Jazz it up!

Many famous jazz musicians – from Louis Armstrong to Miles Davis – enjoyed great success with the trumpet, an instrument popular in practically all forms of jazz: New Orleans jazz, swing, bebop or free jazz.

Improvisation is perhaps the true heart of jazz and the mute helps increase the range of trumpet players and allows them to expand this form of musical expression. The mutes are fixed to the trumpet bell to reduce the dynamic effect and to modify the sound of the instrument. Different types of mute have different acoustic effects on the sound and they can be made of wood, copper, plastic or even aluminium.

The wah-wah or wow-wow aluminium mute creates a wide range of expressive sounds by opening and closing the opening with the hand while playing. It became famous with Gershwin's "Rhapsody in Blue" and "Sugar Blues" by Clyde McCoy.

The entrepreneur Joe Alessi also discovered the different sound characteristics and special effects of the mutes: aluminium mutes produce a bright sound; brass-bottom mutes have a warmer touch, while copper-bottoms create a deep, rich sound.

But even the rubber ends of drain plungers, a coconut shell, a plastic cup or just the cupped hand are used by the experts. Trumpet players hold these parts, known by the generic name of "plungers", in front the bell while playing. The plunger first became famous with Glenn Miller's "Doo-Wah" sound in the brass section. It has been used to great effect in solos by all great jazz trumpet players.

Aluminium thus also contributes to the sounds of our times and can always set the tone.


Overview