Mutes 

Trapani Mutes

Trapani Mutes Los Angeles

These exciting new mutes, designed and fabricated by bass trombonist, Steve Trapani, are making big waves in the Hollywood Studios. 3D printed from ABS, these durable mutes are lightweight, sound great and play in tune! Being lightweight, they are much less likely to fall out of your bell flare!
Trumpet Straights, French Horn Stop, Tenor and bass trombone harmon mutes are available now. Other models will follow soon. Multiple color options including glow in the dark!

Order via paypal below. Calfiornia residents are required to pay sales tax.

Trumpet

  • Standard Trumpet Straight: Trumpet Straight Mute, endorsed by Los Angeles studio trumpeter, Jon Lewis. Originally a "mistake" prototype, this mute began its life as a smaller and easier/faster mute to print as I was coming up with basic designs for trombone mutes. After spotting the mute in my mute bag on a recording session, Jon said, "Hey what's this?", and then offered to buy it from me on the spot. He then asked for several more to show to colleagues, and Trapani Mutes was off and running. In addition to Jon Lewis, Trapani Mutes is proud to say that Rob Frear, Barry Perkins, Dan Rosenboom, Rob Schaer, Chris Still, and Jim Wilt also play this mute. The LA Phil guys have even come up with a new mute marking: the Trap mute. $40



  • Trumpet Straight "Devo": An experimental design based on the iconic headgear worn by those Spudboys from Ohio themselves. The original intent of the "Energy Domes", as they were called, was to collect the orgone energy which would normally escape from the top of the human head and refocus it back into the wearer's medulla oblongata. $40



    • French Horn
  • French Horn Stop Mute: Endorsed by Dave Everson, Assistant Principal Horn of the Detroit Symphony, Trapani Mutes' French Horn Stop Mute is a tweaking of the design of the traditional brass stop mute. Although the mute plays well in all registers, a wider stem bore and larger bell flare make this mute particularly easy to play in the lower register. Some colleagues of mine from the LA freelance scene asked for different colors, so in addition to the standard black mute, pink, purple, red, and yellow (not pictured) are also available. $40



    • Trombone

  • Trombone Harmon: Tenor Trombone Wah-Wah/Harmon-Style Mute - Endorsed by Los Angeles studio trombone legend, Alan Kaplan, this mute is free blowing in all of the registers with and without the stem, and has the added benefit of staying put in the trombone bell better than other Wah-Wah mutes. The idea of this mute came during the development of different practice mute ideas when I realized that one of my designs kind of sounded like a Harmon with the stem out. Some more tweaking led to a real Harmon sound. The standard color is black/red, however, you can personalize your mute with different stem and logo accent colors. Current options are: yellow, "British Racing Green", pink, purple and glow in the dark!. You can also go with all black. $55



  • Bass Trombone Harmon: Bass Trombone Wah-Wah/Harmon-Style Mute - With the success of the tenor trombone mute, I was anxious to design a bass trombone Harmon that played just as well. This mute plays evenly throughout the entire register of the horn with far fewer "bad notes" than any other bass Harmon that I've played. Accent colors are also available on this mute. Black/Red is standard. $65

    • To order Trapani Mutes, pleaase email trapanimutes@gmail.com

    Krippendorf Handmade Mutes

    In a quest to develop the highest quality wooden mutes, I enlisted the help of my friend, Heiko Krippendorf. Heiko is a master woodcraftsman for many of the famous homes of Hollywood and also a talented musician and lover of brass instruments! I initially approched him after I got the idea to see if he could duplicate my beloved DePolis bass trombone mute. The result was a solid wood mute instead of the particle board of the original. My expectations were exceeded in all areas.

    There are many wooden and fiber mutes available on the market at a variety of quality and price levels, but Heiko's mute is the only one of I know of that would be called an heirloom piece. Krippendorf mutes are perfectly smooth. It is a stunning piece to behold... as it looks like the mute was just conjured up from thin air, appearing before your eyes like magic. This is a piece of playable artwork in ever sense.

    Just having a great looking mute is something, but the sound has to be great. Because this mute is made of real wood, it has its own resonance, character and color. There simply hasn't been another mute made like this as far as I know, ever.

    We have plans to develop an entire line of mutes for trumpet, french horn and trombone. At the moment, our bass trombone mute is the only mute in production at this time. I know that this mute isn't for everyone. But there are some players out there that want the best, want something special and unique and this mute is for them.

    Current Offerings:

    -Krippendorf Handmade Bass Trombone Mute, based on the DePolis Mute, finished in black walnut burl, lacquered $465

    *Shipping to be calculated at time of order and billed seperately. Shipping is via USPS Priority Mail and I am happy to ship both domestically in the USA and Internationally. Please allow 3-4 weeks from date of your order for fabrication.

    *Custom Orders: Other exotic woods (Mahogany, Rosewood, Zebrawood, Snakewood, Ebony, etc) are available on request, a small fee will be added for custom mutes. Please inquire directly with your request via E-mail.
    Model:
    Wood Choice