[Trombone-l] Harmon Mute

[Dennis Clason]

One thing that we've been skirting in this discussion is what is the 
minimal set of mutes needed?

I'd say:
Metal straight (Crown/Jo-Ral/Wick/H-B Symphony)
Fiber straight (H-B Stone-lined is the usual choice.  Better choices are 
available, but a lot pricier.)
Cup (H-B Stone-lined or Wick/Jo-Ral metal)
Plunger (Go to Home-Depot or Lowe's.  Or get a Jolly-Ball from PetCo and 
cut it down with tin snips)

That's the minimal set.  For bass, the Jo-Ral cup is the best thing I've 
found.  You also have to beware that metal cups can have give some 
conductors fits.  I was doing Tulsa a few years ago, and went around and 
around with the conductor about the opening note, marked sfzp in cup.  I 
was using a JoRal metal cup, and it had too much sizzle for him.  When I 
backed off the attack to get rid of the sizzle, it wasn't enough attack 
for him.  I finally decided to try using a stone-lined cup, and that was 
the sound he wanted.  I told him after the performance what the problem 
had been, and if he ran into the problem again to look and see if a 
metal cup was in use.  If it was, ask the player to change to fiber.

I've also found that the old Alessi-Vacchiano aluminum straight blends 
well with fiber straights and plays better in tune than the stone-lined 
straights.  I've got a design drawn up for a wooden straight (balsa with 
oak veneer, using the Aulos dimensions), but I haven't gotten around to 
making it yet.

Desirable mutes (more or less in order of frequency of use):
Bucket (the H-B clip-on is the standard, but kind of clumsy.  The Jo-Ral 
is heavy, expensive, and doesn't quite get the right sound to my ears.)
Solo-tone (H-B, gotta have it to do Dorsey.  The metal wah-wahs don't 
have quite the right sound.)
Harmon (or equivalent metal wah-wah.)
Pixie (short fiber/metal straight for use under a plunger a la Lawrence 
Brown.)

Any other opinions?

Dennis