damping
Stopping or reducing the vibration of strings or other resonating parts to control sustain.
In Depth
Damping is the act of stopping a vibrating string, drumhead, or cymbal to control how long the sound lasts. On a piano, felt dampers rest on the strings and fall back when a key is released, stopping the sound. Lifting the damper pedal removes all dampers, allowing everything to resonate freely.
Guitarists use palm muting — resting the edge of the picking hand on the strings near the bridge — to create a percussive, chunky sound. Drummers grab cymbals to stop them ringing. Harpists use their palms to damp strings selectively. The control of when sound stops is just as important as when it starts.
The damper pedal on a piano lifts all 88 dampers simultaneously, allowing every string in the instrument to vibrate sympathetically — this is why Chopin called it the soul of the piano.