Post 241: MUTES FOR CORNETS AND TRUMPETS

The word 'mute' is slightly misleading because it suggests silencing. Although most mutes do indeed reduce the decibel level, their true function is to alter the instrument's tone. They capture different moods and create different textures; and they produce 'jazzy' effects.

For anyone interested in adding mutes to their kit, I will offer you my thoughts about my collection. However, please bear in mind that what suits one player may not suit another.

Trombonists and tuba-players: please note that there is a similar range of these mutes available in larger sizes for you.

I will work from the right to the left in the picture above.

(1) Rubber PLUNGER mute. Manufacturer unknown. This is one of my favourites and I use it a great deal for traditional jazz. As it is so flexible, you can squeeze and hold it in various ways and positions to achieve a huge range of effects from the mellow to the raucous and growling.

(2) Humes and Berg 102 stonelined trumpet cup mute. This is another great favourite. It gives a crispness to the tone. And you can slightly vary the effects by holding it only partially inside the bell, rather than simply jamming it in by the corks. A great point in favour of this mute is that, unlike some, it does not distort the tuning of the notes you play: it is good over pretty well the full range. No wonder this mute is so popular with many traditional jazz players.

(3) Humes and Berg 112 stonelined PIXIE aluminium mute. This is also very good. The intonation of the instrument is unaffected by it; and the tone produced is relatively mellow, so it's specially good for simply playing quietly or for 'background effects' on ballads. It also makes interesting sounds when used in combination with a rubber plunger mute, though I haven't experimented much with it.

(4) Humes and Berg 101 stonelined trumpet straight mute. This is a very efficient mute: it does just what you would expect - it allows a bright but 'different' sound out past the corks down the sides. It also keeps all the notes in tune, without distortion. It's not exciting but it is safe and is typical of what most people would expect to hear when imagining a trumpet played with a mute.

(5) Humes and Berg 120 stonelined trumpet DERBY (red and white bowler hat) mute. So far I have been a little disappointed with this, particularly because it was expensive when bought four months ago and I can't get anywhere near the sound Ken Colyer used to achieve with his famous Derby mute. I think this is partly because is has a sort of felt lining rather than metal. But mainly it's because this mute needs a lot of practice to get the feel of the many effects you can achieve, depending on the precise position and angle at which you have it, in relation to your instrument's bell. You can deflect the sound in so many different ways. I have not yet felt confident enough to use it in public. But I can tell you that it too does not distort the tuning of notes and that it certainly can produce a huge range of jazz effects. You may find - as I am doing - that it is not easy to master.

(6) The distinctive HARMON mute (complete with pull-out wah-wah stem); manufacturer unknown (but marked with a 'K'). This can be used in a variety of ways. Remove the stem and you have the silky tone associated with Miles Davis. What happens is that it stifles the familiar trumpet sound that bounces mainly off the inside edges of the bell and allows out only the sound that is left coming out of the middle. But if you put the stem in, this gives the sound a metallic tube through which to escape. You achieve a sweet, 'distant', lovely tone that is ideal for gently playing spirituals. And, of course, if you're so inclined, you can use your fingers over the end of the stem to produce semi-comical wah-wah effects. I use this mute sparingly but it certainly offers something different.

(7) BUCKET mute of a kind (manufacturer unknown). This is heavily lined with what appears to be polystyrene padding. It has a stifling, blanket-like effect on the sound. At best, you could say it produces a 'velvet' tone. I don't find this much use, so it hardly ever gets used.

(8) Humes and Berg 'color-tone' straight mute. I think Humes and Berg may have discontinued the manufacture of this mute, which is just as well, because if you want a straight mute you are far better off buying the one I described under No. (4) above. I think this 'color-tone' was made from cheaper materials. There's nothing wrong with it but it doesn't offer anything special for public performance. It would be fine as a first mute for a beginner. I use mine simply for keeping the sound down when practising within earshot of other people.

Bear in mind too that, even with my eight mutes, I am well short of the full range available.

So much for my impressions. But if you would like to have a terrific YouTube tutorial on mute usage - yes, this is really good - from a great expert, click on this video:

CLICK HERE.

Post 203: MUTES, MUSICIAN DEAFNESS, HEARING YOUSELF

Here's an interesting correspondence that occurred recently between bandleader Mr. A, trumpet-player Mr. B and trumpet-player Mr. C.

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Hello B and C,

How are you? I hope you are getting lots of gigs.

As you know, we have Mr. D .. in our band playing trumpet and he says he is going deaf (although I don't think he is as deaf as I am). Anyway, he says he can't hear himself when we play outside.

I have noticed that you sometimes play into a metal dish that presumably reflects the sound back to you. Am I right? If so what is it and where can he buy one and how much does it cost, please?

Best wishes,

A.

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Hi A, 

Hope all is well with you.

No one realises what we trumpet players go through. When you play, the sound from the trumpet goes away from you and as you are directly behind it you don’t really hear yourself until it strikes a surface and returns to your ear (trumpet is even worse than cornet because of its length). That is why Dizzy Gillespie bent the bell of his horn up into the air.

