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.