Silent Brass

[clarke]

I recently moved into an apartment building and have already had noise complaints...so i have thinking about buying a silent brass system...just wondering if anyone has tried it or uses it and what anyone thinks about it...thanks

eli

[JB]

...thinking about buying a silent brass system...just wondering if anyone has tried it or uses it and what anyone thinks about it...thanks

Search the archives (especially of the old TubeNet); lots on this topic.

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[tubacdk]

the silent brass is as good as it gets, as far as practice mutes go. but, of course, it's still a practice mute. it's quieter than any other practice mute I've tried, is more free blowing than others, and messes with pitch less than others. but it does mess with the feel, so I try to spend as little time on it as I can. if I need to hammer notes out on a piece and I have to do it at my apartment, the silent brass does fine. if I want to work on developing a big tone, or flexibility, or finesse, etc. the silent brass does nothing for me.

basically, it's better than not practicing, but not nearly as good as practicing open-belled. if you have no other options as to where to practice, then the silent brass is your best bet. but don't expect the open-belled product to be the same as you get with the silent brass.

oh, and I find the electronics useless. I haven't tried the 2nd generation stuff, but once I put on the headphones, the vibrations in my head drown out most of the sound coming through the headphones.