Horn Mutes

Balu Mutes
There are those who say that Balu Mutes are the best horn straight mutes in the world. They are certainly beautiful, being made of such materials as mahogany, walnut, and python skin (!). You may order them hand-painted as well. About $150.

Maslet Straight Mute - Rittich-style mute - popular in the UK. Extra long strap.


Check the new Original Balu Stop Mute 3.0! (curved, extended neck)

Bremner Ssshhh Practice Mute. New practice mute from New Zealand. US$67 from Horn Guys.

BrassArts - Alteri gig bags; leather guards, straps, mouthpiece pouches. BrassArts has one of the best selections of horn mutes around, including: Ion Balu mutes, Moosic straight mute, TrumCor (many models), Tom Crown stop mutes, Humes and Berg, and Best Brass.

Maslet horn straight mute - Rittich-style mute, tunable, fits any bell size.

Wallace Compact Horn Practice Mute - We recently tried one of these slick aluminum beauties and really liked it - enough to order it right away (even though we already own another brand of practice mute). Fits completely inside the bell. Tunable. $80 at Hickey’s. See also the original Wallace Brass web page.
 

Best Brass “Gestopft” - nontransposing (!) stopping mute for horn in brushed aluminum (also available in black).

Best Brass “Warm-Up” mute - practice mute.

Brass Brass e-Brass practice mute for horn. Through electronic earpiece it sounds like a natural sound without the stuff feeling of practice mutes. Includes built-in metronome, reverb, and can be mixed with sounds from a CD player or other audio device.

Fast Mute Changes - video tip (in WMV format) on how to switch to a mute very quickly - by Ricardo Matsinhos

 

Woodstop Mutes - Straight and stopping mutes made of 100% wood. Bob Ward of the San Francisco SO is crazy about them.

Dani Reynolds Custom Painted Mutes
Dani Reynolds is a creative music man-for-all-seasons. Among his creations is a custom mute-painting service. Contact him to discuss the details of what you would like your transform your current mute into, or leave it to his imagination to come with something amazing and unique.
 

John Kowalchuk - Canadian, John Kowalchuk, makes beautiful hand-crafted mutes and ‘baggage compartments.’

Yamaha Silent Brass Mute
Very quiet practice mute; the electronics make you sound normal to yourself through headphones (though the feel is different). There is also and Aux In for the possibility of playing along with CDs.

The Moosic mute is a very attractive wooden straight mute (designed by Jacek Muzyk, principal horn of the Buffalo Philharmonic) with curves (contoured to fit the bell flare). Among other sources, it's available from Pope Repair, Brass Arts, VerMeulen, & Osmun.

TrumCor Mutes - very good quality black mutes in various styles and sizes. Tunable.

Denis Wick mute. $49 from Woodwind & Brasswind. Spun aluminum.

Marcus Bonna straight mute. Rittich style, made of wood and fiberboard. Available from Pope Repair.

Need a mute for a Wagner Tuba? Alexander GmbH sells them here.

Horn Guys - large selection of all kinds of mutes at hornguys.com: Stopping mutes by Tom Crown, Humes & Berg, Best Brass Non-Transposing stop mute; straight mutes by Humes & Gerg, Joral, Denis Wick, Wallace Collection, Bremner Sssshhh Practice Mute (from Australia), Trumcor, and a Cronkhite mute pouch.

Thompson Edition
Thompson Edition is one of the more attractive web sites around with high quality items for sale to match, including cases for horns and mutes, mouthpieces, and sheet music (50,000 titles). Free worldwide shipping (with a flat handling fee of $3.95).

History of the Horn Mute. Article by Nicholas Smith.

Vintage Mutes is an interesting site, a labor of love by Kid Dutch. “Mutes actually go back a long  way, maybe even to King Tut. The first mention in writing of mutes was in 1511, in Giorgio Vasari's biography of Piero di Cosimo,although the mute is such a basic principal it must have been in use for centuries before.  Monteverdi, in 1607 used mutes for the first time in a written musical score, in the Toccata preceding l'Orfeo.” Categories include Mute History, Mute Classification, Virtual Museum, Buy/Sell Mutes, Appraisal Services, Mute Manufactuers, Patents, Links, and more. Check out "Just Plain Weird Mutes" in the Virtual Mute Museum.