You have your aluminum straight with 3 different bottom options (brass, copper, and aluminum), your synthetic mute… why do you need a wooden mute? Like a painter with a palette of glorious colors, as brass players we need an arsenal of options that bring us glorious sound in all different colors. Enter the wooden mute. While you could try to do everything with one mute, at some point you will be asked to match the color of the clarinet, soften the front of your articulation, or perhaps the most dreaded of all, get the conductor’s hand in an already quiet section. The wooden mute is your savior for all these scenarios. It puts a soft cloak around the straight mutes characteristic edge so you can blend with a soft wooden instrument, hide your entrance, and actually get that soft muted section down to -1 on the volume scale like the conductor is asking.
What is special about the Denis Wick wooden straight? Denis Wick wooden mutes are made by wrapping a birch-ply facing over a vulcanized fiber and finished with a marine ply bottom. This manufacturing technique reduces cost and increases durability while at the same time maintaining the beautifully warm muted sound that can only be achieved with a real wooden mute.
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Enjoy this demonstration and wooden mute discussion with Denis Wick artist Scott Robinson.
Find more great sounds from Scott Robinson at www.sciensonic.net.
Is your mute older than ours? Visit our Denis Wick Artist Group Oldest Mute Gallery to view our collection and submit an image of your own mute, or story of your favorite dent, to be added to our gallery.
