practice mute for euphonium

[ojannen2]

I am going on a short concert tour in about a month and I am looking for a practice/warmup mute. I play a Willson 2900 and will be a using a Walt Johnson case for the tour.

At ITEC 2008, I tried the Best Brass practice mute and liked it. I remember there being some odd out of tune notes but that it was generally usable for warmup purposes. I won't have room to store a larger mute like a silent brass or dennis wick practice mute.

I remember that mute being roughly flush with the edge of the bell. If it sticks out past the end of the bell in a Walt Johnson case, do I need to be worried about putting it on a plane?

A quick search of the tubenet archives found a thread from 2008 giving mixed reviews for the best Brass mute. I have heard whipsers about the Mclean mute but don't know much about it. Are there any other practice mutes available that would fit my needs?

[Rick F]

Actually, I would think the mute sticking out of the bell just a bit might help protect the bell against bumps — that is as long as the horn still fits in the case with the mute. Any bump on the case would be transferred to the inside of the bell rather than against the rim. Many have suggested that we insert a partially inflated soccer ball inside the bell when flying to protect the bell rim.

See this discussion thread on Dave Werden's forum where there are a couple of pictures of how far out of the bell the 'Best Brass' mute protrudes.
Compact warm up mute question....

The Wallas and Mclean mutes are also mentioned