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Not long ago I was fortunate enough to purchase quite a bit of new equipment which included a nice spanking new Balu mute. (BTW a very fine piece.)
I had my trusty old Apperson mute that I purchase from the Getzen company at the time of my F tuba purchase back in 1970. The receipt which I still have says $27.00
OK - I digress. The mute was not serviceable at this point as the corks had dried, disintegrated and/or were missing, as was the leather guard at the small end.
What could I do with it. I had been reading and learning about 'practice' or 'silencer' mutes for practicing in hotels and other places so as not to disturb others. (How wonderful I thought. We've as tubaists have certainly matured into caring about others) But these practice mutes are pricey and no one else really sees them. At least not like that socking big cork that we use on stage in public concerts.
Perhaps I could fashion this old aluminum straight mute into a practice mute. When I looked over some of these new PMs, what I observed was that they all had a method for blocking the escape of sound from around the mute. My new Balu mute had velcro strips on the corks and side of the cone which allowed for adjustment. So that was going to be one feature on my experiment. There was also a type of foam around the cone that sealed off the mute from the bell of the tuba. That would become the other feature.
For the corks I used 1/8th gasket cork and for the foam - adhesive foam insulating strips for windows and doors. Both of these and the velcro (by the roll) were from ACE Hardware.
With all of the self-adhesion - assembly was simple. A pair of scissors was the only tool. (Oh! I did install a new handle and cut a couple of plugs from synthetic wine corks for bumpers to keep the mute from rolling when laying on the floor - but that is incidental.
I included a photo which can show how simple this is to do.
NOW - THE BENEFIT. Beyond the consideration and quietude given to others, the results of practicing on it are akin to mouthpiece buzzing. But more advantageous than mp buzzing, the whole tuba and human physiology are engaged. For me, the most significant benefit is the effect upon opening up the sound. Perhaps no less significant is that one really needs to center the pitch "dead on" and this improves focus when playing on the tuba without the mute. I find that I can concentrate on "mouthpiece solfege" but at the same time get practice on all the aspects of playing the tuba, including breath control and shaping and tapering the closure of notes.
MP buzzing by itself does have one important advantage over the mute and that is that one disassociates all of the physical issues of the horn (fingers, playing across partials, troublesome notes etc) and can concentrate simply on making a musical idea with the chops alone. Please do not think that the mute is a total substitute for MP solfege, but rather an extension of it, which involves adding back all of those physiological and mechanic elements to the playing complex. The last step then after MP solfege and the practice mute is to then return playing on the open tuba. There should be noticeable results.
I had my trusty old Apperson mute that I purchase from the Getzen company at the time of my F tuba purchase back in 1970. The receipt which I still have says $27.00
OK - I digress. The mute was not serviceable at this point as the corks had dried, disintegrated and/or were missing, as was the leather guard at the small end.
What could I do with it. I had been reading and learning about 'practice' or 'silencer' mutes for practicing in hotels and other places so as not to disturb others. (How wonderful I thought. We've as tubaists have certainly matured into caring about others) But these practice mutes are pricey and no one else really sees them. At least not like that socking big cork that we use on stage in public concerts.
Perhaps I could fashion this old aluminum straight mute into a practice mute. When I looked over some of these new PMs, what I observed was that they all had a method for blocking the escape of sound from around the mute. My new Balu mute had velcro strips on the corks and side of the cone which allowed for adjustment. So that was going to be one feature on my experiment. There was also a type of foam around the cone that sealed off the mute from the bell of the tuba. That would become the other feature.
For the corks I used 1/8th gasket cork and for the foam - adhesive foam insulating strips for windows and doors. Both of these and the velcro (by the roll) were from ACE Hardware.
With all of the self-adhesion - assembly was simple. A pair of scissors was the only tool. (Oh! I did install a new handle and cut a couple of plugs from synthetic wine corks for bumpers to keep the mute from rolling when laying on the floor - but that is incidental.
I included a photo which can show how simple this is to do.
NOW - THE BENEFIT. Beyond the consideration and quietude given to others, the results of practicing on it are akin to mouthpiece buzzing. But more advantageous than mp buzzing, the whole tuba and human physiology are engaged. For me, the most significant benefit is the effect upon opening up the sound. Perhaps no less significant is that one really needs to center the pitch "dead on" and this improves focus when playing on the tuba without the mute. I find that I can concentrate on "mouthpiece solfege" but at the same time get practice on all the aspects of playing the tuba, including breath control and shaping and tapering the closure of notes.
MP buzzing by itself does have one important advantage over the mute and that is that one disassociates all of the physical issues of the horn (fingers, playing across partials, troublesome notes etc) and can concentrate simply on making a musical idea with the chops alone. Please do not think that the mute is a total substitute for MP solfege, but rather an extension of it, which involves adding back all of those physiological and mechanic elements to the playing complex. The last step then after MP solfege and the practice mute is to then return playing on the open tuba. There should be noticeable results.
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