Mutes and sound complements from Stomvi
Being a regular visitor to the famous Stomvi facility in Valencia over the last few years, I have tended to look at and report on the many new instrument models which stream out of the R&D section of Stomvi into production and then out of the door to the customer. Hardly surprising given the volume of new top professional products. Alongside the brass instruments at Stomvi there is an equally impressive range of Mutes and Sound Complements.
The sound complements range from Brass valve steams, metal-plastic Valve guides, harmonic sound caps, Clapper bottoms, clapper valves, the famous Maxi Clapper and many more products. These products have all come from the master designer and inventor, Vicente Honorato. Vicente did tell me when I was with him earlier this year that he never stopped designing and this is yet more proof of that statement. The products in the Sound Complements range have all been made in order to enhance the performance of the musician and give the musician the opportunity to make small adjustments to different acoustic environments. You can find comprehensive information about Stomvi Sound Complements at link
When it comes to mutes the range is equally impressive. There are something like 30 mutes available for trumpet – Straight, cup and Wah-wah. They are made in copper, aluminium and a mix of both. Again there is a wealth of information available on the Stomvi website regarding Stomvi mutes link
I spoke with Salvador Alamá of Stomvi recently: “The mute section in Stomvi, although a bit unknown, is as great as the instruments. The quality standards are as high as for the instruments and the process for most of them is completely manual; they are made with the same techniques as the instruments. Also, we have a huge range of mutes, not only in models, but also in materials. This makes it possible to get a lot of different colours with the different mutes. Since we are aware of musicians’ troubles when it comes to practice, we have also many different types of practice mutes, including for piccolo! Furthermore, unlike the instruments, mutes can be made of plastic, so we take advantage of this fact to create new sounds, softer and delicate. They are also very light and easy to play and, without big accidents, will last forever in a very nice condition! Our last creation is the Up Mute! This mute will change the practice mute world forever. The feeling is even freer than a regular mute and the intonation is almost like playing without a mute.
“A final and most interesting postscript is that many years ago, Arturo Sandoval visited the Stomvi factory and Vicente Honorato gave him a Wah-wah mute. Over time, we stopped making that mute until a couple of years ago, when Arturo and other important jazz musicians asked us for that mute and we decided to go back to making it under the name of “Wah-wah Vintage Trumpet Mute”
Philip Biggs
