Very intriguing! Now I'll have to scour Craigslist. 😜 😜

I have a couple of Kelly MPs - 1 Kelly Screamer - feels and sounds pretty ordinary, but that may say as much about my playing on a too shallow (for me) mouthpiece. 2 A 3C cornet piece - the cheapest option after not packing a mouthpiece on a business trip. It plays fine and doesn't feel much different to a metal MP of similar size.

After playing a 3C for years, I've recently discovered I can play pretty well on a Bach 1-1/2C, and I like my tone much better with it, too. My overall intonation is a little better with it, and soft attacks are easier and more secure. It's slightly more tiring to play than the 3C, but I can deal with that. Been using it for a couple months now and still like it for most playing, so I think I'm past the honeymoon phase.

$50 +, paaaaass. Although it promises higher range!! Hmm, send me 2!!!

@JorgePD Thanks for checking out the video. I swear I will do more soon. I've been a bit pre-occupied lately with a Band Competition and a new work.

@J-Jericho said in DIY Practice mute out of PET Coke bottles:

@BigDub I'm guessing here, but is it because GG is more brittle and matches that particular characteristic of wood so there's less variation in drag on the cutting bit?

One thing I am sure of is that the seam is invisible and yes, no drag and the two pieces appear as one seamless piece. I usually wet one surface with water and put the glue on the other. This results in an incredibly strong, almost molecular(?) bond.

@Bay-Area-Brass said in Harmon Mute Showdown!:

@tmd They older ones are in tune once you pull out the slide a bit. I'm happy to do that in order to keep the classic tone.

Thanks Bill. Just to clarify, low notes on my original Harmon mute are very sharp (especially low G and low F#). Back in the day, it took a lot of effort to get those notes out. With my Harmon Type B, those notes are very much in tune.

Mike

The old Callet "Solo" flugel mouthpiece is pretty shallow, but actually finding one is the trick.

Nice looking horn, Kehaulani. Congratulations!

Well, I'm out of this one, too. Gotta go practice my buzz. 😁

@Rapier232 said in Mute Musings:

@Kehaulani
My Cleartone mute actually says on the label, ‘Corks may need filing’.

Would that be filed under "mute materials" or "trumpet accessories"?

@J-Jericho

Best reply ever.

-tj

Hi George,

Thanks... I agree too. I plan on playing around on the 10.75CW for a while and see. One thing I found out right away... DO NOT mash the MP into your lips! DO NOT play with heavy pressure! You hardly will get any note out of the trumpet! It's an interesting type of MP where you need a light touch.

Anyway, I hope this is allowed on TB, but I also wrote over on TH and another player over on that forum asked about my dental work, issues, and how it affected my playing. So, I figured I'd share the whole conversation over here (cut 'n paste), in case anyone wanted to know. In a nutshell: Ice hockey and trumpet playing don't mix! ha ha ha...

Hey Butch,

How have the dental issues affected playing? Did the playing cause the dental issues or did you have dental issues and now need to find a new way to play?

Well... It's a long story... Back when I was stationed in Boston, MA during my USCG days, a few buddies and I would go out and play amateur ice hockey off base after hours -- just common "pick up games" with assorted people who wanted to play too. Anyway, I played right wing and remember Marty (defense) passing the puck up to me along the boards. I just remember skating as fast as I could while looking ahead to the left to Billy (center) to pass the puck to him to try and score a goal. But, I wasn't watching where I was going and crashed head-on into the defenseman on the other team. We both fell onto the ice, and out of sheer dumb luck, I landed on his hockey stick with my face. I don't remember much, but just laying there face down on the ice in a pool of blood and teeth. Yup, I lost all my front teeth from eye tooth to eye tooth, even busting an eye tooth in half, and partially fracturing my nose. They shoved a towel in my face, and got me to the hospital for x-rays. Long story short - they got me all cleaned up, and fixed me up with front partial, then later they made a permanent front bridge. All these decades later, due to age or whatever, the front bridge broke in two while I was eating something hard (I can't remember, maybe a Jolly Rancher or something), and I heard a loud ka-bang in my mouth, and both sections of the bridge were loose! Well, here we go again... A few years ago, the oral surgeons, endodontists, etc... said, "Uh, sorry, the time has come... You have to take the plunge and get an upper denture plate". So, to close out this long winded story, they did all the work in various stages, and after molds and impressions, they made me a complete upper denture plate. It took me quite a while to relearn trumpet, rework my embouchure, etc... and it's a true miracle that I can still play!

I had a few lessons from a real good friend and fellow Shriner (who also plays Euphonium with the Richmond Pops) and on the side, he gives private music lessons to school band students. Well, he worked with me on my embouchure, and taught me how to make a "frown" and use my diaphragm more. It made a world of difference, and I can pretty much play up to the high "C" and no more with very little pressure on the MP.

Endurance is the main thing that I am after. I need comfort, along with the ability to play song after song after song for 45 minutes straight before a break.

Thanks.Already saw that. Looking for input from someone that doesn't work for the company.

@Kehaulani not sure, but it made it interesting again.

Benade wrote about the importance of matching backbores to cups around some 50 years ago.