practice mute and silent practice

[Ken Smith]

Originally Posted by Joshua phelps

That's insane, I'd like to try it. Hey ken on the subject of mutes I know they make ebony "performance mutes" & my question is when would you use this?

When would you see an Ebony mute? When it says con sordino (or something else depending on the language) and a guy pulls one out of his pocket to put it on because there is no place to put it like with the other rubber or Sihon type mutes that slide on the after lengths of the strings.

I have the brass/steel/clear tube Sihon mute from about 1966. It still works. I also have a rubber Tourte mute as well as a back up. One guy in an Orchestra I play in on occasion uses the ebony mute. He is the busiest guy in the section when mutes go on and off the bridge.

As far as the old steel mute we mentioned above, I got mine from Fantoni in the early 1970s. I would have to ask Biase who has the shop now since around '75 or so if he knows the availability of these.

Maybe I'll bring it in, weigh it and take some pictures as well to post.