The Best Violin Mute: Reviews and Buying Guide
If you’re a violinist, then you know the importance of using a mute. Using a mute is one of the advanced violin methods you should learn to improve your skill. The best mute can help reduce the sound of your instrument and make it easier to play in smaller spaces. Whether you’re using the best mandolin, cello, viola, or violin, there are many different types of mutes on the market, so it can be challenging to choose the right one. In this blog post, we’ll discuss the different kinds of violin mutes and review some of the best ones on the market. We’ll also provide an excellent buying guide to help you choose the right mute for your needs!
Quick Picks: The Best Violin Mute
Product Name | Product image | Check Price |
|---|---|---|
Catrpilr Violin Mute |  | |
Alexi Strings Heavy Violin Mute |  | |
Otto Musica Artino Violin Mute |  | |
Violin Woodworkshop Rubber Violin Mute |  |
The Top Violin Mute Reviews
Catrpilr Violin Mute
This Catrpilr violin mute is made for 3/4 and 4/4 violins. It has a unique design of this only protective practice mute reduces volume of your violin while still keeping the overtones and acoustic profile. This mute is ideal if you don’t want to lose the tone of your instrument. This is a great tool to practice violin.
The Catrpilr mute is designed for intermediate to advanced violin players. It is made out of soft synthetic mesh that will not scratch, stain, or damage your instrument. It has a low profile for a clear line of sight, is lightweight, and has flexible magnetic feet to keep the grip on your instrument. This mute comes in three distinct color variations.
The Catrpilr mute is easy to set up. You just pull it apart and put it over the bridge of your violin to secure it in place. It’s a great mute because it’s affordable and easy to use.
Alexi Strings Heavy Violin Mute
If you’re looking for a quality violin mute, Alexi Strings makes a great metal practice mute. It is chrome-plated brass and is heavier than other rubber mutes.
The heavier weight on this mute helps to reduce the volume of your violin without making the tone too muffled. This is a great option for new violin players who don’t want to disturb their families and neighbors.
Metal mutes can scratch your violin or viola. Another thing to think about is that the Alexi mute doesn’t clamp on, so you have to be careful that your instrument is level when using the mute.
Otto Musica Artino Violin Mute
The Otto Musica Artino Practice mute is good for musicians who play the violin or viola. It is made of metal, but the rubber coating protects your instrument from damage if the mute shifts or falls off.
This mute is 3 inches long, 2 inches wide, and 1 inch high. It sits on the bridge and mutes the strings with a small amount of pressure. People love this mute because it doesn’t distort the volume.
Violin Woodworkshop Rubber Violin Mute
The violin practice mute by Violin Wordworkshop is suitable for a 4/4 violin or 14-inch viola. It is made in the USA from thick and flexible rubber mute, which makes it easy to slide on and off the bridge. This mute does an excellent job of dampening sound.
This mute is shorter than other mutes. It is 1.57 inches long, 0.47 inches wide, and 0.59 inches high. Make sure to press it down on the bridge to get the most quieting effect possible.
Eno Music Rubber Violin Mute
The Eno black rubber practice mute will reduce the sound of your violin by 50%. You’ll immediately notice that it’s designed to curve around the bridge on a more advanced violin just like the Tamir rubber practice mute. This mute is small and light and can stay clipped on when you are storing or transporting your instrument in its case.
The dimensions of the mute are 2 inches long, 0.5 inches high, and 0.86 inches wide. This mute is available for 4/4 violins. Additionally, Eno offers a battery-operated tuner that can be used in conjunction with the practice mute.
eBoot Rubber Violin Mute
Rubber mutes are an excellent choice for beginners. They are flexible but still sturdy just like the Mudder metal violin mute. This eBoot Rubber Violin practice mute is simple to use and has five prongs to dampen volume successfully. Simply put it on top of the bridge, and it maintains a clear tone while cutting volume. This is a great product for music students, along with a nice solo repertoire.
This mute is designed to be lighter and more flexible than other mutes. It is compatible with a 4/4 violin, and the dimensions are around 2.1 inches long, 0.5 inches high, and 1 inch wide. Although it is not designed for concert passages, it is perfect for practice.
How to Choose a Violin Mute?
Violins can be bought with different accessories to improve the skills of violinists. One of these accessories is mute.
There are different types of mutes that violinists can use during their practice sessions, performances, and under other circumstances.
There are plenty of reasons why a great violin mute should be the next tool in your arsenal as a violinist. You can try a round Tourte style mute or any other designs. In this article, we’ll walk you through some of the most common questions to help you choose the best one.
The Different Types of Violin Mutes
There are a few different types of mutes that violinists can buy. Each type of mute has another purpose.
There are two primary types of violin mutes;
- mutes designed for performances
- practice mutes
If you need a mute for your violin, understanding which type of mute you need would help you to buy the right mute for your violin.
Violin Mutes for Performance
There are different types of violin mutes that can be easily slid on and off the bridge while still being attached to the violin.
These mutes would benefit performances because many music pieces have sections written to be performed with them.
When violinists get to these sections, they can put their mutes on the bridges of their violins.
When violinists complete these musical passages, they can also easily remove their violin mutes. These mutes are typically made with rubber.
Practice Mutes
There are practice mutes specifically for violinists to use to practice with.
When a violinist requires to practice in a quiet environment, they can place a mute on top of the bridge of their violin.
Practice mutes are typically brass, and they are not meant to stay on violins.
If you’re not careful, the weight and materials of a practice mute can damage a violin bridge.
