[TPIN] Buckets and Flugels

[Mike Vax]

Ah Stan, while I do agree with your premise about mutes - to a certain
extent.  I cannot go along the the having to have "matched" flugelhorns for
there to be a blend.  Just as with trumpets, it is NOT the horn -- it is the
person behind it.
I have played in many sections where everybody had a different make of
flugelhorn and the blend was marvelous.
Mike Vax


On Wed, Apr 9, 2008 at 12:25 PM, Stan Modjesky <modjesky at verizon.net> wrote:

> Just my opinion, as a newcomer around here, but the blend is the important
> thing in a section.
>
> You get a trumpet section where the players are using five different
> brands of straight mute, and it's never going to blend. Not only does each
> one have its own sound quality, each detunes the horn to a different degree.
>
> Same is true with switching to the flugel. Unless the horns are very well
> matched, there won't be a blend, and the directionality of the flugel is
> different from a bucketed trumpet.
>
> Any of you who recall the music pedagogy magazines in the 40s and 50s
> might recall that some band leaders often went to great lengths to get
> everyone in the trumpet (or 'bone) section sounding as much alike as
> possible. That is a LOT of work, since two players are likely to sound a bit
> different from each other using identical horns and mouthpieces.
>
> As far as the bucket mute itself is concerned, I've only owned one, and it
> was made from a two-pound coffee can, stuffed with rags and topped off with
> a layer of cheesecloth. I DID have the good sense to spray paint it white,
> in case you were wondering.
>
> Mutes used in combos are another story, and I am surprised there is as
> little experimenation as you see on the bandstands. After the first time I
> heard Doc Cheatham's album recorded when he was 87, I was struck by the
> quality of his straight mute sound. Not nearly as much buzz as you generally
> get. On the album cover, Doc's straight mute looks as though he'd
> deliberately banged on the bottom from inside the mute, to make it rounded
> or convex. I had an extra LeBlanc straight mute, and while I was not willing
> to make dents, I tried stuffing it with a rag, and wrapping it in duct tape.
> It's butt-ugly, but has something close to the sound I wanted. I also filed
> the corks on one of my (Stone Lined) cup mutes, to bring the edges of the
> cup directly into contact with my bell--as tight a sound as you can get.
> Doesn't work for everything, but it has its uses. I can even recall a recent
> New Year's gig where I used a champagne glass as a plunger. Didn't sound
> special, but the audience thought it was a hoot...
>
> Stan Modjesky
> Baltimore
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