Saxophone Mute?

[Alto_Sax_Guy]

I've been seeing saxophone mutes on ebay. Does anybody know anything about them? Do they work good? Are they worth the cost? Thanks for any help.

Daniel

[silverghost]

That doesn't make sense, the only note it would really affect is a low Bb. Otherwise the sound is a little quieter but not much different. . .

SilverGhost

[selmer33]

Actually, I have been using one since college.

But, I just make my own out of pipe cleaners. It's actually almost like a donut-shaped thing. It really gives you a darker, smoother sound. Takes all of the "bite" out of your sound. I really only use it for classical stuff, though. Let me know if you'd like to know how to make one.

[mr00420]

Just leave your neck-padsaver in whilst you play. :D

[Peterk]

Jamming a small stuffed animal in (the rounder the better) works too.

[MusicMedic]

I have not noticed the bell rings to do much more than muffle the sound of the lower tones and bring the pitch of low B and Bb down. -C# just a wee bit.

They are good for Selmers where the low tones are so sharp that there is little that can be done to bring them into tune.

[paulwl]

In very quiet situations, they allow you to put a little more air thru the horn and still keep the volume at a very low level - without running the risk of stopping the tone altogether.

[woodwindmaster06]

Selmer33 How do you make a saxophone mute?

[selmer33]

Just take some pipe-cleaners and make a ring out of them...you will probably only need a few to make the inner ring. Put them together end-to-end. Then, use the rest of the pipe-cleaners to wrap around the inner ring. Wrap the pipe-cleaner around, each time next to itself. The biggest problem I have found is that sometimes the sharp ends of the pipe-cleaner stick out and may scratch your bell. If you're worried about this (which I'm not) then get some soft material to wrap around it.

I hope this is clear...if not, I can send pictures

[saxboy]

I actually bought one from an "old-timer" a few years ago. It is for Alto, metal and corked for inner bell contact with an inch and a half hole in the middle.
I got it just because it was too odd to not own.
I have never really used it other than to show off. It does very little to most the horns sound but is pretty interesting since it was the only one I had seen to that point in history.

SAXBOY

[TenorReinier]

Selmer 33, pictures would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,
TenoReinier 8)

[Se7en]

You could always just go buy a cheap nerf ball about the size of your bell and cut a hole in the center.....works the same way, and takes less effort.

Just my 2 cents.

[MS]

A more efficient one (alla Marcel Mule) can be made starting with a wooden cafe curtain ring. Take the small screw out of the wood (where you would attach the curtain) wrap with velveteen ribbon overlapping edges of ribbon. Sew (tack) the end of the ribbon in place so it won't unravel. This is the one pictured in Teal's Art of Saxophone playing. It works by dampening the bell vibration slightly depending whether it's open (contacting the bell at two points) or closed (contacting the bell metal all around). Open-minimum pitch disturbance, closed flat bottom 3 notes. I used one at times in college way back when. It makes a slight difference in how the air colum response feels. Good luck and have fun! :D

[colibri]

I find the velvet mutes the most efficient. You can also buy metal rings from craft stores instead of using curtin rings. They have many different sizes that fits all saxophone bells.

[Gordon (NZ)]

Has anybody tried simply stuffing a toilet paper roll down the bell. The diameter is easily adjusted.

[mr00420]

Yeah just stuff up the bell and use that T.P. to wipe w/ when you're done.

[paulwl]

Has anybody tried simply stuffing a toilet paper roll down the bell.
It will be a long, long time before classical saxophonists feel secure enough about their place in the music world to appear in public with a roll of toilet paper down their bell.

[saxtek]

I've heard that if you don't have a roll of toilet paper, the Sears catalog or a corncob will work just as well.

[averageschmoe]

i always thought it'd be easier to just learn to play quietly...

[SaxyLady_2000]

i always thought it'd be easier to just learn to play quietly...

Me too... :D

[paulwl]

You can learn to play quietly. But sometimes you may want to play more quietly than the limits of your reed, mouthpiece and horn will allow. If you find your tone gutting out to "air" and silence at that ppp level, a mute may help you. I find it's really only useful at that quiet end of the dynamic spectrum - but useful it is.

What it allows you to do is put a little more air thru the horn without getting quite the volume you would otherwise. It gives you something to push against down there at the ppp level, without having to devote all your attention to the changing resistance and volume of each different note.

I make mutes out of felt wrapped around "hoops" made of old coat hangers. They cost less than $1 apiece for materials and work just fine.

[paulwl]

You can learn to play quietly. But sometimes you may want to play more quietly than the limits of your reed, mouthpiece and horn will allow. If you find your tone gutting out to "air" and silence at that ppp level, a mute may help you. I find it's really only useful at that quiet end of the dynamic spectrum - but useful it is.

What it allows you to do is put a little more air thru the horn without getting quite the volume you would otherwise. It gives you something to push against down there at the ppp level, without having to devote all your attention to the changing resistance and volume of each different note.

