In honor of his 92nd birthday, we wanted to share some things that you might not have known about Denis Wick. We all recognize Denis Wick as the creator of some of the world's finest mouthpieces and mutes for brass musicians. But did you know...
1. Denis Wick won his position as principal of the London Symphony Orchestra at the age of 25.
2. As a student, Denis Wick was not allowed to join the National Youth Orchestra, as directed by the school he was attending. In protest he stopped playing trombone at the school, and took up the double bass in protest!
3. The heritage design mouthpiece was inspired by a visit to a museum in Kent with his wife. Denis saw the thin side walls and thought this would provide excellent response. He designed his own version of a thin-walled mouthpiece, and as he expected, it provided improved response and sound and has become one of his top-selling mouthpiece lines.
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4. Denis scrapped his design for a mute after his first try. It was a fateful ride on the tube years later, and a scrap of newspaper that lead him to the craftsman that finally brought his designs to fruition.
5. Denis Wick played principal trombone with the London Symphony Orchestra as they recorded the original sound track to Star Wars. They had no idea what it was at the time, but to Denis, the most exciting part of that experience was getting play with their new principal trumpet player, Maurice Murphy! Maurice and Denis would later design a line of trumpet mouthpieces that provide the projection and sound that everyone fell in love with in the beginning fanfare of Star Wars.
Is your mute older than ours? Visit our Denis Wick Artist Group Oldest Mute Gallery to view our collection and submit an image of your own mute, or story of your favorite dent, to be added to our gallery.
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