Sometimes when the drummer, amplified keyboard, amplified guitar, amplified bass and ringing banjo are blithely roaring away and on one side the trombone and on the other the reedman are blowing in towards you, it’s near impossible to hear yourself without blasting away at ffff.

Playing outside is even more difficult. People then comment on how loud the trumpet is and think he doesn’t need a mike and wonder why can’t he play with more sensitivity and more pppp.

When you play with mikes, a monitor or fold-back system will cure this problem and the whole band can hear each other and play in a more balanced and sensitive way.

When playing without amplification, any device or method that reflects the sound back to you can perform a similar function.

Sometimes you’ll see a trumpet player suddenly hold his hand over the bell, not necessarily for a special sound effect but to simply hear himself.

Metal hats, plastic-covered music scores, wa-wa mutes, brick walls or just the hand are all methods to this end.

As you know, when playing a wind instrument you need to hear yourself clearly enough in order to strike the balance you want in volume and tone etc.

Well, that’s my rant over and I feel better for it - hope I didn’t bore you.

To answer your question re availability of such devices: I have tried for ages to find a metal derby hat but have been unsuccessful. If they are in production anywhere it’s a well-kept secret. I have a felt-lined derby which I bought on Ebay for £20 which isn’t too bad but my own device is simply an Ikea stainless steel salad bowl (£3.00) screwed to a microphone stand.

The best thing is a metal derby (Ken Colyer used one for years and other trumpet players likewise). This, when no microphones are available, pings the sound back to you and the band with a nice, clear ringing tone and saves a lot of wear and tear on the lips. 

Hope this answers your question and tell D.... best of luck. 

B.

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Hi Folks,

I'm pleased to join in this correspondence since B's comments so accurately reflect my own experiences.

I was playing cornet recently in a seven-piece band in a church hall. There was amplification of some of the instruments. I could not hear myself at all. I felt I was struggling even to play an audible melody for the clarinet and trombone to 'decorate'. But my wife (who for once had come to a gig) told me in the interval that I was playing FAR TOO LOUD and I really must try to curb my sound. That taught me something. I would never have believed it if she had not pointed it out.

On the other hand, if I'm playing in a not-too-noisy band (e.g. an unamplified quartet) with a good BRICK wall facing me (e.g. outdoors in a shopping centre) I can hear myself perfectly.

I believe the above confirms all that B said. And I hope it will be of some comfort to D.

Regarding the danger of deafness, I have on rare occasions tried using home-made cotton-wool earplugs in exceptionally noisy environments. They reduce the impact on the ear-drums but they have the disadvantage of leaving me unable to assess the tone and balance of the music I am involved in.

As for mutes, I have become addicted to them in recent months and have built up a collection. My favourite is the Humes and Berg 102 stonelined cup mute. But this is for special effects and not to enable me to hear myself better.

I also wanted a 'derby' mute and have just acquired one - the Humes and Berg 120 stonelined derby mute. I got it from Myatt's of Hitchin for £30.

It's good; but not quite what I wanted because it is indeed felt-lined, producing just a little too much 'fuzziness' and I shall have to practise hard with it if I am to play the highest and lowest notes in tune.

Seems I'm in the market for one of those salad bowls!

I hope this all helps.

Happy blowing to everyone,

C.

Post 163: FALSE FINGERING FOR CORNET AND TRUMPET PLAYERS

I'm going to say a few words about false fingering for the cornet or trumpet. This will be boring stuff for most of you, so perhaps you should switch off now and see whether there's a decent football match on TV.

For those still with me, I can tell you I was strictly taught that a cornet player should NEVER - absolutely NEVER - play any note by using the third valve by itself. The correct fingering for such notes as the lower 'E' and the 'A' within the stave was first and second valve combined. The reason for the ban on using the third instead was - I think - that the note would be very slightly out of tune.

But I noticed later in life that many trumpeters - particularly jazz players - habitually and instinctively use third valve alone. You may be surprised to hear that the third valve by itself gets you 'G' AND 'A' AND 'B' above the stave, which the classically-trained are taught always to play as an open note, 1st with 2nd, and 2nd respectively.

So you can go right up the C scale in the higher octave with this simple fingering: C = 0 / D = 1 / E = 0 / F = 1 / G = 3 / A = 3 / B = 3 / C = 0. What a useful trick!

If you find that hard to believe, just try it.

This example of false fingering now seems to me to do no harm and to bring the required result. Unfortunately, the discovery came too late to affect my own playing. The classical rules were ingrained and I was too old to learn new tricks.

Here's another example of false fingering. The higher 'D' within the stave is correctly played with first valve only; and that's how I was taught to play it. But you can also get it (ever so slightly sharp) with a combination of first and third valves.

The most interesting example of this that I am aware of occurs in the 1927 recording by Louis Armstrong of Potato Head Blues - one of the most important and influential recordings in the history of jazz. If you need to, you can find it on You Tube. Note the final stop-time solo (following the Johnny Dodds clarinet chorus) that Louis plays: in the 9th and 10th bars Louis produces an amazing flutter on that 'D'; and he achieves this by hitting the note ten times in a row, alternating the fingering between first valve and first with third.

