Posted by Chuck on May 09, 2001 at 11:02:09:
In Reply to: Re: Re: Yamaha silent brass for tuba...worth it? posted by Klaus on May 09, 2001 at 09:43:26:
The raise of pitch from a mute can be compensated for by adding length to the mute - even inverted length. My teacher showed me a trick for correcting this with a metal H&B mute. Putting some aluminum tubing inside the mute - fitting tightly into the narrow opening - changes the pitch. For the large mute with my 5/4 CC the aluminum piece is probably around 11" long. I first got the piece of aluminum and cut it to length. When it was longer than 11"(or so) it actually lowered the pitch past regular tuning.
Note - this does change the tone of the mute. It gets darker/less buzzy the more length you add to it. I only use this adjustment when I have a quick mute change that makes adjusting the tuning slide difficult for the next entrance.
But, with a practice mute, tone isn't really an issue. So, having a mute all the way inside the bell does not necessarily mean that the pitch would go wacky, as long as there is compensation.
So, to echo Klaus' question, "Is this the case for the Wallace mute?"