Cloth doughnut thingy?

[larry]

Back in the seventies I played in a band with a fellow who had a bizzarre cloth "doughnut" that he stuffed down the bell of his Mark VI to both quiet the horn (a mute?) and give it a darker tone. Or something like that.

Anyone know anything about these and can they be used effectively as mutes for playing in hotel rooms, etc.?

Thanks,
Larry

[Bill Mecca]

basically a wood curtain ring covered in velvet ribbon. it will dampen the sound somewhat, but the upper register won't be affected as much as down low.

[Mike Ruhl]

There's a guy who has been selling them on ebay for several years now:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=2552597496&category=16 234

I don't think they mute the sound enough to keep you from bothering the neighbors in the hotel, though.

[Sigmund451]

they are also not hard to make. They do dampen the sound but can make some of the lower notes harder to bring out clearly. Overall, I dont think its really desirable. Better to have a darker mouthpiece and try to control the tone through technique. They dont make your horn much quieter if thats your goal. I find that they acoustically interfere....not a huge amount but I feel that any is too much.

[super20dan]

i still have one from the 70,s -its called a micro -sax modulator.made of felt

[Subtone Sam]

cheaper solution is roll of tp (preferably unused!)

[Paul Coats]

The curtainring/velvet ribbon mute was known as the "Mule Mute" (as in Marcel). It is pictured in The Art of Saxophone Playing, by Larry Teal. 1" velvet ribbon, in your choice of color.

It can be put in flat in the bell for the darkest tone. For passages where you need to play softly, and a lot in the low register, this can do well. You can turn it edgewise in the bell and it will help kill the honk on the low Bb without really affect response or intonation.