Mutes

Three different tools share this heading and they are not interchangeable: the violin items are the Gotz ZD-250 and the D'Addario Spector, and everything else here is cut for cello. A practice mute is the heavy one that takes the volume down far enough for an apartment at night, and it takes the tone with it, so it comes off when the session ends. The mute that sits on the bridge is what the score means by con sordino, and the Gotz cello version comes round or instrument-shaped, which changes only how fast it goes on and off. A wolf suppressor is a different device again: it grips the string between the bridge and the tailpiece to tame one bad note, and the 5, 7 and 9 gram weights exist so that you can start light, since the least mass that kills the wolf is the right one and extra weight dulls the whole instrument. Slide it along the string until the note settles.