Of all of the mutes that trumpet players get to experiment and make music with, the most common one, as well as the “default” one, is the straight mute.

The trumpet with straight mute is a staple sound of the modern orchestra, and can be heard in all sorts of repertoire from the last 100+ years.

It also has a huge popularity in jazz trumpet idioms, making it a very versatile sonic character.

In this post, we’ll take you through the qualities of the straight mute, how it works, some repertoire that utilizes the straight mute, and some of our top picks for straight mute brands.

Where did the trumpet straight mute come from?

While hard to say for sure, the first notable use of the modern straight mute in general was used with the tuba in Richard Strauss’ 1897 work Don Quixote:

However, it is argued that the use of mutes in general can be found as early as Monteverdi’s Baroque trumpet opening to his opera l’Orfeo:

The modern straight mute has an extremely unique color to it, especially on the trumpet.

Because of its cork-grip, some sound is allowed to escape from the bell naturally, but most of the sound enters the chamber of the mute.

This makes it so that the overall sound is much quieter than before, and the sound itself carries a very metallic and nasal sound quality.

Particularly, the lower overtones are muffled so you hear a much lighter sound from the trumpet.

Repertoire featuring the trumpet straight mute

The straight mute, especially for the trumpet, has had a myriad of prominent features in the standard classical repertoire.

One composer who was particularly fond of the sound of trumpet with straight mute was Claude Debussy, who frequently used it to double another wind instrument.

Here is the very opening of Debussy’s iconic orchestral work La Mer, which features the nasal and bright qualities of the trumpet straight mute:

Another significant moment in Debussy’s music that implements the straight mute is this section in the second movement of his Nocturnes, which more prominently features the mute:

Moving away from Debussy, check out this excerpt from Shostakovich’s 8th Symphony, movement 3:

This fanfare writing in combination with the light tone of the straight mute creates a really unique effect for the listener, and it has many benefits for orchestration’s sake.

Lastly, Bartok’s Concerto for Orchestra features some amazing uses of the straight mute on trumpet:

Conclusion

As you can see, the straight mute on the trumpet is an incredibly fascinating sound, offering quite a nasal and bright timbre which nicely complements the rest of the winds in the orchestra.

If you’d like to learn more about the rest of the common trumpet mutes, click here.

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Happy practicing!