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Can anyone give me a performance comparison of various practice mutes? I have been living with a humes and bergs practice mute that is almost unbearable at this point. The tuning is way off and the back pressure is too much.

I have not been able to try out a Silent Brass system but I am interested in opinions there also. Mainly I wanted to hear comparisons to Trumcor and Denis Wick's Practice mutes. I know they cost more, but I am willing to pay for a really good practice mute. There may be others I am not considering and should.

Which mute is the best performer?

Thanks!

Tenn. Tech does indeed make mutes, but all of them look like straight mutes to me. Am I missing something?

To reiterate: Hoping somebody can tell me about Trumcor and Denis Wick's practice mutes and let me know how they affect tuning and and airflow in practice.

Thanks again.

I'm interested in the same information, and also any one who's played the wallace mute. I've heard rumors but no solid info. Thanks. ASG

The Dennis Wick 5512 practice mute is one of the best 'sound' improvers you can get and one I use each and every day in home practice. The problem is not a lot of people understand how to use it and reap the benefits.

http://www.deniswick.com/product.cfm?id=41

The main thing is not to think of it as a mute, more of a resonator of harmonics. Don’t try and play it like a mute, in other words, like something you can blow hard yet quietens the noise level down.

Fit the mute in tight, making sure it does not touch the sides of the bell. Just blow a little more than you would open, stay relaxed. The idea is to get the DW ringing and resonating with loads of harmonics.

First, play around the scales, get used to it, then try long open notes (TC middle C in the stave, or bottom C below it), sometimes 2nd. valve notes are good as well, low B natural.

Find one note (that’s all for now) that really rings!

As soon as it does, ease off, relax, until it stops, then ease back on until it rings again. You have now found the level of blowing that will activate the DW and which you should be using with or without it.

Now play a simple tune slowly, and listen to which notes (not many at this stage) ring, which don’t.

The ones that don’t are loosing air flow.

Dwell on those ‘dead’ notes, holding them around 15 secs each. Eventually, maybe after a few days, they will start to ring true,

Then venture into octaves. There should be no change from top to bottom obviously, but this is the hardest part and will take the longest, but will also be the most rewarding!

The last part will be all the enharmonic notes, the notes with optional fingerings.

Even though you have a 4th. valve, try to get the notes using 123 to ring as well.

Have fun, although be patient, this is not a quick fix gimmick.

CB