Posted by tuba-lew on August 17, 2000 at 12:34:09:
In Reply to: Kleenex and Spit posted by Rick Denney on August 17, 2000 at 11:49:25:
The only solution for me was the Yamaha silent brass for tuba. It does cause the tuba to be top heavy and saying it feels stuffy playing with it is an understatement, but I can now practice without the threats of divorce. (Hmmm tuba or wife???) Other practice mutes may work, but they were still too loud for my crew, or was that just me?
You could try building walls in the basement and insulating them with at least 6 inches of fiberglass. Then put acoustic tiles on the walls and ceiling. Just putting tiles on the ceiling probably won't do it. Either way it is a lot more expensive than a mute.
At Bell Labs they have a "silent" room (or at least they did 15 years ago when I saw it) in which you can do anything and it can't be heard outside. Maybe Lucent should market a portable version of this for tuba players? Any Lucent acoustic engineers listening? Or you can check with "CONTROL" to see if the "cone of silence" is available.