Mutes that actually work

[LeeThePeople]

Does such a thing actually work?

I need mutes for soprano, alto and tenor saxophones but these foam type ones dont seem to work at all. Are they all just a gimmick or can you get ones that work?

[patchst]

I know Yamaha do a system for brass instruments that mute the sound for practicing and the mute has a pickup so that headphones can be connected.

I'm not sure if you can get one for the Sax though.

EDIT

I've found one but it isn't cheap or very nice looking

http://www.thomann.de/gb/best_brass_e_sax_daempfer...

Edited by patchst on Wednesday 27th May 08:05

[timbob]

You can't "mute" a saxophone.

Unlike a brass instrument, where all the sound comes out of the bell, and partially blocking this up totally changes the sound, the saxophone's sound comes out of all the key openings.

The cloth O-ring mutes merely take some of the upper partials off the sound of the saxophone, nothing more.

Assuming you have a straight soprano, try pushing the end of the bell into your sofa, and blowing - it will sound fine. When you get down to low C and B, it will go a little bit flat, and only when you try and play a low Bb, with all the tone holes closed, will it stop working.

You can buy a saxophone "mute", as in the post above, but in reailty, it's a big clumsy "case with hand holes" that you put the saxophone in before playing. Totally impractical and ridiculous looking.

[LeeThePeople]

Thanks, I did think we wouldnt find a viable option, ive seen those enclosures before but didnt think it was a good idea.

Can you lower the volume with a different mouth piece? I dont want to discourage my daughter from playing at all, but its none stop!

[timbob]

There's no real way to just lower the volume of the instrument unfortunately.

Is your daughter just starting out? If so, she may not have the muscular control she needs to play quietly yet. A lot of my beginner students have the same problem, and sound like a goose being squashed.

With a bit more playing time the "honkiness" of her sound should smoothen out as her muscles develop, and she gets used to the sax. As that happens, she'll be able to play quietly, and nicely.

In the meantime, playing long, sustained, even and smooth notes, as quietly as possible is excellent practice (even if her teacher hasn't told her to do this) and will develop her muscles quickly.

In the even more immediate meantime, is there anywhere in the house with some heavy curtains she could play into? I used to shut the door and pull the living room curtains across and play into those, which deadened the sound reflections a lot.

[LeeThePeople]

Thanks, she is new to Sax yes, I think ill speak to her teacher about breathing techniques. If she can teach her that we should feel the knock on effect quicker.

[navier_stokes]

I don't think it's breathing technique. Playing quietly on reed instruments requires control in very specific muscles that you never use unless playing reed instruments, hence only time and playing regularly can strengthen them. Breathing is part of it, but control is everything.