On 13 Jan 2003, at 12:00, [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: > Ion Balu practice mutes
Ion (that's a capital i at the beginning) is currently fourth horn in the Memphis Symphony. He studied and played in Romania before moving to the US, and completed his master's degree at Arkansas State, studying with Robin Dauer. His brother, Nic plays fourth in the Arkansas Symphony while he is pursuing the MM at ASU also. Ion played extra with the Arkansas Symphony in the fall, when we programmed Heldenleben. He had with him a case he had made, a great travel hard-shell suitcase for horn. I know he was interested in the idea of marketing it, but I had not heard of mutes under his name. I don't have any contact info onhand for Ion, but I'm sure that Robin would know something about it. He can be reached at [EMAIL PROTECTED] I personally own two practice mutes, and I try to switch off between them. With two little girls and my wife sleeping during much of my premium practice time, it's about the only way I can fit it into my schedule. I tested practice mutes extensively while at the Brassfest '95 in Bloomington, Indiana and it came down to these two as having the best fidelity and ease of playing. It seems that all these mutes have their unique distortions of pitch. The Yamaha Silent Brass I use more without the headphones than with simply because of the hassle. It tends to expand intonation problems (very high goes sharp, very low goes flat). The other I use is a TrumCor, which has the opposite pitch tendency, more contracted. By switching frequently between them, I never get TOO used to any one particular problem. By all means, try not to use them any more than you have to! For what it's worth, Brent Brent A. Shires, Instructor of Horn University of Central Arkansas: Conway, AR 72035 Phone: 501-450-5768 Fax: 501-450-5773 Web: http://www.uca.edu/divisions/academic/arts/music/faculty/bshires.htm 3rd Horn Arkansas Symphony Orchestra; Blue Lake Fine Arts Camp Horn Instructor; IHS Regional Workshop Coordinator & Arkansas Area Rep.; Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia Province 4 Governor _______________________________________________ Horn mailing list [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://music.memphis.edu/mailman/listinfo/horn
