| Author |
Comment |
cebera
Registered
User
Posts: 1
(7/14/01 7:15:33
am)
Reply
|
Help with a
mute
Hi,
I've just got a new mute, for a concert tonight, and I can't
figure out how to put it on. There weren't any instructions with it,
and in the shop I was told that it went around the G and D strings.
It is made of metal and rubber. Please help!
Thanks.
|
Andrew
Victor
Registered
User
Posts: 355
(7/14/01 9:03:16
am)
Reply
|
Sliding wire
mute?
This sounds like a sliding wire mute.
Those little "lips" go
under the D and G strings so that the mute can be slid toward and
away from the bridge. If you have a wolf eliminator on the G string
you will have to remove it. Then you slide the mute so the rubber
(or plastic) is in contact with the bridge - only when you play "con
sourd."
Try that and if after mounting the mute, you still
have the wolf, try to position the wolf eliminator on the C string,
probably within about an inch of the bridge (you do have to tune
them as to location on the sring afterlength).
Personally, I
don't like to use a sliding wire mute, they do pull on the string
and over time they can wear out the wire windings. They damp the
vibrations of the afterlengths as well. In this they can act as wolf
eliminators, but they can also eliminate some other desirable
vibrations.
My own choice is for a two-hole Tourte style
rubber mute. One nice thing about using one of these on a cello is
that because the instrument is held rather vertically, the mute
tends to remain out of the way near the tailpiece.
On
violins and violas this style of mute can tend to bounce around the
string afterlength area - which is why some are sold that have
magnetic attachments to the tailpiece to hold them in place. But
these mutes are often heavier than the standard and tend to dampen
the souund more, which you may not want.
I think the main
function of a mute is to reduce the higher overtones rather than to
cut the volume of the fundamental and a few lower overtones. A light
mute will do this. So will a folded dollar bill (on a violin)
probably a piece of cardboard on a cello - slid against the bridge
and held in place by the afterlengths of the two middle
strings.
Andy
| |
Internet Cello
Society Forums
Email
This To a Friend
Topic Commands (Moderator only)