Tin Can Harmon Mute for a Trumpet

I happend to need a Harmon Mute for band class one day but instead of buying a $40 mute I desided to make my own out of your basic houshold materials.

For this project you need.....

- A big beer can ( I used a Fosters beer can)
- A smaller aluminum can (pepsi can)
- Some electical tape
- a tin snips
- A tape measure
- A pice of pipe around 1/2 inch diameter
- A ping pong ball
- Some duct tape (silver recomended)
- A drill with bit  the same size as your pipe
- Some time

First you need to cut off the top of the big tin can leaving as much of the side of the can on as possible. Then measure 2 1/2 inches (this is a key length for the right resonation within the chanber) from the bottem of the can and draw a line all the way round it  at the exact same distance. Then using the tin snips cut down the can from the top up to the line every 1/2 and inch to 3/4 of an inch.

Next you need to cut up the other normal soda can in to a ring (size and exactness dosn't matter). Then press this homemade ring on to the strips and arange the strips so that they are overlapping eachother in a spiral like manner. Tape the ring down lightly once you get the hole on the top to about an inch acrost. Then using elecrical tape, tape around the stips to hold them in place and tape all along the cuts between the srips to ensure that NO air gets out.

Next yhou need to drill a hole the size of your pipe in to the exact middle of the bottem of the can. Then cut the pingpong ball in half and after dilling a hole in the middle of it, tape it to one end of the pipe. I found that using a pipe anywhere between 2 inches and 5 inches in length workes the best.

Now after inserting the pipe into the mute the harmon mute is compleated! For better sound quality (the thicker the sides) and for better looks I coated mine with silver duct tape and printed off a genuine Harmon Mute sticker form online just to give it the added flare it needed. Although this works perfectly well for a harmon mute it dosn't produce an absolutly perfect true harmon mute sound, But it sounded so good my band teacher couldn't even tell it apart from a "real" one.  Good luck and I hope this saved you a few dollars!