Paper mute?

[quesonegro]

I got asked today to bring a "paper mute" for the tuba...

I have no clue as to what that might be...

Can the hive mind that is this forum help?

Cheers


//Mattis

[JasonEuphonium]

No clue. My first thought would be that perhaps they want something to muffle/dampen the sound of the tuba without changing the tone too much?

Definitely a weird request.

[Mark Horne]

Wonder if they are thinking of a Humes and Berg "Stone Lined" with its somewhat paper mache look to it.

[BopEuph]

Like Bloke said, possibly lost in translation at some point. Maybe someone said "straight mute," but someone down the line misheard it as "paper mute."

A couple years ago, I was called to do Phantom on bass, and I distinctly remember hearing "no C extension required for this show." I thought to myself that's a good thing, because I don't have one. I'm still not sure if I misheard the (trumpet player) contractor or if he misheard the requirement when he relayed the message to me, but it was clear that a C extension was required for this show when I received the advance book. Thankfully, Hipshot had just released a drop tuner for double bass not six months prior. $125 was a way better option than either spending $1500+ on a conversion, or having to give up the gig about two weeks out.

[quesonegro]

The request came from one of the best arrangers in the business, so translation issues are unlikely...
I’ll just have to get back to him.
Thanks

//Mattis

[Doug Elliott]

A couple years ago, I was called to do Phantom on bass, and I distinctly remember hearing "no C extension required for this show." I thought to myself that's a good thing, because I don't have one. I'm still not sure if I misheard the (trumpet player) contractor or if he misheard the requirement when he relayed the message to me, but it was clear that a C extension was required for this show when I received the advance book. Thankfully, Hipshot had just released a drop tuner for double bass not six months prior. $125 was a way better option than either spending $1500+ on a conversion, or having to give up the gig about two weeks out.

"Low C extension" sounds a lot like "no C extension"

That Hipshot thing is very cool, never heard of it. I'm not a bass player but my wife is.

[JCalkin]

Like Bloke said, possibly lost in translation at some point. Maybe someone said "straight mute," but someone down the line misheard it as "paper mute."

I was going to say that maybe what was meant was "fiber" mute, which could be an easy translation error to paper. I know Wick refers to their Humes & Berg Stonelined style of mute as a fiber mute.

....so.... straight mute?

[BopEuph]

That Hipshot thing is very cool, never heard of it. I'm not a bass player but my wife is.

I liked it so much, I got a second one for my A string. Going from C to A was too much shifting on a bass, so I can now tune the low two strings to C-G. The only downside is the higher G string goes flat in this configuration, so I need to avoid open strings--but I'm getting surprisingly very comfortable with this tuning option.

[BrassedOn]

I'm more than smart @$$ enough to go in the garage and make a mute out of craft paper and sealing tape. Hmmmm. Probably going to need a tether. And if someone asks, I explain that this is a prototype.

I seem to recall a notable tubist just balancing a leather music folio in his bell rather than transit a gigantor tuba mute to offsite gigs.

[roweenie]

It is only a paper mute
Sitting in a cardboard C.

bloke "who knows far too many lyrics to far to many songs...which - as some might guess - annoys Mrs. bloke"

That's a good one, bloke