As an advanced musician, higher-quality designs like the Harmon or Plunger mute will give you much more control over the tone and timbre of your music. When trumpet players use a ProTec practice mute, they find that it is surprisingly free-blowing and well-balanced. In both their upper and lower registers, tone and intonation aren’t severely impacted. Professional trumpet players have also reviewed TrumCor’s Harmon mutes. Wayne Bergeron stated that the Zinger is one of his favorite mutes because of its great sound and intonation through different dynamic levels. Wagner, Joseph (1959). Orchestration: a practical handbook. New York: McGraw-Hill. p.49. ISBN 978-0-07-067655-8.

By far, the most common trumpet mute, and often the first mute a trumpet player will own, is a straight mute. The straight mute will quiet the volume of the trumpet while also giving it a brighter sound that can sway towards shrill at higher volumes. While these little cone-shaped devices do in fact mute the sound as the name suggests, they also allow trumpeters to produce a huge variety of different sounds. Compositions calling for plunger mute, use the notations "+" to mean cover the bell, and the “O” symbol, telling the performer to partly uncover the bell by pulling one side away from the trumpet like a door hinge.Using ‘con sord.’ and ‘senza sord.’ looks oddly formal and because so many different mutes are available, you’d probably want to always specify. I’d avoid these terms for big band writing - it comes across as though you’re not well acquainted with the style. Unlike the straight or cup mutes, the Harmon mute completely restricts all airflow from escaping the bell. Instead, there is a hole in the middle of the Harmon mute that the air has to pass through, which causes the trademark Harmon mute sound. Plunger Mute Held to the instrument by the player as unlike the previously mentioned variations this mute has no cork. Similarly to the above mentioned Harmon this mute also makes a wa-wa but on a much grander scale. In music it is notated as to how to use the plunger. O for open and + for closed. Each will have a distinct sound and tone colour – humes and Berg for instance,produce a large number of mutes with even more variety of timbre. The Zinger delivers very consistent pitches. Because of this assurance, trumpet players can experiment with expression without worrying about intonation or tone.

An example of a leather mute: USactive 7906716B1,Paul Wiessmeyer,"Mute for bowed stringed instruments",published 2011-03-15,issued 2011-03-15 As a result, there are actually lots of different types of trumpet mutes and it can be a bit confusing to decide which one you need. Unlike some cheaper mute brands, Best Brass has been used by great trumpet players like Wynton Marsalis, Tony Guerrero, and Adam Rapa.Knowing how to find the best trombone mute demands understanding the different makes and models. Straight Mute In contrast, Soulo Mute’s design allows the air to naturally flow inside the mute, undisturbed by a crimp or other barrier. This leads to a vastly improved, near perfect pitch, down to the low G, and a free-blowing experience. Ely 2009, p.110: "Trumpet and trombone players use a wider variety of mutes than other brass players"

There are quite a few different varieties of trumpet mutes, which produce distinct sounds to fit certain pieces and genres of music. Jazz music especially employs the use of a mute often for artistic reasons. The second part is the personal studio interface. There is a microphone in the mute that sends signals from your bell to the interface. The plunger is held in front of the bell. It can be held stationary, which produces a dull tone, but can also be moved, producing various sound effects. [29] Skillful usage can produce speech-like sounds, and short, loud notes while holding the plunger close to the bell produce "exploding" tones. [29] [1] The plunger is often used in conjunction with growling or with a straight mute (or both). [29] Trumpeters and trombonists typically use the head of a sink plunger and toilet plunger respectively, but metal plunger mutes are also produced commercially. [49] If a household plunger is used, some players recommend drilling a hole in the middle of it to adjust the sound, though this practice is controversial. [50] Derby (hat) [ edit ]Adjusting the cup closer to the mute will make the volume softer; the typical distance from the bell is around a quarter of an inch. For cup mutes that are not adjustable, one can achieve the desired length by sanding down the corks, although this is a permanent adjustment. Koehler, Elisa (March 1, 2015). Dictionary for the modern trumpet player. Lanham, Maryland: Scarecrow Press. ISBN 978-0-8108-8657-5.