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I mainly need one to keep my practicing from disturbing everyone else in the house. I emailed my band director and he said that http://www.musicarts.com/Trumcor-Standa ... 526680.mac" target="_blank was the best for keeping it quiet. He also said that http://www.musicarts.com/Yamaha-SB19C-S ... 438102.mac" target="_blank was the best overall, but was the most expensive. I respect and trust his opinion, but I also wanted to know what you guys thought.

The Trumcor is okay. This is the best practice mute I've seen: http://www.tuba-mute.com/index.php?page ... te&lang=en.

You really don't want the Yamaha. It is over priced and very top heavy.

Schlipf -- it's expensive, but it works very well, is really quiet, and doesn't add a lot of extra resistance and change the way you play.

Try before you buy, if possible. At the very least, understand the vendor's return policy before purchasing.

In my experience practice mutes respond very differently (in terms of stuffiness, sound reduction and intonation, in particular), depending on the horn. I've sold mutes that I wasn't happy with, tried them again later and found that they worked better (or worse) with different horns.

I wouldn't take a practice mute recommendation unless the person has tried a specific mute with your specific instrument. It's a bit like recommending a mouthpiece without knowing about the player's embouchure, horn, sound concept, etc. I.e., not really possible online.

Practicing with a mute is also a lousy way to practice. The horns responds differently and intonation can be all over the place (again, depending on your horn). When you play the horn without the mute, it's an entirely different beast. I finally have a situation where I can practice daily without a mute and it makes a world of difference. Some say that practicing with a mute is better than nothing. I'm not so sure... I would take one day's practice per week unmuted over a week's worth muted.

Can you arrange for specific unmuted practice times with your family? Perhaps when the fewest people who might be disturbed aren't around or the particularly disturbed can do something elsewhere. Are you really disturbing them?

bighonkintuba wrote:Try before you buy, if possible. At the very least, understand the vendor's return policy before purchasing.

In my experience practice mutes respond very differently (in terms of stuffiness, sound reduction and intonation, in particular), depending on the horn. I've sold mutes that I wasn't happy with, tried them again later and found that they worked better (or worse) with different horns.

I wouldn't take a practice mute recommendation unless the person has tried a specific mute with your specific instrument. It's a bit like recommending a mouthpiece without knowing about the player's embouchure, horn, sound concept, etc. I.e., not really possible online.

Practicing with a mute is also a lousy way to practice. The horns responds differently and intonation can be all over the place (again, depending on your horn). When you play the horn without the mute, it's an entirely different beast. I finally have a situation where I can practice daily without a mute and it makes a world of difference. Some say that practicing with a mute is better than nothing. I'm not so sure... I would take one day's practice per week unmuted over a week's worth muted.

Can you arrange for specific unmuted practice times with your family? Perhaps when the fewest people who might be disturbed aren't around or the particularly disturbed can do something elsewhere. Are you really disturbing them?

I emailed my Band Director, who issued me my instrument. (It's a King 2341) I plan on having muted and unmuted practice times. It's just that the muted practice sessions are also essential.

P.S. Would you suggest putting soundproof foam to block the sound instead?

I'm guessing that someone on the board has experience with specific mutes and the 2341 as it's a common horn. That's probably your best bet if you can't try before buying (or return without too much hassle).

Not sure about the foam block. If it's cheap/handy, try it!

The best practice mute/horn combo that I've rigged was a cheap Humes & Berg 'straight' mute for a bell front euphonium. Some foam tape and a dish towel wrapped in the right place and it worked pretty well. It was quiet and the intonation was excellent (and adjustable to some degree). I've also modified a Yamaha Silent Brass for euphonium to work with a 4/4 Yamaha tuba (o.k.). I'm not recommending any particular mute for your horn, just illustrating that you never know what works (or not).

A Schlipf model is listed for your specific horn:
http://tubameister.com/wp-content/uploa ... odelle.pdf" target="_blank

but it would pay to get some experienced 2341 feedback before coughing up the $.

vd8m9 wrote: I emailed my Band Director, who issued me my instrument. (It's a King 2341) I plan on having muted and unmuted practice times. It's just that the muted practice sessions are also essential.

P.S. Would you suggest putting soundproof foam to block the sound instead?

I suppose it is arguable as to whether practice with a mute is that beneficial. For me it is a 'good' thing.

Finding a dedicated 'practice mute' was a goal of mine about 6 months ago. I had already popped a bundle on an arsenal of new horns and just did not want to spend a 'hundred plus' for something that I would not use in public. (I live in a townhouse and try to be sensitive to the neighbors when I know they are home)

A practice mute that would eliminate 90% of the sound was what I was looking for. (I am preparing for a solo recital on the F tuba and simply need finger time on the charts.)

Then one day it dawned on me that I had an old aluminum/wood ended mute from the 1970s complete with an old screen door handle. The cork had deteriorated and so it had been relegated to a place high up on a shelf in the garage. I began to 'tinker' (I love to mess with stuff). My new Balu mute had removable cork pads that used "Velcro" (that gave me an idea.) But the Balu in definitely NOT a practice mute. So off to the hardware store to purchase a roll of 1 inch Velro adhesive backed strips, a roll of gasket cork and some double sided tape. In addition I picked up a roll of foam insulation stripping that is used for doors and windows. (its about 1/2 inch thick and about 3/4 inch wide. It comes in rolls and has an adhesive backing.

Step one was to clean the mute and remove old glue residue from the previous cork.
Then I placed Velcro strips at the location of the old corks, but made the strips about 10 inches long.
This would allow the corks to be adjusted vertically to help fit the contour of the bell.
I made several sets of cork pads by using the double sided tape to build up strips of the 1/8" gasket cork and then cutting and sanding them to a nice neat shape the width of the Velcro. Next was to attach Velcro to the back of the cork pads. They were then attached to the mute and adjusted to find a good spot. They can easily be removed and replaced.
At this point, the mute worked perfectly as a metallic sounding straight mute (as good as new)

Then, to work on the dampening process that would define this as a 'practice mute,' I wrapped the foam insulation tape around the bottom of the mute, building this up into 2 layers. The object was to match the diameter of the place inside the bell where the mute would terminate. I also attached the foam at mid-point up the mute, just below where the corks would be attached and also matching the bell diameter. This took a little 'trial and error.' This kept most of the sound from migrating out of the bell. Depending on how much the mute is compressed into the bell affects the results. Too tight and it simply just backs up. Too loose and there is less than optimum sound reduction. Remember on a practice mute it is about sound reduction.

The results on a standard 4/4 size bell were acceptable, that is a reduction in sound by about 90%. Response, including the pedal and high registers was fine and no real problem with intonation. I use it on my 6/4 F tuba.

I find practicing on such a mute also helps in centering pitches, not unlike simple mouthpiece solfege-buzzing. Of course when you return to playing on the open horn, it sounds and feels like a cannon until you adjust your personal "volume" level.

While I can adjust the corks and foam to fit the large CC 6/4 BAT, I can not get it to function in the pedal register. My gut feeling is that it is simply too short and/or narrow. I tried adding a cardboard tube to the small end, but it really did nothing to help matters. (I do have a couple of other brainstorms to try in that regard)

So, in the end. a dusty old mute was recycled into something very useful.