Ebony Trident Cello Mute

Pros: I love the sound of this mute. I bought it for the Shostakovich cello sonata because it gives a beautiful colour (in my opinion, more special than the usual rubber mutes).

Cons: You need time to be able to put it on! And you also need the presence of mind in performance to make sure the feet on the bridge are really in between the strings, so that the strings don't buzz against them. Unfortunately I didn't use it in performance, as I found it made my cello more wolf-y after use, which in particular wasn't fantastic for the 3rd movement! I think my cello also felt a little muted immediately after removing it.

Other: Having said all those cons, I would still absolutely use it for a recording, because of the colour it gives, and I think it was a very reasonable price. I think it would give a stunning sound in a piece like the Ravel Piano Trio.

Pros: Nice colour.

Cons: This did not fit my cello bridge, the bridge was too thick to fit the mute on.

Other: The mute was a lot smaller than I had anticipated.