Manufacturers have been establishing practice mutes that use thick rubber or synthetic materials to combat this issue. This helps to reduce the sound that is made when practicing.
Synthetic mutes are a good alternative to brass practice mutes because they are less harmful to violins.
Additionally, synthetic mutes are typically thinner than brass mutes, which allows violinists to practice as normal.
Mutes are utilized for practice sessions because they make the sound of a violin much quieter, which is ideal for practicing in quiet environments.
Performance mutes reduce a violin’s sound but not very much. This allows violinists to project their violin sounds while also reducing their sounds.
How Violin Mutes Work
An effective simple violin mute is a tool that decreases the vibrations of the bridge on a violin as a violin player plays, which makes the sound quieter.
The bridge is a very important part of the violin because it affects how the violin produces sound.
The violin bridge sends the vibrations of the strings into the body of the violin.
When a super sensitive violin mute is stuck to the bridge, it either decreases the bridge’s vibrations or the mute is used to absorb the vibrations of the bridge.
How Loud is a Muted Sound Violin
The sound a violin can make with its mute depends on how hard the violinist is playing the instrument and the type of mute that is on the violin.
Violins are typically played at a volume of 90 decibels or less.
With a Catrpilr practice mute, a violin can play within the 60 to the 75-decibel range.
Ease of Use
There are two types of mutes that can be used with a violin- the performance mute and the practice mute for violin. The performance mute is easy to use- you can leave it attached to the strings of your violin or place it between the bridge and tailpiece as you play.
If you need to use the performance mute, you can slide it up the strings of the violin and place it on the bridge.
It is good to use a practice mute when playing violin. However, it is essential to remember to remove the mute from the violin when it is not in use.
If you want to use a practice mute, you just need to put it on top of the bridge of your violin.
The slots on practice mutes help them to fit easily on top of violins’ bridges.
There are a few things to keep in mind when using a practice mute. Make sure you don’t misuse the mute, as it can damage your violin bridge or strings.
Best Violin Mute Brands
There are many different types of violin mutes that are available on the market. This is because making a mute for a violin is a very simple process.
Cecilio is a popular violin manufacturer that also produces superb violin mutes.
Otto Musica and Alexi Strings create practice mutes that work well.
Spector offers a unique design for violin mutes. If you would like to try one out, they have some available.
Budget
Violin mutes are relatively cheap accessories for your violin. You might want to consider buying multiple mutes, in case you lose one.
There are several types of violin mutes that are sold in packages specifically for this purpose.
While shopping for a violin mute, you will find many different options that cost anywhere from $5 to $20.
A high-quality brass mute will usually cost you around $20.
Similarly, a high-quality rubber performance mute costs around $10.
A Warning
A violin mute changes the sound of a violin. Composers sometimes ask violinists to play passages of their music with a mute.
Mutes give violins a deeper and warmer tone when used on the violins’ bridges. This is because the mutes help reduce the violin’s overall volume.
This may sound like a good bonus to many violinists who need to practice their violins with mutes. But this can actually be a disadvantage, especially for violinists who habitually practice with mutes on their violins.
As a violinist, when you practice, you develop habits that help you produce certain sound qualities on your violin. This sound quality protects and might include playing the same pattern over and over again or doing drills to improve your technique.
If you regularly practice with a violin mute, which will change the sound procession of your violin, your playing style will adapt to the sound that you create with the mute on the violin.
Therefore, when you remove the violin mute, the sound will be much different than what you anticipated. This is because the mute changes the sound of the violin.
Alternatives
If you need to mute your violin but don’t have a mute, you can use a safety device to reduce the vibrations of your violin’s bridge.
Other violinists have used clothespins to mute their violins when they couldn’t find traditional violin mutes.
If you don’t have a violin mute, it would be a good idea to use a rubber or soft cloth material on the bridge of your violin.
If you want to practice your violin in a quiet place without making too much noise, then you might want to buy an electric violin.
Electric violins can be played quietly without needing to be plugged into amplifiers. You can use a pair of headphones on the electric violin to listen to what you are playing.
Electric violins don’t make the same sound as acoustic violins.
You should assess the advantages and disadvantages of electric violins versus practice mutes.
For more information about the basics of violin, click here.
Frequently Asked Questions about Best Violin Mutes
When you play the violin, you should not use a mute. This will help you learn how to play with good technique and the right tone. If you use a mute, you might start playing too loudly or too roughly.
If you want to practice without making too much noise, choose SILENT Violin. If you’re going to buy an electric violin so you can play it loudly, and don’t need to practice quietly often, then the Yamaha Electric Violin is a good choice.
Violin mutes make the sound from your violin much quieter. Normal sound levels for a violin are at 90 dB or more, but with a mute, it will be around 60-75 dB – about the same as average conversation volume.
A viola mute is a small rubber accessory that attaches to the bridge of a viola. This accessory makes the sound of the viola much more mellow sound than usual by dampening the higher notes.
Sometimes, when the violin doesn’t sound mellow enough, you can try tapping the soundpost. You can do this by gently hitting it through the ‘F’ hole and then pushing it towards the tailpiece about 1 – 3 mm. You might need a soundpost setter to do this.
A mute is a small accessory that goes over the bridge of your violin, viola, cello, or bass. It makes your sound quieter. Different materials and sizes of mutes will make your sound different.
This is the traditional practice mute that players have used for a long time. The heavy practice mute brass material softens the instrument’s sound and is ideal for practicing late at night.
