For the past four years I have been pumping out post after post every other day. Some were helpful (How To Mark Your Music) and some generated controversy (The Disturbing Monette Video) and one I actually had to apologies for (Teaching An Old Dog New Tricks).
Well this “old dog” decided to take the day off and feature a product evaluation submitted to me by a very good friend and accomplished trumpet player by the name of Jen.
Here is Jen’s evaluation of her new Mute Master purchased through A&G Music.
I just received a new mute holder that I really like. We have a lot of quick mute changes in the musical Cabaret that were driving me crazy which made it necessary for me to seek out a mute stand that could conveniently hold several mutes.
After quite a bit of research and discussion I finally purchased one called Mute Master from A&G Music in California. It slides right onto the ledge of a Manhasset music stand and holds 4 mutes and up to 3 mouthpieces.
So far, I really like it. The only downfall that I (experienced was that when retrieving my cup mute in haste the cork sometimes caught on the holder and it almost fell off, which could have resulted in some embarrassing noise when holder and mutes hit the floor. I solved this issue by trimming my cup mute cork at an angle at the end closest to the cup. Now, it slides out without catching. Thanks go to Bruce for the suggestion.
I am also considering securing the stand with Velcro tabs for extra security. Another negative with this product was the $24 price tag and the overpriced shipping. They charged me $13 to ship it and the actual cost was only $7!
Overall, I give the Mute Master a thumbs-up and it has really helped me with faster, quieter mute changes.
