I love my Balu mute. I bought it as a set with his stopped mute (much longer and curved with a bigger "bell" on the mute) as well as his practice mute (not bad I think but I haven't tried many practice mutes so it's hard to evaluate. It was expensive but I think it was worth it. And, despite the stopped mute being quite a bit bigger than the standard version it fits into my case (Marcus Bona MB-5) as well as the standard (straight) mute which is really nice. If you are looking for a great sounding quality mute I can't recommend his mutes enough. Just look for "Balu Music" online and you'll find him.
Just by co-inky-dink, I was looking to see if anyone still made a bubble mute for Horn and stumbled upon your video. Luckily I did, because you confirmed what I suspected- that bass trombone mutes will fit the Horn. I haven't seen a Horn bubble mute for many years. They were an odd mushroom-shaped thing, much wider than a bass trombone mute, and bigger. The guys that used them, in the 50's and 60's, were mainly television station orchestra musicians. Horn mutes of all types were very popular back then, especially the cup mute for Horn. They had a very distinctive sound you'd immediately recognise in old tv shows.
Essential Elements for Jazz Ensemble has a French Horn Part (For Books 1 & 2 along w/ Accompaniment Tracks) that allows you to get some epic Jazz French Horn sounds.
No cup mute!? I found one at my local music store (they had three actually), and they asked what I wanted to pay for it since it had been there so long it wasn't even in the system anymore lol. It's an old traffic cone Humes and Berg, and doesn't really fit my 103, but it's fun, especially in the middle register, it has quite a nice tone for some jazzy playing (which I definitely do... lol)
I was about to ask this as I’m writing something and I want to stop mute sound, and then was intrigued by the Harmon on a horn. I’m familiar with it on trumpet, of course.
I’ve played on them before. They’re very impressive (and very loud) but I feel like the sound is so distinct and different from a regular stop mute that you can’t really use them in a section unless everyone has them.
how do you get your unlacquered instrument looking so crisp ? Ive recently bougt a new one and now i get tiny black spots everywhere .. especeally when some water stays on the surface.
