[Trombone-l] Plunger Mute question...

[Wessner, John]

I bought a 6" plunger (toilet) back in 1969.  I still use it, although I'm not going to pose as an authority on technique.  I drilled out the center (in the local machine shop) and used to insert a finger to get a better grip.  More recently, I've been using the cork top from a bottle of high-end Blanton's whiskey as a plug and a grip. Unfortunately, the tail breaks of the horse and you need to buy a whole new bottle to replace it.  (Sometimes I drop it on purpose.)

I used to demonstrate its use as part of the talk on brass mutes in the Musical Acoustics course I taught at Towson.  One young woman pointed out that its flexibility made its use very sensual.  After almost 40 years, it is very pliable, but I probably don't have the same effect.

For a while in the 70s I used, with good effect, a plastic orange juice concentrate can.  That doesn't give a growl, but they came in several sizes: cornet, small, and large-bore tenor.
jw