Practicing in Apartments

[goldenmoose]

I have been staying at my girlfriend's place a lot lately. I would like to practice over there but she lives in an apartment and her neighbors aren't fans of the tuba. What can I do to dampen the sound enough to practice in her apartment? Can anyone suggest a mute?

Thanks for the help!!

[TexTuba]

Silent Brass. It's very top-heavy, but it really does the job without making the horn too stuffy or alter the intonation much.

[ckalaher1]

I purchased a Schlipf mute from Lee Stofer several months ago, and I can say that it works wonders when playing in an apartment. About the sound of a TV at a medium volume. While it isn't the big tuba sound that we all like to have eminating from our bells, it can keep your chops in shape and not get a note on the door from your landlord.

Also, you have to really work on centering pitches with the mute in, which could be considered a positive by-product.

Lee does post on here occasionally, or can be contatcted through his website. He made the transaction a very pleasant one.

Good luck with everything. Hopefully you find a soultion.

[Jack Denniston]

We lived in an apartment for 6 months awhile back. When we 1st moved in I went around and introduced myself to my neighbors. During the conversation I mentioned that my hobby was playing the tuba and asked if there was a time of day when my practicing wouldn't bother them. I put everyone's preferences together and found a time that worked for everyone- during the dinner hour, 5-7 PM or so. When I wanted to practice at other times, I put in the mute and practiced playing low notes very softly.

[Tom Coffey]

Yamaha Silent Brass is very good, in spite of the cumbersome factor. The sound, through headphones, is very close to the real thing. And the sound for everyone else is hard to hear at all. The only real downside is that you can't leave the horn standing on its bell with the mute in.