As you probably know, when you use the second valve, you are lowering an open note by a semi-tone; when you use the first valve, you are lowering the note by a tone; when you use the third valve, you lower it by one and a half tones. This suggests that the third valve can at any time substitute for the first and second together, as either fingering lowers the note by one and a half tones. However, manufacturers do not make the third valve slide exactly the same length as the two other slides combined. That's why the tuning of falsely-fingered notes is not absolutely spot on.

Apart from most of the harmonics (notes played without depressing any valves) all notes in most keys are ever so slightly out of tune and there’s no way of avoiding this. The designers of brass instruments have to compromise in the lengths of the tubing (just as pianos are tuned by ‘equal temperament’).

But enough of this heavy stuff. If you want to study the subject further, start by looking up ‘equal temperament’ on the Internet.

I just want to make a point about the consequences for cornets and trumpets. For every note, we have a ‘correct’ fingering (making the best use of the instrument’s design) but most notes also have at least one ‘false’ fingering which produces the note very slightly sharp or flat – but only to the extent that a passer-by would hardly notice.

I said above that it is possible to play G and A and B above the stave all by depressing third valve alone. In fact you can get any of the following eight notes on a trumpet or cornet with third valve alone:

At a pinch, you can even get the high C above these notes with 3rd valve only.

But please don’t tell anybody this little secret. You would get me into big trouble with serious trumpet tutors. Let’s just keep it between ourselves.

It’s not just third valve that provides some useful false fingering, of course. Here are the third and fourth bars of the most famous cadenza in all jazz – Louis Armstrong’s introduction to West End Blues. I am showing here the classically-correct fingering for the bar of descending quavers.

But if you have trouble playing that, just consider this: you can use first valve alone on five successive notes!

Reminder: don’t let anybody know I told you.

Post 53: SCREAMING TRUMPETS OR GOOD TASTE?

Which of these two types of trumpet (or cornet) player do you prefer?

PLAYER A: He produces screaming 32-bar solos or even 64-bar solos [32 x 2], sometimes raucous, using lots of notes, especially high ones, often pulsating, but with not much feeling apart from sheer energy, and with little attention to the subtleties of the music.

Norman Thatcher

PLAYER B : He concentrates on the effects of the ensemble, contributing subtly, imaginatively and with soul to the harmonic progressions and - if taking a solo at all - he keeps it short and achieves effects through harmony, tone, surprising phrasing - without any exhibitionism. Have a listen to the late Norman Thatcher playing in this manner. And of course Ken Colyer was famous for setting the standard in this type of playing. That's what I would call soulful and musical trumpet playing:

Click here.

When I was beginning to study traditional jazz trumpet playing 27 years ago, I attended a tasteful concert given in Norwich by the band run by the late great clarinetist Chris Blount (who incidentally may also be heard playing beautifully with Norman in the video above). Throughout the first half, I closely watched the trumpeter (Bill Dickens) who played the perfect lead in this band where good melodies and neat teamwork were always principal features.

I noticed that, although he produced some very pleasing solo choruses, he never played a note above the F at the top of the stave. I mentioned this to Bill during the interval. 'No need to,' he said.

And since 2010 we have been able to enjoy on YouTube the playing of young Shaye Cohn, who sets an example to the whole trad jazz world of how to play a brass instrument tastefully. I have watched her in more than 150 videos and never caught her attempting the screaming, raucous pointless high-note flashy type of solo.

What Shaye offers is soul. Her tone, her bluesy phrasing, her bending of notes, her emphasis on teamwork and ensemble are second to none. Some of her best and cleverest playing occurs where you hardly notice it - in the background while accompanying the singer or decorating the lead or solo being taken by another member of the band. She's particularly clever at incorporating the sixth, the flattened third and seventh and the ninths of chords into her subtle runs.

Take for example, a video of Memphis Shake - a routine performance by Tuba Skinny standards. Just concentrate on every note Shaye plays. Notice how she works hard throughout, with amazing variations on the melody, but always as part of a team - bringing out the best in colleagues and in the band as a whole.
Click here to view it.
Or look at a more recent performance of Dallas Rag. Energetic, and including a few high A flats and As, but never mere exhibitionism. Isn't that so much more musical than those screaming solos?
Click here to view it.

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Reader Sam Wood has sent me this comment:

Hello Ivan,
 
There is a way to deal with screaming trumpeters.  Near the end of their second screaming 32-bar chorus, just shout "Great, do another!"  Usually their lip can't manage another 32 screaming bars and the third chorus falls somewhere between anti-climax and disaster.  Sometimes they take a hint from this experience.
 
Works best with over-enthusiastic sitters-in.  Doesn't work so well when the trumpet player is the band leader.
 
If this problem occurs with a modern-style tenor sax player (it is always a tenor player) the only solution is to retire to the bar.  You will have time for a pint. 
 
Regards,
 
Sam