density/increasing mute size. Eventually the damping effects are such that the tone is dampened completely, as above.

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C2 Dense objects/mutes as rattles

A dense object can be placed close to the string so that either: ! The object stops the string and two possible pitches: mute-to-bridge and mute-to-nut are audible. In this case the object is acting as a slide.229 or ! The two rattle against one another as the string vibrates. A normal plucked/struck/bowed tone, the open or stopped-string tone (reduced in overtone content and loudness) is heard alongside the rattling sound. In this case the object is effectively a mute since it dampens the strings vibration. The pitches from object to bridge/nut might also be present. The cellist can influence the character of the sound by controlling the loudness, overtone content and the duration of the rattling in several ways. In general, loud rattling implies short rattling and quiet, short open/stopped-string tones. As the loudness of the rattling decreases, it is possible to sustain the rattling and open/stopped string tones for longer, or to remove the rattle and allow the open/stopped string sound to ring for a relatively long time and loudly. In more detail this is controlled by:

Excitation force (the force of the pluck/strike or bow speed) ! Loudness: Increasing the force of the pluck/strike or increasing bow speed (i.e. the loudness of the tone) increases the loudness of the rattle. ! Duration: If the position of the object is fixed, increasing force of the pluck/strike reduces the duration of the rattling part of the sound. For high bow
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The explanations for the reactions of a string muted in various ways seen throughout this section are devised from information about damping and the decay of sound. For background information see: Benade, The Fundamentals of Musical Acoustics, 32-49. 229 See A7 Slide effects.

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