Bremner(SshhMute) French Horn Practice Mute

The media could not be loaded.  The more expensive ones might be more worth it (Balu, Yamaha, Okura, etc.?). Never tried them but this seems like too much money to spend on something that's just... okay. All practice mutes probably suck in general for consistent practicing, but yeah. Cuts down a mezzo-piano pretty quiet, but forte and up you'd probably still hear through the walls. Bought this so I can practice in my house outside of working hours while my family is sleeping. My mom especially is a light sleeper.There is a lot of resistance when playing, sadly. I did my normal morning routine of exercises and it was not something I'd want to do often with a mute. Very different feel. Low range and high range much more difficult, and a bit sharp in all registers. More so than usual haha.It does fall out fairly easily. I quarter-turn it and it stays for a while but you just gotta be careful with it...But yeah, kinda also just seems like a piece of plastic you could make at home?All that being said, my mom did approve of it when she was napping and I was practicing, and I will update my review if anything changes. I have attached videos also (just audio, no video), so you can judge for yourself. Not sure if the videos represent dynamics accurately though. At the 2:40-ish mark, you might also have to turn up the volume to hear anything at all. Which says good things about the mute I guess! Haha.Please forgive extraneous noises, valve clicks, and bad playing in videos. I tried to cut most of the extra noise out :)

I'd give it a 4.8; the only thing I don't care for about it is that it sometimes falls out unless I really jam it in, in which case it tends to make the horn sound constricted and a bit harder to play. Overall, though, it's a lot of bang for the buck. I live in a condo, and can play in one bedroom while my wife is working in the other, and she can barely hear it, even with the doors open; so I'm very confident no neighbors are bothered by it. It's even quiet enough that our kitten evidently isn't bothered by it, since he frequently listens to me, and he doesn't like the unmuted horn at all. To be sure, it does create some backpressure, but if that surprises you it shouldn't. And it doesn't restrict my playing to any noticeable degree. If it weren't for its tendency to occasionally, but not very often, drop out, I'd definitely want to give it a 6.

I am a pro horn player and teacher. I had spent a lot of money in the past on some expensive practice mutes but they were not holding up, so I decided to try this one and to my surprise, it's the best practice mute I've ever used. It's very quiet so I can practice at night when my kids are asleep. It feels very similar to playing without a mute and it's sturdy. I believe it will hold up for a long time. I now strongly recommend these to my students!

I ordered this just this past summer and love using it in my house when I have to practice late, so I don't disturb my roommates. The only thing I would say is, as others have said, sometimes it falls out, and for me the notes also sound a half step higher (which is really distracting to my ear when I'm fingering an F and I hear an F#). Overall, very nice, the resistance is much more bearable than other practice mutes I've used up until about high G, then it's difficult for me without using too much pressure. But that might just be my setup. I would totally recommend!

I very highly recommend this product for any brass player. Whether minimizing your impact to those within earshot or just wanting more practice privacy, this is by far the best mute I have ever used. I haven't played in years because I was too concerned about disturbing other people, and then feeling too self-conscious about starting back up after taking a break for so long and worrying about people hearing how bad I've gotten. After receiving this product in the mail and trying it out, I am really looking forward to getting back into playing again! I recommend this to any parent of a novice brass player or for those living in close quarters with other people. So many times this mute would have saved me from having to find a studio on campus in college also. Wish I had found this product years ago.

WORKS PRETTY WELL - BUT HAS SOME RESISTANCE ON SINGLE HORNS.

My family didn't even know I was practicing. I can still faintly hear it, though. Does what it's supposed to!

The sound and the amount of resistance is good. As others have said it doesn't stay in the bell on its own, so I'm giving it 4 stars.