TromboneChat

Last evening I practiced a little euphonium, more or less just for the fun of it.
I had to use my Denis Wick travel/practice mute.

While response is overall okay with that mute and the sound is also sort of okay, intonation is awful.
I practice trombone quite a bit with a mute and am totally aware of intonation issues, but with that mute on the euphonium it's on a different level. Octaves partly are off almost a half note.

What's your experience with practice mutes on euphonium? I don't play it enough to justify buying another. Just want to know if you have the same issue.

(Without mute intonation with my euphonium/mouthpiece combination is within the "normal"/acceptable range)

I have the same red Denis Wick travel mute for my euphonium. The intonation is definitely wonky to say the least, especially in the low register/below the staff (bass clef). I honestly just had to learn to work with the intonation/slotting issues back when I was having to use it more often.

A few years ago I borrowed the regular Wick practice mute from my college, and that one I remember not nearly as bad intonation-wise. Not perfect by any means, but much better than the travel mute, and less stuffy overall. Not as portable of course, since it's the same size as the Wick straight mute, but if it's mainly for at home practice I would probably prefer that one over the travel mute.

I also remember trying the first generation Yamaha Silent Brass for euph, and I honestly don't remember too much about the intonation/response that was any worse than the either Wick mute, but it definitely added a lot of weight to the instrument.

Thanks for confirming that it's not just me, but you also feel the mute is difficult in that regard!

When at some point in my life I should be playing more euphonium, I might try out other options.
For now it's good to know that it's not just an individual issue.

The last "node" on brass instruments is a bit past the bell. When you have a practice mute that fits entirely in the bell, it cuts that off and intonation goes out the window. That's why old silent brass for trombone sticks out so far, and plays so well (and why the normal Wick plays better than the travel one).

Yes, I am aware of that. however for example the Best Brass mute for trombone is much much better in tune than the euph travel mute. probably due to the overall geometry of the euphonium.

I would disagree, mine plays horribly! It’s the worst of any of my practice mutes. But it may be better than the euph one.

Yes, the best brass tenor and bass practice mutes are much worse imo than e g the Sssshh mutes that I mostly use. but compared to that Wick euph travel mute they are still much better.

MStarke wrote: Thu Jul 03, 2025 4:17 am What's your experience with practice mutes on euphonium?

I never had to use a practice mute on my euph (which was a Yamaha 64x clone -- so with a fairly large (12"?) bell). But I did experiment with that a bit. I discovered that you can fit a Softone bass trombone mute over the euphs bell with a bit of stretching effort (which, alas, tends to render it less useful on a bass trombone ). If you don't quite like the effect of that, you can then experiment by cutting holes in the Softone to get better response and Intonation. If you go too far, duct tape is an excellent way to cover the holes. Also, the Softone is highly portable and relatively (?) inexpensive.

I have good experience with the first generation Yamaha silent system euph practice mute. The italian winebottle shaped one. Good intonation, down to pedals, good dampening. I never use the microphone and amplifier, it works fine without.

I used a DW metal straight mute too, with a bit of cloth around the mute at the bell. Fine enough, but very low range gets wonky.

Without doubt the best tuba & euph mutes are made by Schlipf

https://www.tuba-mute.com/