The Soulo Mute is the invention of Mike Jarosz, a trumpeter who has recorded songs on albums of musicians as Will Smith, Jennifer Lopez and Celine Dione and has performed on stage with Maynard Ferguson. As a trumpet player he had been searching for a mute with a specific tone, one that sounds indirect and makes the player feel no back-pressure. His goal was to give the performing musician the feeling that he or she is playing without a mute, free of all worry about the tone of their sound and any ‘ill sounds’. As a result of a long a vigorous testing, this mute has found some prominent friends like Wayne Bergeron, Olivier Anthony Theurillat, Warren Looney and George Rabbai, to name a few. Mike Jarosz patented the Soulo Mute concept and is currently handcrafting the mutes himself.

Soulo is an exceptionally lightweight mute, which attaches to the bell of a trumpet with three clips. Each mute is adjusted for the trumpet of the customer to guarantee a snug. The clips are made out of brass, wrapped with an additional plastic coding, in order to ensure secure grip. The clips also help change the sound by allowing for an open and closed position. Weighing 60 grams, this mute is only a half of the weight of Humes and Berg’s bucket mute. It is made of a very lightweight and flexible plastic, with foam on the inside. Soulo can also be used as a practice mute, although it wasn’t conceptually designed as such. Its closed position takes away a big part of the high frequencies of the sound and can thus be used successfully when practicing. It is very hard to find parallels to compare this mute to other mutes, because Soulo Mute is strangely unique, which in this case is one of the biggest positive characteristics of this mute. Some might compare it to a Velvet mute, with the difference that Soulo’s sound has a perfect pitch and intonation and is very lightweight. Others might compare it to a Cup mute, but in terms of no back-pressure Soulo Mute is steps ahead. What sets it apart from all the other mutes is that ‘something’, that can’t be easily described; that something that every trumpet player needs to be able to play quietly and suddenly increase volume without force. Or to be able to play a muted solo in an orchestra, without having to play quietly. After playing and testing it for a long time with a Rotary Valve trumpet and a Drehventil trumpet, the mute can be recommended to all trumpet players who are looking for a new dimension in trumpet playing with a mute.

More information and contact: www.soulomute.com, sold for approximately 75 Euros