Humes & Berg French horn symphonic stopping mute

This is a discontinued line.

Humes and Berg mutes are among the most widely used and recognisable on the market with their distinctive red and white finish. The company began manufacturing in Chicago in the 1930s at the height of the big band era with the encouragement of the greatest bandleaders of the time. Their trademark 'stonelined' construction is based on fibreboard coated with paint and resin.

French horn players often use a technique known as stopping—inserting their hand fully into the bell to block the air flow, producing a quiet, nasal sound. This raises the pitch by approximately one semitone, so the player must adjust by playing a semitone lower. The same effect can be achieved more reliably with a stopping mute, which may be transposing or, occasionally, non-transposing; this mute is the former and requires the player to play a semitone lower, as they would when hand-stopping.