West Side Story (arr. Jack Mason)

[LeoInFL]

Plenty of mute changes in this one. "Tonight" has an interesting notation: 'Muffled to sound like horn'. For the folks who've pulled this off, what kind of mute did you use??

I've got an aluminum straight, composite cup, fabric softone and a wooden Shastock available.

Thanks in advance!

[BGuttman]

Muffled to sound like horn: hand in bell. Pretend you are a horn player.

[Posaunus]

I've never been able to get a "hornlike" sound by putting my hand in a trombone bell. You might try the hanging a fabric Softone - or a cap or beret - over the bell. Quick on, quick off!

[shider]

I think i read somewhere, that you could emulate the sound of a horn (marginally) by playing farther out on the slide and using higher partials as alternative... I could imagine using that because that's what a horn naturally does
As a bass trombone player i find adding a lot of tubing by engaging the valves and playing higher in the harmonic series (at least for me) i get a softer and more horn line sound..
But i never had to use something like that and have doubts its really that useful

[Schlitz]

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[BGuttman]

Muffled to sound like horn: hand in bell. Pretend you are a horn player.

BUT play the right notes....

with no sense of proportion

[Schlitz]

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[StevenC]

I do like a softone for this. I think it is a good sound, but section doesn't always agree. Often we'll just play into the stand.

[Posaunus]

But enough about playing like horn players. I’m more concerned about viola players carpooling in a Prius....

How many viola players does it take to ... ?

[Schlitz]

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[LeoInFL]

Thanks for all of the thoughtful input! I think I'll try the Softone fabric mute when we next practice West Side Story. It does a really efficient job muting my horn so I may experiment with it half-on/half-off.

[timothy42b]

I played for something - guys and Dolls maybe? that had a lot of string parts, and this young music teacher covered it on keyboard.

Just before performance I asked her if she'd had any trouble with the alto clef on the viola parts. She got this look of horror and I felt like a total jerk for scaring her, but no it had all been properly notated.

The keyboard sound lacked some of the realism of actual strings. On the other hand it was in tune and on time, something that doesn't always happen with amateur strings.

[StevenC]

It does a really efficient job muting my horn so I may experiment with it half-on/half-off.

Definitely half-on/half-off. Full on can make you sharp.

[paulyg]

The couple of times that I've played it, I've just tried to mask my confusion. IIRC the horns are doing nothing in that point in the arrangement- why not give the part to them? Maybe their's says "Rest to Sound Like Trombones."

[sterb225]

I don't mute the passage, but do broaden and soften my sound or even lean into the stand a bit depending on indoor or outdoor (pops) settings.

[LeoInFL]

I don't mute the passage, but do broaden and soften my sound or even lean into the stand a bit depending on indoor or outdoor (pops) settings.

When I think about it, this may be the more reasonable solution since we have 10 bones in our section. Asking everyone to buy a Softone mute for a single passage may be a bit too optimistic. I'll suggest this at our rehearsal tomorrow night.

[Joebone]

Leaning close into the music stand, and trying blow a bit more softly, but with big volume, has yielded good results. French horn has a funny envelope - the notes all bloom, even with the crispest of attacks and releases. Plus the air is moving along and behind the orchestra/band, rather than forward into the room! Blowing the bell into the stand seems to emulate both the envelope and the directionality pretty well.