportunity to tryout for, don't tell yourself that your not good enough for the band, because you are your biggest critic. Get input from other people before you give up on an opportunity. This applies to all activities, whether it's in debate, football or anything don't let yourself tear down your self-confidence to the point where you give up opportunities. Also in this blogpost I'd like to talk about choosing your trombone. I found a very useful source, Douglas Yeo for this topic and I'd like to talk on it. The author Douglas Yeo talked about selecting your instrument and I agree with his points fully. The questions you have to a ask as a person buying or renting an instrument are what are: What are you using the horn for? How much money do you have to spend? Are you a new player or a professional?  These are some of the most important questions when buying a renting an instrument. For example for the last question, you don't want a boutique trombone that Andy Martin used in Gordon Goodwin's Big Phat Band, because that is a very hard instrument to learn how to play on. It's best to learn on a student-line trombone, because it is specifically made for kids to or even just learners to be able to produce a sound.

Yamaha Student Line Trombone

Custom YSL-891z Trombone

 Student VS  Pro

Trombone Times

Hi I'm Michael Barski and this is my very first post. My idea for this blog is to share some things about music I enjoy, and some tips that are specific to trombone players. I have lots of things to talk about when it comes to music and this blog will help me share that. First, to start this off, this my trombone.

YSL-8820R

It's a YSL-8820R Custom Xeno Trombone and It's the nicest thing I own. It's a yamaha large bore trombone and the larger the bore the darker the sound and the smaller the bore the brighter the sound it makes. I play in my school's Symphonic (classical) and JV Jazz Band(pretty self explanatory) and for a classical setting you would want a darker and fuller sound. For jazz you would want a brighter and sharper sound. If you have a large bore instrument and want a brighter sound you could change your embouchure ( the way in which a player applies the mouth to the mouthpiece of a brass or wind instrument.) It's the cheapest way to get a brightest sound but definitely takes more practice and work to get the sound you're looking. You can also changes the brightness and darkness of your tone with different mouthpiece. Having a different mouthpiece for concert band and jazz band makes the biggest difference. The deeper mouthpiece will be better for making a darker sound and a shallow mouthpiece will contribute to a brighter tone. If you really want to make a difference in your sound you can get a different horn. For example the horn I would get for jazz would be the YSL-897z, the YSL-891z, or a nice silver sonic King 2B trombone. All of these are small bore horns and will produce bright and sharp sounds. So, If you want a brighter or darker sound you can change your embouchure, your mouthpiece or your horn.

You can find my horn and some of my favorites on Yamaha Instruments.