where do you practice?

[Seanmulcahy617]

hey folks,

I am living in a new apartment and I really can't practice here. I can practice at my work but it's a little over 25min away which stings on my days off.

For you folks in a similar situation, where do you practice?

Thanks!
Sean

[MStarke]

Not the answer you are looking for, but have you tried a practice mute?

Maybe there is some location in your apartment building where nobody cares about noise?

Depending on the available space, you could also consider a practice cabin. Obviously that's a bit of an invest and takes away some room that you may not have available.

I am personally relatively lucky. During the day I can practice in my relatively spacious homeoffice. During the evening however, when my kids are sleeping and when the majority of my practice takes place, I am "banned" to the basement and to using a practice mute. I also invested a bit in making the washroom not soundproof, but less acoustically annoying/reducing reverbs and noise.

[BGuttman]

One of the big problems with using a practice mute is that they kill the sound and you tend to play TOO LOUD to hear yourself. The Yamaha Silent Brass can be set up so the sound through the mute and amplifier is the same as playing open; so you don't tend to overblow. Before I had the Yamaha I had something called a Peacemaker. It was a practice mute with a stethoscope attached. The stethoscope had a valve to adjust volume, so it worked like the Yamaha but a lot less expensive. I believe my Peacemaker was intended for French Horn, but I used it with my bass trombone.

Apartment (or even townhouse) living can be challenging. When we lived in a townhouse the neighbor on one side HATED when we played classical music on the Stereo. She took to facing the speakers of her stereo toward our wall and blasting her Rock music at us at maximum volume. Thankfully she moved away and the new neighbors didn't mind our choice of music.

[AtomicClock]

One of the big problems with using a practice mute is that they kill the sound and you tend to play TOO LOUD to hear yourself.

I find the opposite to be true. My practice with a mute tends to all be mezzo-blah. Changing dynamics just doesn't seem important.

The Yamaha Silent Brass can be set up so the sound through the mute and amplifier is the same as playing open; so you don't tend to overblow.

I don't find this true, either. But the Yamaha is so cumbersome (and SO HEAVY) that I don't use it any more.

Especially in the spring and fall, I will sometimes to go a local park to play, if it's not too crowded. I've never gotten dirty looks, but have gotten several smiles & compliments. So I don't feel too self conscious.

There are some things you can do at home without the horn: mouthpiece buzzing; breathing exercises; singing the music; left arm bicep curls; speaking the multiple-tonguing syllables

Sometimes I wonder if the ill-affects from the over-resistance of a practice mute is balanced and neutralized by the under-resistance of mouthpiece buzzing.

[robcat2075]

I am living in a new apartment and I really can't practice here. I can practice at my work but it's a little over 25min away which stings on my days off.

Your problem is 5/7 solved with being able to practice at work.

Practice mutes are bad because they totally change the tuning and response of the horn. They are really more of a "warm-up" mute as you can't get much real practicing done with one.

But for those two days when you can't practice at work... put in the warm-up mute and do your basic minimum to remind your lips they have a horn.

Have you actually read your lease? What is the noise policy? It might be entirely do-able to practice in your apartment during some daytime hour, even if the neighbors prefer you not to.

Other people have TVs and guitars and children that are not silent.

[Kdanielsen]

Right here

[MStarke]

I am living in a new apartment and I really can't practice here. I can practice at my work but it's a little over 25min away which stings on my days off.

Your problem is 5/7 solved with being able to practice at work.

Practice mutes are bad because they totally change the tuning and response of the horn. They are really more of a "warm-up" mute as you can't get much real practicing done with one.

But for those two days when you can't practice at work... put in the warm-up mute and do your basic minimum to remind your lips they have a horn.

Have you actually read your lease? What is the noise policy? It might be entirely do-able to practice in your apartment during some daytime hour, even if the neighbors prefer you not to.

Other people have TVs and guitars and children that are not silent.

This is coming up all the time that practice with a mute is so so bad.
1) Yes, sure it's better and nicer if you can practice without a mute all the time
2) Practice with a mute can be far better than no practice if you a) do it right and b) get at least some time without mute on a regular basis
3) I practice with a mute >50% of the time for the last almost 10 years. In that time I have added small tenor, alto and contra to my repertoire on almost professional level and have overcome substantial embouchure and range issues. I do NOT have general and substantial issues with my response, sound or intonation - that would not allow me to do the playing that I do

And some fun fact:
Children's noise is from a legal perspective "not disturbing" in Germany. At least that's my understanding. Basically you do not have much chance to complain about kids noise.

