Recommended Mute or Other Device For Apartment Living

[Hank74]

I can tell you that if you have a sousaphone or a regular tuba with a detachable bell, here is a "mute" that won't cause lots of damage and is very cheap to buy. Do what I do and purchase a volleyball from Wal-Mart or a sporting goods store and put it inside the bell. That's what I use for my sousaphone. I am still able to play the low and high notes and hear them while no one else can.

Now if you have a regular tuba with no detachable bell, I would go with a football and put it inside. But don't put them in too far or else you'll have problems.

Best wishes on your playing though others may not want to hear the beautiful sound of a tuba. With this suggestion, everyone is happy

Hank74

[Dylan King]

If you have a more isolated room without many windows, you may want to try soundproofing. I would only do this if you check with the building manager and use fire-graded foam. The sound will still get out, but it will deaden quite nicely. If you have someone living upstairs you'll have to foam the ceiling.

Here is a link to acoustic foam with Auralex quality at 25% the cost. http://www.foambymail.com/soundproofing.html

A small bedroom could be covered for a few hundred bucks.

[Alex C]

Without doubt, the best practice mute I have played is the TrumCor mute. The sound is diminished to less than that produced by a small radio.

Amazingly, my tuba still blows quite well with the mute in. The response is almost as if there was no mute. Magic.

The mute has some adjustments so that you can fine tune it to your horn and it comes built specifically for different size instruments. It beat the heck out of the Silent Brass mute.

I haven't played the H&B.