Noise suppression for wife and neighbors

[Jay]

I would like to reduce the volume of my Conn tenor to as low as possible so I can practice when my wife is around. Any ways to do this? Maybe mouthpiece or mute type ideas

[Joseph Boucher]

Do what my wife is always telling me to do...."Put a sock in it." Joe.

[Andrew]

If you are able to, you could make one of the rooms in the house into a sound protected room. Or maybe you could buy one of the Whisper Rooms...I personally use one of those Silent Gig Bags that the ww/bw sells. It doesn't mute the 70% that they claim (I believe they claim that much), but I'd say it cuts it a little more than half.

[Grantibibitus]

My advice is to capitalize on your constraints. Practice exclusively at an extremely low volume. It'll improve your sound immensely.

Practically speaking however, closets are the most sound absorbent areas in the home. A big walk-in would be preferred of course but a regular closet full of hanging clothes will dampen your sound pretty well. You might even hang some shirts on the tops of the open doors and on the handles to reduce aural reflection from them. It may not be cumfy right away but face the clothes and get as close as possible (maybe even separate two shirts and move in so the bell is in between them.)

If you have a room in your place that has no exterior walls, you might consider playing in there.

Good luck
-Grant

[Joseph Boucher]

Grantibibitus, Your Kidding! The closet! Joe.

[averageschmoe]

plain and simpe, earplugs. one applied directly into each ear will make the noise level of those hassling you for practicing much easier to ignore.

[ajcurtis]

Jay, the problem with practicing a musical instrument of any kind is that you are going to make a bit of noise.
There are a number of options; ear plugs, sax mute, (Larry Teals book show s you how to make one) bulid yourself a practice room, look for somewhere else to practice. :idea:

What ever you do don't play at a low volume I made that mistake, it has an adverse effect on breathing.

[Andrew W]

I too have had to play in an apartment situation. Playing low when you are a beginner is no good I have had to struggle with air support it has become an issue. I was so inhibited by disturbing my neighbors that I did not realize that I was unconciously playing at lower volumes even when it was not appropriate. I have been lucky that my neigbors now are very understanding. I have found that if you set a time to practice everyday and you tell your neigbors that you will not play past 8p they are a lot more open to it. The trick is to be very considerate of your neighbors feelings and try and reason with them. I have been putting 1 hr a day in as soon as I get home from work from work, that way I don't bother anyone's prome time Television viewing. Also I do not start practicing on the weekend until at least 12p. The saxophone has to palyed at a resonable volume to paly it properly. Once you have the proper air support going than you can work on playing real softly. As far as the wife goes mine just turns the TV louder in the living room while I am in the bedroom practicing. She has gotten used to it thank god.

[Dauri]

To tell you the truth, when I first started playing I was really consiterate of my neighbors and I became too worried about them. Now I practice 2-10 hours a day at full volume. At night I might put a sock in my horn and go into my closet, depending. On Friday and Saturday I go all out though. You only live once. :lol:

[Jazzophone]

ten hours a day! you have the time and patience for that?! wow.

yeah, we're all closet saxophonists ;)

[Dauri]

I don't have the time to practice that much, but I do it anyway.
The trick is to never take the sax off your neck, except to eat, sleep, shower, etc. Also, it helps if you're studying lots of diffrent types of music.
I play merengue tipico, but am learning jazz and blues, salsa, and some classical. When you get tired of practicing one thing you move on the next and so on. Or am I just a phsyco for sax with no life :oops: :oops:

[Sigmund451]

Here is a 50 dollar solution. If you are in a house and have a garage build youself two walls hinged together like a triangle using 2*2's. make them 6ft high by 4 ft wide. Connect them with two hinges. (this makes it foldable if necessary). Take carpet padding (it happens to be 6ft standard so it fits). Use a staple gun and put one layer on each side...this puts a 2 inch air gap between to trap sound. Now, set it up with one side against a wall and the other part way open so a little fan and light can shine in. Put a big piece of heavy carpet on top and have it sit on carpet too. You have room inside for a little music stand and a stool...or to stand (I stand).

Yes, basically your building a closet but any way, wherever you put this sucker it will eat sound pretty darn well. On the wall behind you you can add more carpet to absorb it that way. Id suggest if you want quiet not to use your link but more of a darker mpc so it doesnt cut right through. This has kept my neighbors very happy and it was cheap. I suppose you could use it inside too but my kid goes to sleep early so Im in the garage which is far from his room. You could always build with 3 walls but 2 works too...and it takes up less room.

