Re: Living In Apartment & Practice


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Posted by . on February 19, 2004 at 23:28:59:

In Reply to: Living In Apartment & Practice posted by Jim on February 19, 2004 at 21:22:51:

Josh's suggestions, and his fiance's strategy, are excellent advice.

It reminds me of a friend who, upon moving to a new apartment, did some playing, then found other residents nearby and asked "Have you heard a kind of sustained booming sound in the last 20 mins?" If they said 'yes' she'd explain that she was a muso, it was the tuba she'd just been playing, and that she hoped it was cool to do this in the _____ time (daytime/eve?) if not, let her know. If the recipients of the question said 'No' she'd answer, 'Cool, because I've just been practising the tuba." then impart the same info. It was a way of breaking the ice that worked!

Can't say I've ever tried the same strategy myself (I must be much more shy and retiring!). In fact I busted my rear-end to buy a free-standing house for reasons of being able to practice, yet, that alone is not necessarily the 'solution' as has much been discussed. For me there is more to do (i.e. I'd like to build a studio of some type).

For regular tubas (and a few late-night kilometres on the chop-odometer) I usually just wrap a towel around a regular straight mute... creates a 'practice mute'. A bit of experimenting of this type (obviously a compromise) may be worthwhile for the late hours. Such things as facing into wardrobes full of clothes/ pillows on bells... as long as 100% of your practice doesn't have to be done that way. TV on (masking with generic noise) in conjuction with the ersatz 'practice mute' can help too... people are often much more likely to complain about hearing a musical instrument being played than the equivalent amount of sound coming from a TV or stereo.

Other things to be mindful of are which common walls join which areas of the joined dwelling... i.e. where in your place you practice may be a choice based on which area has the least common walls, or is perhaps a common wall with a laundry room, or somesuch... not that there is a whole lot of latitude for room choice in a 1br place.

Best of luck!

Fellow night-owl

You may be interested to note that Yamaha is developing a prototype Silent Brass for sousaphone!



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