I make mutes out of felt wrapped around "hoops" made of old coat hangers. They cost less than $1 apiece for materials and work just fine.

[Vortex]

I used to do this a lot back in my "newbie" days out of sheer stupidity, but I have found now that it actually can have an effect (good or bad).

Just take an empty plastic 16-24oz water bottle and stick it in the bell (bottle being upright). Most have several "nubbs" at the bottom that will allow air to pass through, and essentially have the same effect.

Why pay $10+ for one when you can have it for under a dollar at a gas station :lol: ?

[mahill2006]

You know, I would imagine it is possible to make a soprano sax mute, because you could just jam it in there, but not for any of the curved saxes. I guess you could have one of those freaky straight altos or straight tenors, but otherwise, they would be useless.

[electricninja]

Tried the El Saxco bag, tried playing in an apartment closet, tried playing vewwy vewwy qwietwy.

From experience, I know that the only effective saxophone mute is a house.

[Billy The Fish]

From experience, I know that the only effective saxophone mute is a house.

Try telling my neighbours that the next time they come round to my house to complain about the noise :P

Jamming a small stuffed animal in (the rounder the better) works too.

Okay, so I misread the above when I first saw it, but it certainly made me boggle for a few minutes. Visions of me trying to shove my unwilling cat into the bell of my horn were not pretty ! :shock:

Billy The Fish

[SelmerSaksMan]

I actually find my mutes to be very effective, one alone will darken you up a little, and 2 will darken you up a little more and alow you to play about a dynamic qieter. I always use 2, You just stuff one in rather tight, then set the next one on top of the first.

[strider]

anybody here experienced using "WhisperRoom" isolation practice room?
expensive though but their claiming that it really cut off the sound in to a whisper or none at all according to their customer comments.

more info visit www.whisperroom.com

i'm quite interested so i want to know if anybody here experienced using one. like i said it is really quite expensive but i believe it will help a lot a guy like me who don't have enough time to practice in the morning.

keep honking

[SelmerSaksMan]

Man, I was all wound up about getting one for a little while so I wouldnt have to build one. but the cheapest one that is big enough is 4400 dollars! I thought they were supposed to be affordable? The practice rooms in the new school that I am going to nex year are 8x6, there are 5 of those, and one big 12x6, and all of them put together are 20 thousand dollars. I guess I will be building mine, if you want to know how, just ask how.

[professorofsax]

It is up to the musician to decide whether or not they want to use a mute.....In Gainsville, Florida, I had the luxury of listening to Professor Hemke giving a master class and one of the kids performing had a mute in his sax. When shaking hands with the kid....He very explicitly told him...well the first order of business will be for you to get that mute out of your sax...you won't be needing that anymore....I am not going to go so far as to say that Professor Hemke at North Western University is totally against mutes...however it did come across that way...

[Manny]

how?

[SelmerSaksMan]

Collect a bunch of those things that eggs come in, thebottom half of the carton where the eggs sit, The big ones from costco will work better, but they will do the same basic thing. get 5 sheets of ply wood, (4 for each side and on for the top.) cut them to the size that you want your practice room to be, the higher the better. Get 2 2x2's. Take 3 pieces of the ply wood made for the sides, and screw them together, using the 2x2's for something for the screws to go into, in the corner. Take the last side and attach it to one of the other sides with 3 hinges. Attach a handle to both sides of tho door. Measure some more 2x2's, and screw them in on the top, make sure not to screw them into the door, or your door wont open. Take the last piece of ply wood and cut a hole in it big enough for an office lamp to shine through in the middle. Screw that to the 2x2's that you put on the top. (If it is rickety, screw some more 2x2's across the top to brace it, but remember not to screw it to the door.) Now you are ready to start to start sound proofing it. Glue the egg carton bottoms all around the sides, door and the celing, (You may want to paint them white first so that it isnt so dark inside.) do not cover the hole for light with the egg cartons, put a piece of thin silk on the top over the hole, this will close in some of the sound but still let light to shine through. If it is too dark, take the silc off and take the shade off of the light, then extend the light down through the hole and reattach the shade on the inside, it may be a little hot though. Paint the outside so it looks noce, and you now have a practice room. It probably wont be a hundred percent sound proof, but it will cut down on some of the sound, and the acustics on the inside will be incredible. If you dont have enough time to save up all of those egg cartons, just get some of that foam rubber that has teeth on it. I am pretty sure I didnt explain very good, it would be easier to explain by drawings, but I dont have a scanner. probably only cost a hundred bucks at most.

[Manny]

It seems pretty easy enough... I wonder though how it would sound with all of those foam teeth pads covering my room :)

[SelmerSaksMan]

Saxor, actually I thought about covering my room with egg cartons, but my room is huge, and it would have taken about 800 cartons to do that. I havent built mine yet, I am going to start after I get this C melody overhauled, but I think I might put that foam on the celing so that the sound dont go up, and I can practice late.

[RussDavey]

The best sax mute I invented for a particularly noisy student was a medium-hard mixture of cement, pour it in the bell and body, lovely quiet sax now!

