>Ok, all you musicians out there. A mute should not change how the tone of a note sounds, just how loud. Right? We have a promising Alison Balsom here and when we put the mute in her trumpet, the notes tend to break and are not clean. I tried it as well with the same result. Take the mute out and they are good. It's a Humes & Berg student mute, if that matters. The corks are filed down much, but seems to be plenty of room for air to get through. I think the trumpet is a King (she's practicing now). Any ideas?
Brings back memories. Used to play a King and man I loved my mute. Do you mean the tone or the pitch? I think the tonal quality definitely changes - that's part of the idea of the mute - gives it kind of a funky, less brassy sound. Pitch shouldn't change at all. Listen to some old Harry James or Biederbecke when they use the mute.
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