Bucket o' Fun

The bucket mute.  I want you to take what you know about mutes, replace the mute with a bucket, and you have a bucket mute.  It's nothing too special.  The two types of bucket mutes are all dependent on how it is attached to the instrument.  They can either have corked legs that go into the bell or you can have clips (as seen on the right) that attach themselves to the rim of the bell.


The sound leaves the bell, enters the bucket, swirls around in there and then finds its way out the sides, coming back at the player.  The effect of this is the removal of high frequencies, leaving a softer, damper tone.  If played correctly, it provides a rich, soulful pitch.  Sultry is a good adjective.  In your mind, picture the main character of a movie who just lost his job, his family, his home, and is living in the streets of a major city.  As he wanders the streets, looking for a place to get out of the rain, even though he has a trench coat on with the collar popped. There are police sirens in the distance as our hero looks in the window of a family happily having dinner, everything he just lost. A trumpet woefully plays a somber tune.  That is what a bucket mute does.  Lets take it to the clip, and picture what I just described.

Its crazy how putting a bucket in front of the bell can change a shrill trumpet into a smooth cornet.