Tuba mute help needed

[oldpatterns]

HI Folks,

My son needs a tuba mute for an upcoming orchestra performance piece. He has a 5 valve B flat rotary Miraphone from the 70s.

ericknewtuba.jpg

What kind of mute does he need? For that mater - what kind of Miraphone is this? Is it a 186? I know from the serial # that is it from the 70s. Does anyone have a used one they want to sell that would work? I don't really want to buy a new tuba mute for an 8th grade student for one song. I don't know how often he will use it with a high school group, perhaps only for pieces with The Boston Youth Symphony Orchestra, which he just joined.

Thank you as always for your advice and help!

-michelle
the tube dudes mom

[Mark]

Which work is he performing that requires a mute?

[oldpatterns]

A piece called UMOJA by Valerie Coleman adapted by the conductor for the group. The first notation for the music is Con sardine cantabile. When he met with his conductor, she asked him if he had a mute. We don't have one - and I know they usually cost over $100.

-michelle

[bort]

I'm hoping you can find one to borrow. It's not worth buying right now, you'll almost never need it.

A better use of that $100 would be to get the bell rolled out!

[oldpatterns]

Bloke - I didn't pay $100 to have the bell fixed. And how much would this weigh? As is the tuba weighs almost 30 lbs.

-michelle

[Mark]

Here is the work performed with the original instrumentation: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=23Yx9gWHh0E.

It is less than 3 minutes. The sale price on the mute mentioned above is a good deal; but I'm not sure it is worth spending that much for one short work that may not really need a mute.

Does the BYSO have a tuba coach? If so, what does the coach think?

I would consider borrowing one or making do without.

[oldpatterns]

That was my thoughts too. That for the amount he is going to use it, I could put that towards other things for him. If they really want him to have a mute, they can find one for him to borrow.

Can anyone tell me if this is a Miraphone 186?

Thanks!

Michelle

[oldpatterns]

ok - it feels like 30 lbs to me. But I try to put it on my shoulder (in it's case) and haul it around every once in a while.

I'm not sure if they have a tuba coach. There are 3 tuba's all together in the whole program of over 450 kids and 3 orchestras. He had a a one on one meeting with the conductor of his wind ensemble group and she asked him if he had a mute. What 8th grade tuba player would own a tuba mute? I'm sure they have a brass coach for the students.

michelle

[pioanna]

Why don't you contact one of the university music departments. If they don't have a mute you can borrow I'll bet that they can put you in touch with someone who can.

[Art Hovey]

How soon is the performance? I have a home-made mute that would work. You are welcome to borrow it if you pay the shipping from and back to CT. Send me a PM if you are interested.

[Kevin Hendrick]

This might be useful (if there's time to make one before the performance):

viewtopic.php?f=2&t=48792&p=421196&hilit=+Mute

(there are links to downloadable patterns and instructions)

[oldpatterns]

I don't have any contacts at university. My son is only in 8th grade!

Does anyone have a "Tennessee Tech" mute that they want to sell, or lend him until November?

regards,
Michelle
Chelmsford, MA

[swillafew]

A friend of mine in the Chicago Brass Band sat by somebody whose mute was a dog dish, fixed up to sit in the bell of a euphonium. The story inspired me to get a brushed aluminum waste basket and use some speaker gasket material (from a big woofer) to make a tuba mute. Sound, not so much; resemblance to big dollar mute, score. On a secondary inspiration from this forum, I bought the Jet Tone mute and declared it to be the "conductor's friend" after the comments by made about the mute that everybody can see, but makes almost no impact on the sound. 80 bucks, not so bad. 60 more than the waste basket though.

[oldpatterns]

where could you purchase a Jet Tone Mute? They don't seem to be available.

-michelle

[swillafew]

I couldn't find one for sale today either. There is nothing wrong with home-made. The sound of a muted tuba is not lovely, and whatever muffles the sound to the extent that it sounds "different" is about the same as what 150 bucks will buy. The waste basket sounded great as long as I kept the dynamic low.

[ppalan]

I'm pretty sure I read that the R & S Jet Tone has been discontinued. I'd go with trying to borrow one for such a brief part. Here's one from Woodwind and Brasswind. I don't know if this will even work with the 186 but if it does, it is pretty inexpensive as mutes go. Maybe some one else here has some first-hand knowledge of this model:
http://www.wwbw.com/Humes---Berg-193-St ... 29439.wwbw.
I play a Miraphone 186. I purchased a Jet Tone for nearly the same reason as your son. (needed it quickly and for a very small part) It didn't work very well (not really much muting of the sound) but as someone suggested above, just putting it in my horn so it looked muted seemed to satisfy the conductor. ( ) I sold it and haven't needed one since. Good luck to both you and your son.
Pete

[oldpatterns]

Just in case anyone was wondering how this all played out. Art H. lents us a homemade mute this week. My son brought it to rehearsal today and his conductor seemed to be fine with it. I suppose if I'm up to the project, I'll make one for him later on. But for now that seems to fit the bill for him.

Thank you all for your help and advice!

-michelle
the tuba dude's mom

[ralphbsz]

Does he know how to play pp and still have a smooth tone? If yes, ask the conductor to skip the mute. It really doesn't add very much, other than making the tuba play really quiet.

We went through a similar drama with a mute this summer. Our son's high school went on a concert tour in Spain. One piece in the repertoire calls for a tuba mute, for less than one minute of playing (out of enough repertoire for both full-length band and orchestra concerts). Our son can perfectly well play pp, and that gets all the effect of a mute. The school already owns a mute, but the tuba with mute doesn't fit into the tuba case. So the mute needed a separate case, which then had to come along as excess baggage. And it means one extra suitcase on a 2-week trip, going by tour bus from city to city, and from concert venue to concert venue. He couldn't take it (since we already had a tuba as excess baggage), so some poor percussion student got stuck with it. I think taking the mute along is just insane, but the band director insisted. And you have to give him credit: the printed music does indeed call for a mute.

We got a really cool picture out of it: our son, at the back of the school symphony orchestra, with his tuba even another foot taller due to the mute, in a wonderfully decorated concert hall in Barcelona.

[oldpatterns]

Yup. we are in the same boat until the conductor understands how my son plays. Luckily it a tubenet member helped us out and it didn't cost me much. It is pain to schlep to rehearsals every week, but once the performance is over, hopefully she won't request another song with a mute.

-michelle

[Mark]

Just to be clear, the purpose of a mute is not to make the tuba play softer. The mute changes the tone color of the tuba. I've had plenty parts that require a mute and are marked forte or fortissimo. Mute is not really what it should be called.

On the other hand, I really think the OP's son would have been fine without a mute.