On the alterations of tone produced by a violin-"mute"

Abstract

Experiments on the "wolf-note" of the violin or 'cello (see Nature, June 29, and September 14, 1916, and Phil. Mag., October, 1916) suggest an explanation of the well-known and striking alterations in the tone of the instrument produced by a "mute," which at first sight seems somewhat difficult of acceptance, viz. that they are due to the lowering of the pitch of the free modes of vibration of the entire body of the instrument produced by the added inertia. This view of the action of the mute (which was suggested by way of passing reference in my paper on the "wolf-note") has, I find, excited some incredulity, and its correctness has, in fact, been questioned in a note by Mr. J. W. Giltay in the Phil. Mag. for June, 1917. The following brief statement may therefore be of interest as establishing the correctness of my view of this important phenomenon.