[dingfelder]

eggshell foam is cheap and a LOT lighter than carpet.

(you could actually carry it)

one thought. playing inside this sucker is gonna be hot !

[Sigmund451]

I used carpet padding, not carpet....yes it would be hot but in evenings where I live it is cool...The Pacific Northwest. This would be a BAD solution for many parts of the country. I have a little fan that blows in a breeze. Thats all I need. I usually practice inside but at night the kid is sleeping and garages dont, by temselves, usually stop much sound.

[robhynes]

Hi all,

Has anyone tried the Saxophone mutes ??

http://www.music123.com/Item/?itemno=102154

Do they work as advertised and if so does anybody know where I can get hold of one in the UK ??

Cheers

RobH

[Sigmund451]

They really only cut the resonance of your instrument. They will darken your tone a bit but the volume remains rather loud...I have found that if I put one in while using a Otto Link it cuts it down to the type of tone I get on a selmer mpc. Its really more than an effect that volume control.

However, keep in mind...less resonance equals less projection...so there is some perceived effect on volume but it wont solve family or neighbor problems.

They can also make it more difficult to bring out the low end properly...Im not sold on the product....note: I have not used the specific one you linked but in principle they all do the same.

[James992]

Out the wife a marry a musician. Hard I know but what piece of mind. :wink:

[slur]

It might just be me and my Yaz 23 but it seems I can play a Fibracell reed much softer than other reeds. Also, I sometimes turn the tv on and blend in with it. It's a distraction at first but I get used to it.

Brian

[Wailin']

My neighbor and I are scheduled to have a meeting with the office managers where I live. They complain I'm playing my sax too loud :cry: . So we've got some compromises to make because they turn their music up loud at times and I complain about them too :!: . In the meantime, I drive to a nearby community college. This might be an option for those of us who dont care about traveling a distance to practice. Local colleges have practice rooms where pianos are usually located. Just use your common sense and sneak in or better yet ask permission. Well I guess the next option is do like Sonny Rollins, practice under a bridge someplace.:lol:

[Boydn]

Ah, the bane of every wind player's existence!

I have done a number of things over the years, I just can't concentrate if I think I'm disturbing other people. Plus now I have napping kids.

If you have some practice time during the day put up flyers at local rehearsal spaces and offer to help a band/bands pay for their lock-out. Since bands usually don't practice during the day you should be able to get some nibbles and it shouldn't cost much on a monthly basis. That way you'll be able to do your long tones and build up your breath support and embouchure at the practice space and play quietly at home without harming your sound.

Build your own practice studio. If you have the space, go to the library and look up books on acoustics/building studios. I found everything I needed to know. Don't forget ventilation! I built a studio inside my apartment above the home office of my neighbor and she said it worked great. Very time consuming and a little expensive for materials, tools and a little help from some tradesmen, but is a great long-term solution for little money. When you inevitably move, that money is gone, though. Nobody cares about sound proofing so you won't make any money back when you sell.

Now I have a 7'x7' WhisperRoom and it works great. I tapped into the central air in my garage. I definitely don't bother anyone. Very expensive, but it will go with me where ever I go, for the rest of my life and is expandable and upgradable.

[Boydn]

Also, you can buy used sound booths on ebay cheap, if you have the time to wait for the right one. Start with a small whisper room and you can always buy expansions from the company or another ebayer.

[Wailin']

Does anyone know of any really good sound or noise aborbant material that I could install on my ceilings to reduce the noise ascending to the upstairs neighbors?

[Razzy]

Those solutions are great, but my thought is, every saxophonist needs to have the ability to play in a relatively open space, unihibited, without fear of annoying people. So, here is a solution!

If you live out in a rural area, just drive out to a farm or woods or something where there is nobody around for miles. Bring a music stand, your music, a little boombox for cd's, and a big tarp in your car just in case it starts raining. Or even a tent so you can keep practicing if it rains. Just bring it all and maybe do this early in the morning every day, it'll be like a little adventure, and there are NO distractions around to keep you from practicing! Just you and your OWN MIND :twisted:

If you live in the suburbs, there are houses EVERYWHERE. And there is usually some woods around too. Either use the solution above, or talk to one of your many suburban friends and ask them if you can use their place to practice sometimes. Or a combination of the two.

