The Complete Handbook of Cymbal & Drum Mutes

Chapter 1: Understanding Cymbal & Drum Mutes

The distinction between stopping a sound and taming it is the first thing you need to understand about cymbal and drum mutes. A practice pad stops the sound - it replaces the drum or cymbal surface with a high-damping rubber that produces a short, dull thump with almost no ring. A mute tames the sound - it alters the resonant characteristics of the actual drum or cymbal so that the instrument still produces its characteristic tone, just at a much lower and shorter duration. A muted snare drum still sounds like a snare, not like a box of paper. A muted ride cymbal still has a shimmering attack, just one that decays into silence in half a second rather than ringing for five. This difference in philosophy underlies every type of mute discussed in this handbook, and it is the first practical decision you will make as a buyer: do you want a silent practice tool, or a quieted version of your real instrument?

In most real-world situations, you want the latter - a quieted version of the real instrument - because a mute that replaces your drum with a rubber pad disconnects you from the muscle memory of your actual setup. When you practice on mesh heads that mimic the tension and rebound of a coated single-ply head, your hands and feet are training against the same dynamic resistance they will encounter on stage. When you practice on a slab of dense