Silent Brass vs. Practice mutes

[Jeff Keller]

I recently moved into a high rise in chicago. It is hard for me to commute to work just to practice ($$$). I am exploring the possibility of practice mutes vs. a silent brass system. Please let me know pros/cons of both and if you had your pick, what would you have.

Thanks in advance.

J

[Tubaryan12]

The biggest knock against Silent Brass is weight. I actually bought a Tuba Tamer so that it would be easier to use the Silent Brass.

[TUBAD83]

I have both, but prefer Silent Brass. Yes it is heavy and can be awkward to use, but you can blow "The Great Gate of Kiev" at 2AM and not worry about disturbing anyone. In fact, it was the second purchase I made when I purchased my first tuba (to keep the other half and my neighbors happy).

JJ

[tokuno]

fwiw, I've only used euphonium practice mutes.
I've had Trumcor stealth and Yamaha silent.
They're both effective - person next door wouldn't hear a peep - but I like the plug-in jack/headphones on the Yamaha. The feedback's helpful to me. It's of course not as nice as un-muted, but it's loads better than without.

[kathott]

Hello - I use a practice mute. I want real sound, even a muted one. No electronics, no headphones. I don't want ANYTHING over my ears.
I bought the Meinl Weston Trolley "F" tuba. Is is small, and comes with a very specialized mute. Very little sound at all, but it feels right. You can play next to someone reading the newspaper. They won't like it, but YOU will have something to read.
Kathott

[Wyvern]

2) I bought the Meinl Weston trolley "F" tuba. Is is small, and comes with a very usable whisper mute.
No sound at all, you can play right beside someone reading the newspaper.
Kathott

I find that too - the mute with the MW14 is incredible, although the little tuba is not very noisy un-muted (fine in apartment during the day) and a half way house is playing without bell.

Although I got mine for travelling, I will no doubt also use any time I want to practice late at night to avoid complaints from the neighbours, or the wife.

[Dean E]

I recently bought a Yamaha silent brass mute which is basically the only way I can practice in my New York apartment. Playing-wise I like it fine, but it makes the horn so top heavy that I am having shooting pains in my shoulder after ~ 45 minutes. Anyone else experience similar problems? Any suggestions?

I use the silent brass also.

You are right. The setup is is very top-heavy and can be a pain to get ready and use. I make sure that all weight is directed straight downward to my lap, and do not have to support any sidewise forces. I use a rubber drawer liner mat [or tuba playing stand] to keep the horn from shifting on my lap.

During rests, I have a K&M stand, next to me on the floor, so I don't have to disconnect the microphone cable.

Also, I recommend carefully positioning everything in the playing area to avoid having to do any reaching or stretching (water, music stand, eyeglasses, silent brass console, earphones, tuner, CD player /computer). Before playing and during breaks, I like doing Yoga-type stretches for the hands, fingers, arms, shoulders, neck, and back.

[fairweathertuba]

I too am interested in the Trumcor practice mute. I might want to try to use it with my helicon, lightweight would be good because of the helicon's weird bell position, so the Yamaha silent brass probably wouldn't be a good idea.

Thoughts on the trumcor?

[David]

Not a big fan of the silent brass. Haven't tried any other style of mute, but I find the electronics part of it just useless and not worth the money. When I do use it, I just put it in the horn standalone. And yes, it does add an uncomfortable amount of weight.

[Rick F]

I play euph — not tuba, so don't know if this will help much.

I had both the Yamaha SB system and now the 'BestBrass' practice mute. Yamaha's SB system has better intonation but was very cumbersome to use. It has to be much worse for a tuba. I did use the electronics with the SB system so I could hear better. Since I don't need a mute too often (only when at hotel/motel or visiting grand-kids), I decided to keep the 'BestBrass' mute and sell the SB. Mainly because it's easier to tote around as it stows in the bell with my case.

[PaulTkachenko]

Silent brass is just too heavy - I almost never use mine these days.

I just stick a practice mute in instead. Doesn't sound as good but at least I keep the circulation in my legs!

[euphomate]

I use Denis Wick practice mutes in both my Yamaha 642 euphonium and Besson Sovereign EEb tuba. They are both very effective at what they are designed to do, enable practice without being heard outside the practice room. They are light (spun aluminium) and the intonation excellent on both. I have used a Humes & Berg practice mute on the euph, but sent it back after one week. The intonation was dreadful. The DW's extend a fair way out of the bell in both cases, but that's the price you pay for accurate intonation.

[John Banther]

I have played several practice mutes.

In my opinion, there is nothing better than the practice mute that Johann Schlipfinger makes. Each one is made for that specific horn.

More info here: http://www.tuba-mute.com/index.php?lang ... acticemute" target="_blank

John

[Master Sergeant Tuba]

I agree. No need to use my mute very often, but when I do, the Schlipfinger fits the bill. Got mine from Lee out in the Midwest. Fits my YCB-621 perfectly.

[Leland]

I picked up a Denis Wick Steven Mead model travel practice mute for euph last weekend. It plays fine, although you can only fool physics so far -- it's stuffier than an open horn and the intonation, while not so bad that you'll end up in the wrong key, won't match up with a recording very well. But, it sounds really quiet, and its killer feature -- portability -- is why I got it. I can see taking this on the road all the time.

[jma78]

I'd like to know which practice mute you find has the best intonation. (I need one that has even enough intonation to use in chamber music)

Have tried the following practice mutes:

- Schlipf
- Trumcor
- Dennis Wick

Next month I'll be have the chance to try out this: http://www.wallace-daempfer.de/en/pract ... -tuba.html" target="_blank" target="_blank" target="_blank which is supposed to be really good.

I haven't had the chance to try the Yamaha Silent Brass. How would the silent brass, intonation wise, compare to the Dennis Wick, which so far has the best intonation in my opinion.

[Antontuba]

I like the DW practice mute for my 981, although playing without is my first choice. The resistance helps get my sound going, but the horn has a top - heavy feel.

Adam