A Dictionary of Music and Musicians/Damper
DAMPER (Fr. L'Etouffoir; Ital. Saltarello, Speguitoio, or Smorzo; Ger. Dämpfer), that part of the action of a pianoforte contrived to stop the vibration of the strings belonging to a note when the finger is raised from the key. It comprises several folds or thicknesses of cloth or soft felt, elevated upon a wire upright, which rest upon or press upwards against the strings when the key is not touched, but quit the strings when the key is pressed down. The pedal movement connected with the dampers removes them collectively from the strings, and so long as the pedal is pressed down the instrument has virtually no dampers, the strings continuing to sound until their vibrations cease. There are no dampers to the treble notes, as the duration of vibration in this part of the scale is too short to need arresting. [See Pianoforte.]
[ A. J. H. ]