[TPIN] Buckets and Flugels

[Stan Modjesky]

Mike, I think I stated what I meant to say rather poorly. 

The notion I recall reading about--probably in Bandwagon or The Etude--was that the section leader should try to get everyone's SOUND to blend (or "match")  well. Of course, if the manufacturers had their way, they'd have everyone on their particular brand of horn, and you must remember the King and Conn scholastic ads of that era where the companies would tout that. But to do that often required different equipment for each player to accomodate their individual differences. 

In the 19th century, of course, you had instrument makers supplying the entire set of brass instruments for a single brass band at once, in the interest of "matching," but I've always supposed that in those days, before we had agreed on A440 as a standard, that was necessary to make sure that all the horns in one band were more or less tunable in the same range of pitches. I've owned a couple of vintage cornets that came with three different main slides, to accomodate a wide range of tunings.

In the world of amateur "concert"  bands where much of my playing is done, it can be quite difficult to get a trumpet section blended, because you so often have players with a broad range of experience, not to mention equipment. In one community band I recall several players had student-grade horns, there was a flock of Bach product, plus a Taylor and even a Monette! Luckily this doesn't seem to be as critical as in stage band music, where the entire section has to much tighter in every respect.

I can't say I can remember having played a flugel in a performance where there was another one in the house. Out here in Baltimore, a lot of the non-professional crowd (as well as those of us like me, who get paid once in a while) have only one horn, usually a Bach 180 of some sort.  We're in a sort of musical hinterland, alas. Only the full-time pro players and trumpet-bums like myself own multiple horns. And there are always these wild exceptions. Scotty Holbert sometimes shows up at a Peabody Ragtime gig with four Bb trumpets! 

Stan 
  ----- Original Message ----- 
  From: Mike Vax 
  To: Stan Modjesky 
  Cc: TPIN at tpin.okcu.edu 
  Sent: Wednesday, April 09, 2008 5:03 PM
  Subject: Re: [TPIN] Buckets and Flugels


  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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