It is common for contributors to the Trumpet Players International Network (TPIN) discussion list and the rec.music.makers.trumpet newsgroup to ask about practice mutes. I have posted answers to this question several times, so I decided to add this page to my website for future reference.

Please note that the following represents my personal opinions only, and fairly obviously I can comment only on the mutes I have tried.  Of course, other practice mutes are available.

My general philosophy on practice mutes is this: they are no substitute for open practice, but much better than no practice at all - which is the only alternative for many of us.

The factors to consider when assessing practice mutes are as follows:

• The degree of sound reduction
• The effect on tone quality
• The effect on intonation
• The 'feel' of playing with it (especially the resistance/backpressure)
• The cost

This is a decent practice mute.  It  affords a good degree of sound reduction, and the sound may be further reduced by blocking one of the two small holes through which the air escapes. Using this mute you may be heard in the next room, but your neighbours should remain undisturbed. The tone quality isn't brilliant, but then that is to be expected from any conventional practice mute. It doesn't upset intonation too much at all, although it does weaken the slotting in the lower register. It does significantly increase the resistance/backpressure and this takes some getting used to.  There is a tendency to overblow in order to hear your sound, which can be tiring, but Denis Wick advocates this as a positive benefit, leading to increased stamina.  I don't think it is a good idea to practice exclusively with this mute, but I think there is something to be said for using it fairly regularly because if you strive to achieve the best possible tone using the mute then it does seem to have benefits on your open tone. It is also a useful mute to chuck in your gig-bag for warming-up quietly. It's quite reasonably priced.

The Yamaha Silent Brass gives the greatest sound reduction of all of the mutes discussed on this page. With this mute you can practice as much as you like without disturbing the other members of your household. The tone quality achieved through the electronic reverberation unit is actually pretty good, if a little artificial, but the added reverb is not to everyone's taste. Be aware that the sound you hear is not a true representation of how you will sound playing open, so I would caution against overpracticing with this mute.  Intonation is reasonable on my Bb trumpet, although it does tend to flatten pitches in general, so I find I need the tuning slide further in than normal. Intonation on the Eb/D is awful, so I cannot use this mute on that instrument, but I think they do a piccolo trumpet mute so perhaps that would be better.  There is some backpressure but it feels more open than the Denis Wick, especially when you use the electronics box as this reduces the temptation to overblow. It is a bit less convenient than other mutes, and I can't always be bothered to plug myself in and be constrained by the various wires.  It is hard on batteries, so it is preferable to run it using the mains adapter, although that does introduce an annoying hiss.  The real downside is the cost - this is by far the most expensive solution.

An ordinary cup mute can be used as a practice mute, either on its own or preferably by inserting some absorbing material into the cup. I use a Denis Wick adjustable cup mute with some foam padding cut to fit in the cup. Before I got the adjustable cup I used a fixed cup with a yellow duster stuffed in the cup, which worked well too. The advantage of the adjustable cup is that it can be closed right up to the bell for maximum sound reduction. This setup isn't as quiet as a genuine practice mute, but feels much more open, so there is a trade-off. The tone is, of course, the tone obtained using a cup mute, and if you use the padding it's a bit softer and quieter. I need say no more than that on the tone. Intonation is fine if you have a decent cup mute. The cost is the cost of a decent cup mute, but that also buys you a decent cup mute, so it is a very cost-effective solution.

A Harmon style wah-wah mute may also be used as a practice mute. Personally I use a Denis Wick extending tube mute.  Its sound reduction is comparable to the padded cup, but you need to be careful to keep to low dynamics to avoid the characteristic 'sizzle' of these types of mute. There's nothing wrong with that sound of course - but we are talking here about using it as a practice mute. The softest tone is achieved by removing the stem completely. No problem with intonation with this mute and not too much resistance or backpressure. The cost arguments are the same as for the cup mute above. Some people have suggested removing the stem and inserting a test tube bung (the kind with the hole drilled down the centre). I haven't tried this personally but I imagine it would work well, possibly at the expense of increased backpressure/resistance.

If you haven't come across the Softone mute, it's a soft, rubbery 'thing' (I don't know what else to call it) containing pieces of foam padding, which stretches over the bell. It  gives reasonable sound reduction at low dynamics and, true to its name, gives a soft tone.  It feels fairly open, but the intonation can be decidedly iffy in my experience. 

So, which of the above do I use? The answer is all of them, depending on how quiet I need to be, how I feel, what sort of sound I'm looking for, and so on.

Of course there are other practice mutes, but these are the only options which I have used. That said, I feel that there are a couple of other mutes I should mention, simply because they have been discussed by many other people. The first of these is the Peacemaker mute. My understanding is that this is like a normal practice mute (such as the Denis Wick one described above)  with the addition of a stethoscope. Without trying it I can't comment, but I'd imagine that the advantage of the stethoscope is that it allows you to hear yourself without overblowing, thus allowing quiet practice with minimum resistance, as with the Silent Brass.  The second is a do-it-yourself mute made from a 'Renuzit' air freshener. I have no idea what one of these is (it must be an American thing). I guess it must qualify as the cheapest solution at least, but other than that I can't comment.