trumpet blower88

I on the other hand did something creative. I wanted one of those fancy practice mutes that you can hook earphones up to, but I didn't want to spend $90 - $120 on one. So I made my own!
I took and old air freshener out of the bathroom and washed all the smelly crap out of it so I had basicly an empty plastic cone. Then I took the microphone and speaker system out of an old telephone listener we use at my work to listen to the "tick, tock" or watches, (I work at a watch repair place, so we do that kinda thing). Anyways, I put the microphone inside the plastic cone and I ran the speaker wire out and connected it to a pair of head phones. Then I filled up the remaining space in the cone with sound proof wall insulation (that pink stuff) and then put cork around the bottem of it like on a wha-wha mute. It's pretty basic I know, but it works great, I used the high quality insulation in it so that the air could still be pushed though easily without screwing up the air flow but still keeping the sound from going out. And the dynamics, tone, pitch center and all that important stuff still comes though very clearly though the microphone.
Yes, I know... I am like the Jesus Christ of the trumpet world...

__________________
-David Jacques

John Mohan

When I was on the road and living in hotels, I used a normal red and white "stone lined" practice mute sometimes, and a Dennis Wick adjustable cup mute at other times with the cup part pushed all the way in until it touched the bell. The Wick mute felt better but the stoned lined practice mute was a little quieter.

Another trick is to play with your trumpet bell in a closet between two thick wool overcoats. This drops the volume a lot and causes no back pressure at all.

Hope this is helpful,

John Mohan

trumpetmike

John - Rather than using Denis' cup mute, have you tried his practice mutes?

I have a set of these (Bb/C, Eb and piccolo) and find them essential for when staying in hotels, or warming up backstage. The Bb/C I use is a prototype (and will be available for people to try at ITG - as will the others, and others from Denis' line of mutes) and is a huge improvement on the older ones that are currently in the shops.

SlideBone Ltd.

Wallace Trumpet Practice Mutes are superb.

Widely used. See and read what its all about at slidebone.com