Heh, but if youre serious about soundproofing and wanted to spend some money doing it the non-egg carton way, check out this site too, some useful tips - http://www.customaudiodesigns.co.uk/soundproofing/basic2.htm

[SelmerSaksMan]

Egg cartons would be better, the room with the best acustics in the world uses these cones, in that room, you can here your own heart beat and your own blood run through your veins with no help from any kind of instrument. Thats where I got the idea of using egg cartons. At least egg cartons would be better for acustics anyway, you could put some foam rubber behind the egg cartons, to soud proof it a little more.

[Manny]

I would go with egg cartons, but I'm hesitant on gluing 300 egg cartons on my walls :shock:

or I can just go with cement...

[wthalliii]

Actually, someone makes a mute that looks to me like it would work. Try this web page: http://www.bill-lewington.com/silentsax.htm

[Diaspora]

THAT looks really weird....guess the idea is there though....you could also try throwing curtains over yourself when you practice :lol:

[SelmerSaksMan]

Thats a practice bag, been around for a long time.

[Frank D]

Why not just leave your horn in the case and go watch TV instead.........

[Bartleby]

A couple of years ago someone told me of a saxophone mute called "The Whirlmaster", but I have never been able to get any info on it. Apparently, it is made in Spain. Anybody else heard of it?

[Jonno]

Has anyone ever tried one of those sax bags? If so, what do you think?
Thanks

[Bartleby]

Yes, I bought one about eighteen months ago because of the neighbours. The manufacturer claimed a 70% reduction in sound. This, quite frankly, is overoptimistic bollocks. I reckon it reduces the sound by about 40%, but even that is better than nothing. It isn't brilliant, but it seems that it is all there is at present. A couple of years ago I was told of something called "The Whirlmaster", but nobody anywhere seems to have heard of it.

[top_gun25]

Shove a NERF ball down the bell... that does the trick!

[denise.main]

concerning the saxophone mute that claims 70% but is only 40%. Is the saxophone comfortable to play in the bag? does it interfere with any keys? do you feel it was worth the money? I think its like $90. I live in a rowhouse with thin walls to the neighbors. I find I'm only playing on the weekends because I get home late during the week and don't won't to disturb anyone.

[Bartleby]

It is a bit awkward to play. Wrist movement is inhibited; low notes are not too easy to get; there is a fair bit of condensation (very good for getting the cork to drop off); the action of the octave key on top of the neck can be adversely affected (if it is underneath the neck it won't work at all); and it is simply too expensive. I no longer use mine unless all of my neighbours are out. You know, if you know someone a bit handy with scissors and needle/thread you could get them to cobble togdther something for a fraction of the price. Thick canvas lined with some sort of soundproofing material and shaped similarly to the El Saxo mute bag would probably work just as well, and much cheaper too. Perhaps you would be kind enough to let us know if you come up with anything. All the Best to you.

[denise.main]

Thanks so much for your reply, bartleby. It saved me some money. I tried using a coat the other day and it worked to a point but kept slipping onto keys. sounds like it still came close to the mute. I think I may take your advice and check into making a "saxophone coat" that will fit better and not interfere so much with keys. Its a neat idea but it needs some work or at least a reduction in price! Thanks again! :lol:

[Bartleby]

My pleasure. Glad to be of help.

[katyd3]

i only just got my alto sax, domutes work? any suggested would be great!

[katyd3]

do sax mutes work?

[katyd3]

what is the best saxophone mute and how do they work?

[katyd3]

cn you tell me how to make one please?

[MuzikMHS]

There something called a Whisper Mute it works like the silent brass system i havent tried it yet b ut i want

so far they have it only for alto so yea


http://www.wwbw.com/e-Sax-Whisper-Mute-for-Alto-Saxophone-i617994.music

[wmclean]

Just take some pipe-cleaners and make a ring out of them...you will probably only need a few to make the inner ring. Put them together end-to-end. Then, use the rest of the pipe-cleaners to wrap around the inner ring. Wrap the pipe-cleaner around, each time next to itself. The biggest problem I have found is that sometimes the sharp ends of the pipe-cleaner stick out and may scratch your bell. If you're worried about this (which I'm not) then get some soft material to wrap around it.

I hope this is clear...if not, I can send pictures

Could you post some pictures here ?

W.

[Jazz Is All]

There something called a Whisper Mute it works like the silent brass system i havent tried it yet b ut i want

so far they have it only for alto so yea


http://www.wwbw.com/e-Sax-Whisper-Mute-for-Alto-Saxophone-i617994.music

Even discounted to $500 it's the price of a nice vintage sax. What a waste of cash. Plus what does it do to the intonation and tone...certainly must muffle the projection and flatten everything. Has anyone used one of these and can say how it works?

Frankly a better solution would be a head mute, i.e. an acoustic fishbowl helmet that I could lock over the head of my complaining neighbor. He'd have all the peace and quiet he could ever want and I could blow away unhassled.:twisted: