Music Information

Quick and Easy Violin Mute


One of the reasons I picked up the violin was because it was easier to travel with than a guitar (not that I haven't found some nice travel guitars, but that's another story). It fits in an airplane overhead and is easy to carry!

However, I want to be considerate of the folks in the rooms around me when I'm playing in my hotel room. I decided I needed a mute -- there are a lot of gizmos you can attach easily (and not so easily) to your violin to reduce the sound. I wanted something simple and effective -- it had to be easy to slip on and off and it had to work!

Turns out it was really easy to find, too! Head to your laundry basket and grab a spring clothespin. Okay, go ahead and grab two -- just in case. Slip the first clothespin onto the treble side of your violin bridge. Angle the pin downwards so it won't interfere with your bow.

That's it! Give it a try and you'll be amazed at how the sound is muted. If you want even more muting, put the second pin on the bass side of the bridge. (When you do this, it looks like your violin is wearing a mustache!)

Doesn't get much easier than this -- plus there's probably room in your case for the two clothespins. Simple, cheap, and effective (although it does look a little goofy).

Joey Robichaux maintains Free Sheet Music at http://www.freesheetmusic.net.


MORE RESOURCES:

Neoseeker

Music industry eases tactics in fighting piracy
Reuters - 3 hours ago
... file-sharers marks a fundamental shift in the music business's battle against piracy, from one focused on enforcement to one emphasizing education. ...
Sling Media, CNET News
Is the RIAA admitting defeat? InfoWorld
Music Industry Ditches Company It Used to Gather Evidence on Students Chronicle of Higher Education (subscription)
Wired News - NewsOXY
all 43 news articles


Canada.com

'08 music sales hit record high
Hollywood Reporter, United States - Jan 4, 2009
Overall music sales set record in 2008, with more than 1.5 billion units sold, according to Nielsen SoundScan. The Nielsen Co.'s annual year-end music ...
Rock Ruled Music In 2008: Biggest Sellers Revealed antiMUSIC.com
Music Sales Reach a Record High, But Not Through Album Sales TheCelebrityCafe.com
Music sales boom, but albums fizzle for '08 USA Today
New York Times - Los Angeles Times
all 519 news articles


Music marketers target female shoppers at home
Reuters - 3 hours ago
By Ed Christman NEW YORK (Billboard) - With CD sales dropping fast, the music business is exploring nontraditional ways to expose consumers to recording ...


Reuters

Hyundai Super Bowl ad to feature music by Yo-Yo Ma
Reuters - 5 hours ago
By Kamau High NEW YORK (Billboard) - Hyundai Motor Co. will use music by famed cellist Yo-Yo Ma in a Super Bowl XLIII television commercial that consumers ...


New York Times

A Year in Love and Music
New York Times, United States - 2 hours ago
With music now available with a single, offhand click, it's easy to forget that songs are not born whole, polished and ready to play. ...


Los Angeles Times

Musebin: The future of music reviews?
Los Angeles Times, CA - 8 hours ago
The user-driven site allows for only a sentence or two, paring down music reviews to a Twitter or Facebook status update. Although the launch of such a site ...
Musebin's 140-Character Reviews Go Live, Power Hype Machine Wired News
Hype Machine Zeitgeist: Listen in Full to the 50 Most Blogged ... ReadWriteWeb
all 4 news articles


Bid to open prison doors for music
The Press Association - 1 hour ago
Organisers of one of the stages at the Glastonbury Festival will be taking their blend of music and political campaigning to the heart of redneck Texas to ...


More schools getting in tune with mariachi
The Associated Press - 21 hours ago
Then the teenager started playing the music of the elder's homeland. Perez, 14, took a mariachi music class at his Fort Worth high school, ...


CNET News

Read all 'Macworld 2009' posts in Digital Media
CNET News, CA - 6 hours ago
Apple has cut deals that will finally enable iTunes to offer songs free of digital rights management software from the three largest music labels, ...
Apple inks deals for all DRM-free iTunes, 3G downloads Apple Insider
Apple finally drops DRM on iTunes music, OTA 3G music downloads? Boy Genius Report
DRM close to extinction on iTunes? VentureBeat
Mashable - CrunchGear
all 14 news articles


Music matters at Sundance
Variety, CA - 3 hours ago
By KATHY A. MCDONALD Music matters at Sundance. Both the Sundance Institute and Sundance Film Festival have long supported the cross-pollination between ...

Music - Google News

home | site map
© 2006