Okura + Mutes -- tenor and bass
Posted: Mon May 08, 2023 8:58 am
The good:
- named after a vegetable
- extremely light
- fits inside bell for transport
- feels droppably sturdy - plastic is not of the worryingly frangible 3D-printed variety
- base of mute unscrews, presumably so you can fill it with weed ...or okra, for snacktime
Tenor, compared to sshhmute:
- slightly nicer blow
- comparable overall volume but tone color is 'softer'
- intonation decent below 8th partial - sshhmute slightly superior up high
- bottom actually unscrews so that you can remove the internal resistance tube... but removing it makes a loud kazoo sound from 5th partial down, so
- fit: protrudes 3/8" on 3B (tight throat), flush but secure on 2B or Bachs large and small, just about bottoming out on large Holton tenors
- overall, a winner: only slightly worse intonation than sshhmute at extremes of range, in exchange for slightly nicer sound and blow, much lighter weight and possibility of in-case transport
Bass:
Nope. This is sold as 'french horn / bass trombone'. It has a picture of a french horn on it. On bass, it fits nicely in the bell and doesn't fall out, but it's flat up top and 2nd partial is a full semitone sharp... it's not a bass trombone mute. It gets good reviews as a horn mute, so I imagine it's fine for its designed purpose.
- named after a vegetable
- extremely light
- fits inside bell for transport
- feels droppably sturdy - plastic is not of the worryingly frangible 3D-printed variety
- base of mute unscrews, presumably so you can fill it with weed ...or okra, for snacktime
Tenor, compared to sshhmute:
- slightly nicer blow
- comparable overall volume but tone color is 'softer'
- intonation decent below 8th partial - sshhmute slightly superior up high
- bottom actually unscrews so that you can remove the internal resistance tube... but removing it makes a loud kazoo sound from 5th partial down, so
- fit: protrudes 3/8" on 3B (tight throat), flush but secure on 2B or Bachs large and small, just about bottoming out on large Holton tenors
- overall, a winner: only slightly worse intonation than sshhmute at extremes of range, in exchange for slightly nicer sound and blow, much lighter weight and possibility of in-case transport
Bass:
Nope. This is sold as 'french horn / bass trombone'. It has a picture of a french horn on it. On bass, it fits nicely in the bell and doesn't fall out, but it's flat up top and 2nd partial is a full semitone sharp... it's not a bass trombone mute. It gets good reviews as a horn mute, so I imagine it's fine for its designed purpose.