Spector Violin Mute - Copper

Easy to use. Reliable.

I date back to the days of wooden, leather, and even metal mutes being the standard. (I still use a leather mute on my Baroque violin.) I recall the Tourte two-hole mute being a great innovation but it tended to come loose and rattle around. Also, the material would get stiff after a few years, making it more difficult to place or remove the mute. The single-hole Tourte mute was an improvement and you could put it on the D string or A string, depending on which "side" of the violin sounded best when muted, but it was also prone to coming loose and rattling. The Heifetz mute offered similar flexibility for customizing the degree of muting but it was easily lost. The Sihon mute dampened sound nicely but it chewed up strings. In a pinch, if your mute had disappeared, you could use a $20 mute....fold a $20 bill and weave it in the strings behind the bridge. Not efficient and it didn't sound any better than a $1 bill mute!
When I bought a Spector mute several years ago, my expectations were not especially high but it has turned out to be an unqualified success. It stays in place behind the bridge without rattling and only takes an instant to place or remove, far more quickly than other mutes — and silently, I might add. It doesn't tear up strings when sliding it or dampen vibrations when not in use on the bridge. The overall degree of muting is slightly less than provided by some other mutes (as other reviewers have noted) but the violin timbre remains true, a big plus in my view. It's especially good for those gigs where you're one on a part and need to maintain a substantial dynamic even when muted. (To be clear, this is most definitely NOT a practice mute.) The copper color of the mute blends with the varnish on many instruments, rendering it very unobtrusive, but it's available in black if you prefer. It's also relatively inexpensive. This one's a winner!

The Spector mute does not mute the sound as heavily as a conventional orchestral mute. It also creates a more natural, less muffled sound than an orchestral mute. I often play in small groups with guitar and other softer non-amplified acoustic instruments. Using the Spector mute provides just the right balance for my violin.

This mute is a very good mute. It is easy to slide on and off. The only pad this is that the sound isn't as muted as some mutes.

This is the perfect mute for a concertmaster or chamber soloist. It "mutes" the tone while creating just a slight reduction in volume. For a piece like the Opus 26 Brahms Piano Quartet (slow movement), in which strings play 'Forte' while muted against LOUD Piano runs - this fills the hall, and competes with the piano. It is easy to slide up and down, and it doesn't rattle while disengaged. My highest recommendation, this is the one I give to other musicians when they forgot to bring one. But If you "need it" to merely play more softly, then this is not the one for you. (Or: maybe some changes in bow contact point, pressure, and speed might help you to play more softly.)