[TPIN] Bucket Mute

[Garry Chun]

>
>From: Patrick Olguin <paddyolguin at yahoo.com>
>
>......
>As for substituting flugelhorn for buckets and vice versa, I'm strongly (yet
>very civilly, MA) against it.  The muffling properties of a bucket mute reduce
>the volume of a trumpet.  A flugelhorn, with its conical bore, changes the
>overtone series (this is why it sounds more mellow to our ears).  No way would
>you see the Basie band (the best examples of extended bucket mute use in my
>experience) use flugels when buckets are scored.  The signature of that Basie
>sound is for the intensity (and hard swinging feel) to be there, but at a
>reduced volume (this adds to the tension/anticipation).  That can't be
>duplicated with flugelhorns... not even close (and I love my flugelhorn!).
.........

Sometimes, I think a flugel  "in the stand" is a decent compromise. 
The stand provides the "muffle" and removes the directness/edge of 
the flugel sound. Sometimes we find ourselves without the bucket, or 
the change is too fast, etc, etc.  Not always ideal, but workable.

As far as the Basie band, if you look on the Basie at Montreux '77 
video (with Lin Biviano, Sonny Cohn, Waymon Reed, etc.), Waymon 
appears to be playing lead on "Li'l Darlin'", and he's on flugel.  I 
think the rest of the section was on buckets and/or in the stand. 
That's where I felt a bit better about using flugel as a sub for 
buckets.  Depending on how the players sounds on flugel, it may or 
may not get the desired effect.

Garry