The Schlipf Practice Mute

[WoWwYnAtoR]

I needed a practice mute that was easier to use than my Silent Brass. I felt like the Silent Brass was WAY too heavy and created a very stuffy feeling. The range in the staff got a bit squirrely, and the low range simply stopped coming out below low F. It was a gift I was/am very thankful for and I got many useful years out of it.

In comes the Schlipf mute. I had seen and read very good things about this mute (particularly on this forum) about the Schlipf and felt I needed to go hands-on. My opportunity came about at the Ft Myer Tuba-Euphonium Conference. Mr. Stofer was there and brought these mutes with him as well as his Stofer custom CC prototype. His prototype played extremely well (better, yet similar to my tuba) and even with a mute that was one size off from the proper fit, it was already so much better than my experience with the Silent Brass, I made my decision to own one (would love to own the Stofer Custom, but could just buy the mute…).

Since I couldn’t leave Tuba Conference with a Size 6 in hand, I opted to wait and place the order later. I used the contact page from Mr. Stofer’s website http://tubameister.com/contact/ to send an email for the Size 6 mute for my Getzen G-50. He responded promptly and I placed the order Wednesday afternoon and had it in my hands the following Monday in the northern Virginia area. Outstanding service! The mute was extremely well packed. Having worked at in a sorting facility for a big shipping company, I can tell you there’s almost nothing I’ve seen done to boxes that could have hurt this mute short of total destruction of the package. See the pictures below:

Schlipf in box small.jpg

Schlipf out of box small.jpg

At a fraction of the weight of the Silent Brass, it is so much easier to hold my tuba up with this mute in, that I’m able to keep practicing for as long as I need/want to since I don’t have to worry about getting a cramp in my left shoulder (like I did with the old mute). The Schlipf mute did not force me to change my main tuning slide setting to play in tune; however, it does force me to properly utilize air support. My first private instructor always told me to “Use more air!” Granted, he told everyone this, but I feel like it is especially true for me. With this mute you must to move enough air to support your note and everything just falls into place, it’s just quieter…MUCH quieter! Doing a side by side comparison in volume levels with the Silent Brass, I’d say (without the benefit of a decibel meter) that the Schlipf Mute is about equally quiet and maybe just a hair louder.

When you are breathing and blowing well, the mute lets you play through your entire range without impeding you. I was able to play from my highest squeak chromatically down to my lowest flatulence without the mute stopping me. One of the nice things about this mute is I can still feel the horn resonate in my lap the same way as it does without the mute in. One observation I made regarding the fit of this mute was the mute doesn’t wedge itself into the bell and stick like a straight mute does, so I just have to remember not to dump it onto the floor by accident. So far so good on that count.

One complaint I have heard about the Schlipf mutes is they only fit into a specific (or almost identically sized) horns. I can tell you the properly fitting size provides for a pleasing practice experience with this mute. Since I have one tuba and only one tuba, I don’t have any issue with the lack of interchangeability with other tubas. I like it, I’m keeping it, and I highly recommend it!

WoWwY "sharing my personal experience and opinions" nAtoR

[TubaGuyBen]

Its great too cause if you are traveling the Schlipf sits flush with your bell so i can go right in your case and serve as in bell support.

[bort]

Re: storage -- if your tuba fits tightly in its gig gig bag (like a Cronkhite) or if it has something that already occupies the bell space (storage pouch on Miraphone gig bag), you may have trouble getting it to fit in the bag.

Apart from that, everything mentioned here is true from my experience as well. Great mutes, and I think they really help with centering pitches and articulation.

[Greg Lecewicz]

Love the pictures of the bubble wrap. I have a roll of it too. Always a pleasure to see thou... I would hate to see the mute exposed, it would have been to pornographic.