"Sordino" - Violin Mute
What made you buy and use the mute you're using right now? Price? Appearance? How easy to put it on? Maybe you thought that mute sounded 'better' than the other mutes. But, is that really the tone you want? Do you think each mute has its own unique character in the tone?
This website contains materials to discover the possibilities with mutes which may give you some clues to this, and some new aspects to them. Let's discover some!
Outline
This research was the project (dissertation) for Master of Music at the Royal Academy of Music in 2021. The web material here is one section from this, and the whole writing can be downloaded here. You won't need to read the whole dissertation to experience the difference in tone, however they will give you more detailed commentary of its history, scientific approach, and case studies in relation to the extracts available on this website.
The web material is in three sections. The first section is the brief charactersation and review on different mutes. The second section is comparison of tone between different mutes on a selected pitches. Lastly, the third section is some sample musical extracts from chosen work with multiple versions to experience the difference in tone created by each mutes. The detailed commentary on the extracts can be found in the dissertation.
Contact
I hope that this research gave or developed your interest to the mute for stringed instrument!
Please do feel free to leave a comment or contact me for any further information on the mutes, via my website.