An active mute for the trumpet
Miranda Jackson, Gary P. Scavone · The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America · 2025
A design of a prototype active mute for the trumpet will be presented. The mute, which has the basic shape of an ordinary mute, contains microphones, an audio driver, and a processor, to modify the impedance of the instrument by feeding back a modified sound signal back through the instrument from the bell. The feedback signal is produced through signal processing techniques, made possible by the speed of the processor, rather than through electronic filters present in previous similar devices intended for the trombone. The intention of the mute is to replicate the behavior of various types of trumpet mutes, with a cancellation mode to allow for silent practice without significantly blocking the airflow. The presentation will include information regarding the basic construction of the mute and the choice of components. The software used to drive the function of the mute will also be outlined. Results of preliminary simulations, as well as of acoustical and playing tests will be discussed, and the feasibility of this device as a mainstream product, as well as possible future enhancements and functionality, will be explored.