Harmon damper
The harmon mute is a mute for brass instruments , especially for trumpet , more rarely for trombone . The damper consists of a metal body that is inserted into the bell of the instrument and sealed with a cork ring . This means that the air from the instrument can only escape through the small opening at the end of the damper. Since the air is guided completely through the damper and is not bypassed (as is the case with straight and cup dampers, for example ), the Harmon damper is one of the closed dampers.
Since only little sound is emitted through the small opening, the damper sounds very quiet, although the timbre, rich in overtones, has a metallic, sharp character. The tone sounds like ee and less like the open aa , d. H. the formants of the sound shift. The distinctive yet gentle sound gained great popularity in jazz and was made famous primarily by the trumpeter Miles Davis .
The Harmon damper is usually made of aluminum or copper . Initially only manufactured by the company of the same name, this damper is now available in different shapes and under different names (e.g. Bubble Mute ) in the range of many manufacturers.
With an inserted stem of the damper than is wah damper referred to as by the opening and closing as well as by the in and out pulling of the stems of the tone is modulated and so the so-called wah-wah effect. There is the designation Wee-Zee damper for use without the stem . This timbre was particularly used by Miles Davis.
Web links
- Bertsch, M . The trumpet mute . Influence of the damper on the acoustic behavior and the timbre of the trumpet