Solotone mute for Bass Trombone

[Conn 2J CC]

Wow, several insightful replies -

Bloke - Leaning a Tenor Trombone on a Bassoon/Bass Clarinet stand with a Solotone mute stuck in it specifically for grab-and-go easiness could work. But, having the time to stick a Solotone mute in is not a problem in this show, so I'd opt to just use a Trombone stand instead. Nice idea, though.

Doug - I'm sure we'll have someone covering the 1st Trombone part, so I know I'll cover most (if not all) of the Trombone parts in the 2nd book with our Bass Trombone, pumping out the low parts for fun and effect. I'll make sure they're heard, too (without going overboard, unless called to).

John - Give me a choice between using a mute that's called for or substituting another, and I'll always try to get the mute that's called for. And it looks like Gabe and Joe might have a good answer.

Gabe - Rats (about not being able to borrow yours). I can't blame you, though. Your Paul Lawrence Solotone sounds like it's great. You and Joe Stanko are right about Eric Swanson being the guy who builds Bass Trombone Solotones out of Humes & Berg straight mutes. I've got his email address, and may order one from him (thanks anyway, Joe). He charges $85 plus shipping and $12 for insurance for one.

And whoever linked this thread from the Off Topic forum to the TubeNet forum, thanks for the additional exposure. I was wondering if I should have posted this thread there anyway.

Thanks, everyone -

[Conn 2J CC]

A followup - After eight great performances, we closed our run of "Thoroughly Modern Millie" at CUTC yesterday afternoon. The kids on stage were great, we played to packed houses (or close enough), and the 20 member orchestra was a blast to play in. With the orchestra being that size, I played all the Trombone parts in the 2nd Trombone book on Bass Trombone. So, I bought a Bass Bone Solotone mute from Eric Swanson for $97, and I'm glad I did. Eric builds a nice mute (he's a Bass Trombonist himself), and it beat hauling in our Tenor Trombone just to be able to opt for a less expensive Solotone. Logistically, having three big horns in the orchestra to play would have been a problem too, and I'm primarily a Bass Trombonist anyway. Most performances both Trumpets and both Bones had Solotones, which sounded really cool as well. I'm sure I can find other opportunities in the future to use that mute too.

For the Tuba parts, I used my Tubenet namesake, which turned out to be nice size horn for parts and orchestra. A slightly larger horn would have been nice at times, but our 2J was still a good fit for the part. Anyway, it's a fun show to play, and thanks again for all the suggestions and banter on the topic

[Conn 2J CC]

Oh, by the way - Right when I hit "Submit", I remembered that I forgot to mention that I also bought a Jupiter TE70 Tuba/Euphonium stand to use in this show ($64 at Woodwind and Brasswind Shop). It might not do so well with a really big tuba, but for a horn the size of a 2J or slightly larger, they're fine. And in this show, it was great having the 2J bell-up right beside me, especially since I was seated on a foot tall single platform with my 2J on the floor. There were a few quick changes from Bone to Tuba or visa versa for which that stand proved very convenient!