[Lhbone]

hey folks,

I am living in a new apartment and I really can't practice here. I can practice at my work but it's a little over 25min away which stings on my days off.

For you folks in a similar situation, where do you practice?

Thanks!
Sean

Check with your local churches and public schools. Our school system rents classrooms for $7.50/hour. Sometimes churches will let you use the facility for free or in exchange for occasional playing or a pay as you can donation.

[AtomicClock]

Have you actually read your lease? What is the noise policy? It might be entirely do-able to practice in your apartment during some daytime hour, even if the neighbors prefer you not to.

Other people have TVs and guitars and children that are not silent.

I can't speak for OP. But where I live, I can't hear my neighbors, and they can't hear me. I like it that way. I don't want to start an arms race, no matter what the lease allows.

[Burgerbob]

When I lived in an apartment, I made it clear to my neighbors that I would practice inside during normal hours- like 10am to 7pm. I never had any problems. Make it obvious that they can contact you if they have a problem.

[VJOFan]

A silent brass system is a step up from a practice mute. For two days a week it would do the trick. With some creative cable patching, you can also feed in backing tracks and such to make it like a little recording studio in your head.

[Enelson]

One year ago, I moved from a house with a dedicated practice room in my garage to an apartment in a city. With a little luck I found a rehearsal room that I rent with two other musicians. The rehearsal space is a 10 minute car or bike ride or 30 minute walk from my apartment.

The distance from home and planning around the others’ practicing means that I use a Rejano practice mute more than I initially thought I would. Most of the time I find it better to practice at home within the time I have available despite the trade-off in sound. I tested the intonation of 2 Rejano mutes at the store and found a slight difference, so I took the one I felt most comfortable with.

After a year, I can say that access to a practice room is a big help and very satisfying, but that practicing with a great mute has not been detrimental. Mute or no mute, I can tell when my playing is centered and I have control.

After great apprehension about losing the luxury of my beautiful room in the garage, I have no regrets about the move musically or otherwise.

[marccromme]

I and my friends have onver the years found practice room in
- local church, free of charge against playing in some Christmas and Easter church services
- basement of rental house
- 2. World war defense bunker under the city, rented out by the city of Copenhagen
- rented practice room in local culture house
- if you create a 'forening' that is a non profit organisation for whatever social purpose, for example the benefit of classical music performances, here in DK the city has to give space and rooms on a weekly schedule free of charge. So, multiple musicians can share the free practice room. Things might be very different in your country, but here it works.
- you can rent a practice room together with some friends and share the time and cost
- agreement with local school

All above are best if the room is very near your work or living quarters, of course. ...

[baBposaune]

I have a good space to practice that doesn't annoy any neighbors, but if I were still in your situation (as I was years ago,) I would try a parking structure that is mostly empty on weekends or a community college that has the doors to the fine arts building unlocked on weekends. Some of my most satisfying practice happened on the third floor of a community college with wide open areas which were 99% student free on weekends.

Parking structures can be fun because of the reverb. If you play arpeggios at a good speed you can hear a chord.

Silent Brass has been mentioned and I used one for a long time. My teacher, Jeff Reynolds, LA Phil retired, called it "Midnight Basketball for trombone players." I think of it as a last resort for when there is not a better option.

A trumpet player friend of mine set up a sound isolation booth in his home, a DIY thing that is not permanent and nowhere near the cost of a ready made unit costing around or over $10K. His wife is much happier as a result. It's basically a thick plywood box with sound absorbing egg crate foam.

[tbdana]

I live in a house, on acreage, in the country, so I don't have that problem. But being in the country I confess to going to a local ranch and practicing for the cows, now and then. They seem to like it, though I try not to hear the moos as boos.

[BGuttman]

I never needed them, but two music stores near me had lesson rooms that they used to rent out for a very low hourly rate -- mostly to teachers for private lessons but if you wanted to rent the space for practicing you could.

[TomWest]

When I was just starting out on trombone I was afraid of disturbing the next door neighbor, so I started using a practice mute. I am a retired adult learner and, as you can imagine, I sounded horrible. The dying moose was my sound, when I made any sound. The English language does not have a word to describe how awful I sounded. Slowly I improved, enough so that the folks in the trombone section of the community band that I played first alto sax with welcomed me. When I told the section leader I was a little worried about disturbing the neighbors he told me that you can’t think like that, you have to play the horn. I practice during the day, generally 2:00 to 5:00 pm and haven’t had complaints.
I try to play a little softer than I might normally at rehearsal, and that has helped me with dynamic control.
Tom