I live in the dorm rooms at college so if I want to play everyday then I have to play with the silent brass mute. It is very hard to play with the mute in since I am learning how to play Carnival of Venice. I can't double or triple tongue as well and I get tired a million times faster.
I just finished up playing in a production of Guys and Dolls and during the warmups I noticed that my range had greatly improved. My tone was slightly better however I don't have much to compare to since I play with the mute 90% of the time. Stamina improved as well. All in all I would say the mute has allowed me to get back in the game after a two year break of playing. The downside however is that whenever I had to play a solo in the play I would really have to focus on the note because I almost always tended to overshoot it due to the huge amount of resistance that I was used to. Other than that I guess it helps
