Budget friendly straight mute?
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jbigham98
- lurker
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- Joined: Sun Jun 11, 2006 8:02 pm
Budget friendly straight mute?
Hello everyone. I'm playing in a group this summer that is performing a piece that requires a straight mute. Sadly, I'm not made of money and I'm looking for something that isn't going to break the bank. Does anyone have any recommendations? I've seen the humes and berg 190 and 193 are under $100, but how is their quality? Also, the 190 looks quite large. My main ax(read:only ax) is a mirafone 186 with the 16 1/2" bell. Would the 190 fit?
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Biggs
- 5 valves
- Posts: 1215
- Joined: Fri Mar 19, 2004 4:01 pm
- Location: The Piano Lounge
Re: Budget friendly straight mute?
The 190 is...not great. I have no experience with the 193, but I do have a similar, smaller model (one of the H&B "Bass Horn" models and it is...ok. I also have one of the old-belled 186s and will say that the 190 is not a very good fit (in terms of being easily inserted and extracted).
When I last bought a mute (c. 2006), I considered two factors: frequency of use and caliber of use. If you don't normally play music that requires a mute or play in a group that plays music that requires a mute, there's no reason to seek out the perfect (i.e. expensive) mute for the rare occasions you need one. If the group isn't 'professional-caliber' (no disrespect intended; goodness knows I've played in plenty of bad groups where I needed a mute), there's no reason to seek out the perfect mute for a gesture that will likely go aurally unnoticed.
I've needed a mute for band, orchestra, quintet, and solos, and am convinced tuba mutes are largely visual devices. The average conductor will be satisfied if you have some 'thing' to jam in the bell. If your 'thing' is a conically-shaped, specially designated 'tuba mute', you're golden.
Bloke's suggestion, by the way, is excellent.
When I last bought a mute (c. 2006), I considered two factors: frequency of use and caliber of use. If you don't normally play music that requires a mute or play in a group that plays music that requires a mute, there's no reason to seek out the perfect (i.e. expensive) mute for the rare occasions you need one. If the group isn't 'professional-caliber' (no disrespect intended; goodness knows I've played in plenty of bad groups where I needed a mute), there's no reason to seek out the perfect mute for a gesture that will likely go aurally unnoticed.
I've needed a mute for band, orchestra, quintet, and solos, and am convinced tuba mutes are largely visual devices. The average conductor will be satisfied if you have some 'thing' to jam in the bell. If your 'thing' is a conically-shaped, specially designated 'tuba mute', you're golden.
Bloke's suggestion, by the way, is excellent.