 like a Harmon mute. There are sound baffles inside the mute, and tiny holes in the sides of the mute that allow air to escape silently. These mutes are extremely quiet and are rarely used in performance. They are usually used for privacy and to avoid disturbing bystanders during practice sessions.
The trumpet playing community has embraced a method for making an inexpensive practice mute out of a conical plastic "Renuzit" brand gel air freshener container filled with tissue or fabric. The mute is held in the bell with weatherstripping. The self-assembly allows each player to custom-fit the mute to the bell of their trumpet, or alter the sound quality and muffling effect.
Yamaha produces an electronic practice mute system known as Silent Brass, with models for tuba, euphonium, horn, trombone/bass trombone, alto trombone/flugelhorn, trumpet/cornet, and piccolo trumpet. It consists of a practice mute with a built-in microphone and 1/8th inch jack, which connects to a pocket amplifier with volume control and headphone output. It is sometimes used in combination with effects pedals or other devices to completely change the sound of the instrument.
Sound from woodwinds emanates mainly from the holes in the instrument's body. Muting woodwind instruments is very uncommon, and in the case of the flute is almost unknown. In the 18th century purpose-built mutes existed for the oboe and clarinet, but in the rare cases when one of these instruments is muted today a handkerchief is usually stuffed up the bell resulting in a muffled sound. Some bassoonists still use purpose-built mutes, generally as a way of regulating volume at extremes of the instrument's register.
There exist saxophone mutes which are usually made of a soft material (such as velvet, silk or chenille) woven around a hard inner ring (usually brass or plastic). This mute is placed in the bell, most commonly perpendicularly to the body of the saxophone. This softens the tones of the saxophone somewhat, and can be useful in classical settings as it also dampens the sound a bit. They are not in common use, but they are not rare either. They are usually only made for the alto saxophone, although bigger and smaller ones can be made and used for higher and lower registers of saxophone. Some companies currently produce mutes that cover the entirety of the instrument (such as the E-Sax Whisper mute and the Silent Sax case), thus dramatically diminishing the volume of sound produced. To date their overall effectiveness is still in question.
Drums may require muting if they "ring" too much. They can be muted by laying a small piece of cloth (or in a pinch, a credit card, adhesive bandages, or even sanitary napkins and duct or gaffer tape for larger drums) over their skin resulting in a muffled sound, but there are also specialized adhesive cloth mutes that stick to the head of the drum. Timpani players will run their fingers across the surface of the drum-head to control unwanted resonance.
For the snare drum, tenor drums, or the entire drum (trap) set, drum and cymbal mute pads (such as SoundOff by Evans, Deadhead Pads by DW Drum Workshop, and Vic Firth Drum Set Mutes, and many others) are available for playing quietly while practicing. These usually consist of a piece of rubber or foam rubber that is laid on top of each drum head and cymbal. Computer mouse pads (whole or pieces) may also be placed on drum heads and cymbals to achieve a similar effect.
Many struck idiophones, such as the claves, can be muted by varying the way the instruments are held or struck in order to reduce their resonance. Shaken idiophones, such as maracas, can often be muted by holding or squeezing the ball section in the palm of the hand instead of holding them by the handle, which can alter the tone as well as the volume for added versatility during recording sessions.
Traditionally, a military band playing for a funeral would cover the drums with cloth, producing a muffled tone suitable to the solemn occasion.
The soft pedal of the piano can be seen as having the effect of a mute. In a grand piano,