Etouffé
Played damped, “smothered.”
What it means
Étouffé means smothered and asks that a note be damped immediately after sounding. The instruction most often appears in harp parts: the player lays the palm or fingers on the string just plucked, so that only a short, dry sound remains. The term also occurs with percussion instruments and in plucked and string parts, always with the same meaning — cutting the sound off instead of letting it ring out.
In the notation
The word is written in italics above the passage, often together with short note values and staccato dots. Some scores additionally use a small cross or a bracket to mark the process of damping. The instruction is cancelled by laissez vibrer or simply by the end of the passage.
Musical use
Instruments with a long decay — harp, cymbals, tubular bells — quickly lose their contour without damping, because all the notes overlap. Étouffé gives them a rhythmically sharp, almost percussive language and makes fast figures audible through. The difference in sound is great: the same sequence of notes, left ringing, seems like a mist, damped like a row of separate strokes. Composers use the alternation between the two as a means of expression, for instance to let a section begin dry and then blossom.
Performance practice
On the harp you damp as a rule with the flat hand or with the fingers of the respective free hand, in a movement that emerges from the plucking — plan the path of the hand instead of reaching back hectically. In the bass the heel of the hand suffices, in the treble two fingers are enough. Take care that the damping itself produces no incidental noise; touch the string broadly and without a jerk. With percussion instruments you damp the head or the rim as close as possible to the spot where you struck. Practise the cut-off alone first and only then add the rhythm.
Remember that the damping itself takes time and must be planned rhythmically: with fast sequences there is hardly any room between plucking and damping, which is why the movement is practised as a unit. Check which hand is free in each case. Take care that no incidental noise arises when damping; a broad, calm touch is quieter than a grab with the fingertips. Write the chosen execution into the part.