If you live in the city, there's bound to be a music college or place somewhere with practice rooms. If you have to pay to use some place to practice, so be it. Just make sure it's not a recording studio! Which would cost a fortune! And hell, if worse comes to worst, there has got to be some place you can drive, like a riverfront or under a bridge, and just practice there.

Basically there's ALWAYS a way to go play your horn uninhibited. It might be difficult, but you can find a way.

[max_berge]

Hi!

I was reading about the sax mute bags. Here's a review from a buyer :

"This bag will reduce volume given the nature of the way a saxophone works but there are other concerns here to consider. The bag has to reduce significantly the horns ventilation to reduce the volume. Condensation and heat are going to be the byproduct of encasing your horn. The advantage of no more condensation on the outside of your instrument is a negative rather than a positive in that the bag would absorb the condensation which means that your horn will be sitting in a moist bag. This will no doubt have repairer's around the world rejoicing."

I'm not sure to understand. How can the bag damage your horn? I know, warm air + closed environment = moistness. But what are the effects on the sax?

MaxBerge

[Sax_on_legs]

The problem with condensation in the bag is quite considerable - if you get rust on the pivots or screws, you could be looking at a very expensive repair job or even a lost horn, as resolder jobs may be needed extensively. I have one of these silent sax bags, and I think it was 80 pounds rather poorly spent. They do reduce volume, but you really can't hear yourself properly, and the reduction in the volume is not significant enough. The condensations did become a problem also, so I took to playing in 20 minute bursts and then airing the bag - this was actually a very good thing for me as I am a recovering tendonitis victim (shoulders & upper back).

The following passage is no joke, BTW. I started playing with the window open over the summer because of the freak hot weather in London. And you know what? My new neighbour, whom I visited one evening to explain my saxophone practicing habits, actually thought that the sound was coming from the apartment across the road, as he heard it loudest when he had the window open. I did own up and told him it was me, but I think in the future, when I move into a new place or have a new neighbour, I'll play with the window open and tell them it's not me who's playing, but someone across the street.

[gary]

It took me a year and some friends keeping their eyes and ears open but I found an apartment in a house owned by an opera singer. I had it put in my contract that I could practice 7 hours a day and give music lessons up until 22:00 any day of the week. It's worked out just great. Previous to that I was carting all my stuff to a local church parish house to practice in.

Last year she rented out the cellar to a Russian Balalaika band. It was pretty funny. At Christmas time we were all practicing for our respective gigs. She's in one part of the house bellowing out soprano operatic arias, I'm next to her wailing along with Jamie Aebersold and the Balalaika cats are downstairs having a go at it also. What cacophony LOL!!

[slur]

While visiting a nursing home I noticed some musicians with electric guitars entertaining the patients. This might be a good place to practice. This would also brighten the lives of some lonely people.

Brian

[max_berge]

Well I'm not sure they'd like to hear scales for hours! :)

I think I might build a box made of noise resistant materials. That way, it wouldn't cost a bundle and I could find a long term solution.

[MB-913]

I also have this problem. A freind told me thick carpet can reduce some noise if the influence neighborhood is living at one floor low than us. What do you think?

[Seraphina]

While visiting a nursing home I noticed some musicians with electric guitars entertaining the patients. This might be a good place to practice. This would also brighten the lives of some lonely people.

Brian

Can't beat entertaining the old folks,as most of them will be deaf anyway you can wail as much and as loud as you want,sometimes it would be nice to get a little recognition from your audience instead of all those blank faces drooling back at you..... :?

[blueboy]

Its quite easy to make one of those Teal sax mutes, from a few pipe cleaners tied into a ring and a piece of ribbon. It reduces the volume reasonably well but I find it makes the low notes more difficult to play.

A few years back a neighbour started banging on the wall during a practice session, so I stopped, and then a few seconds later a voice shouted "Its ok, carry on!" :?

[Wailin']

My landlord told me today that its ok to play even if the folks say its too loud. The best thing to do is find out if there are any regulations where you live concerning when you can play...it seems neighbors like to make up non exsistent rules for when to play and times to play. From what I understand they can't even call the cops on you or evict you. It would only be out of respect that a loud sax player tones it down. Where I live the rules are no loud music after 10pm...yet my neighbors tried to get the landlords to stop me from playing after dark or just to play for 2 hours a day!!! The last time they made complaints about me...the landlord told them they cannot tell me stop playing...Let's face it...the tennant pays just as much money as they do...why should anyone be stolen of their rights to live and be free in their own dwelling. They either deal with it or move.