 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: Ashley91489
Date: 2008-06-18 15:07
I saw these clarinet mutes and was wondering how well they actually worked. I'll be moving into an apartment for college (2nd floor) and really want to be able to practice my clarinet. I'm just afraid I won't be able to practice at home b/c it will be heard and disturbing to those in other apartments. I'll be a music major and of course, will be using the practice rooms but it would be so great to be able to practice at home as well.
Has anyone tried these? I'm wondering how effective they really are??
There are two different kinds that I've seen...
http://1stopclarinet.stores.yahoo.net/bbclmubysa.html
http://www.daveballard.co.uk/instrumentaccessoriessaxophonemute.html
http://www.playrecord.net/music-accessories/instrument-cases--bags/silent-sax-bag--sopranoclarinet-mutegig-bag.p29168.html
Any other advice would be appreciated as well as to what to do in this situation.
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Author: William
Date: 2008-06-18 22:05
Or--like I used to do in my college dorm--you can practice with your clarinet positioned just inside your cloths closet. Separate your garbs, set your music stand against the back wall, sit as close as possible and wail away. The more cloths hanging around your room, the better and as long as you don't practice during quiet hours, there should be no problem. Worked for me when the weather was too nasty to make the 15 minute trek over Bascom Hill to the Music Hall PRs.
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Author: Bart
Date: 2008-06-19 12:16
I've got one of the sax mutes (the 3-piece sponge-looking ones that you put into the bell, and on either side of the crook), used it for a few months, and then decided to stop practising with it. My experience is that it does a reasonable job at muffling the sound, but it does add a lot of resistance to your horn. And I don't want to get used to a very resistant horn when that's not what I'll be playing during orchestra rehearsals and gigs. After that experience, I haven't bothered with the clarinet equivalent.
I now just practice in different rooms of my flat depending on the time of day. My flat borders three others, one above, one below and one next door. In the early evening, I practice in my bedroom, because that borders my neighbours' bedrooms and they're elsewhere in their flats that time of day. If I practice early in the morning (7.30 - 8am), I wouldn't dream of doing that - the neighbours deserve their sleep - and I play in my sitting room, which borders their sitting rooms. This approach keeps the neighbours happy, but still means I play only during 'reasonable' hours (after 7.30am during weekdays, not after 9pm).
Chris P - do you need to adjust anything in your playing compared to playing the horn 'au naturel' when you use the e-Sax?
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Author: Chris P
Date: 2008-06-19 12:46
I do have to use a slightly harder reed (around a 1/4 strength harder) with the sax mutes - probably something to do with the higher air pressure within the mute during playing, though the amount of extra resistance felt while playing in these mutes isn't all that much compared to normal playing.
I didn't think the foam mutes you shove inside the instrument would be that great on account of the extra (and unnatural) resistance they will cause. Though it will make you use as much air as you would do in a concert hall, but cutting down the overall volume.
Former oboe finisher
Howarth of London
1998 - 2010
The opinions I express are my own.
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Author: Bart
Date: 2008-06-19 15:36
Chris - you wrote:
> I didn't think the foam mutes you shove inside the instrument
> would be that great on account of the extra (and unnatural)
> resistance they will cause. Though it will make you use as much
> air as you would do in a concert hall, but cutting down the
> overall volume.
>
You're right that the resistance from the foam inserts is "unnatural". I recall that playing with them felt not unlike an abdominal workout when I first used them.
I needed to "push" too much. Once I got used to playing with the inserts, it felt as if I had lost some control over the sound when switching back to the horn *without* the mute. Seems logical: against the resistance of the mute, I needed to change my air pressure much more to achieve a given difference in sound. When applying the same difference in air pressure on the horn *without* the mute, the results were bad and I needed to readjust to the different resistance.
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Author: Old Geezer
Date: 2008-06-22 03:11
I've just got a clarinet mute and it works OK. For the same amount of air stream the volume is clearly reduced. I don't think it's dowm 50%, more like 35 to 40%. I'm going to use it for early morning scales etc.
It's comfortable to use and can be handy at times.
Clarinet Redux
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Author: Ronish
Date: 2008-06-22 06:14
Well I use my simple home made mute all the time in my 3 instrument sax playing because I much prefer the softer more mellow sound. I have never seen a clarinet mute. What does it look like "Old Geezer", same principal as for the sax ones as seen in the photos Chris P put in? Russ
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Author: Lelia Loban ★2017
Date: 2008-06-22 12:08
I'm making my stupid pet human type this. Lelia thinks she fell asleep at the keyboard while I secretly control her inefficiently-evolved primate brain. The best way to mute your screech-stick, the evil larva of the v*c**m cl**n*r devil, is to take it outside, lay it down in the driveway and run the car over it. Run over it four or five times, just to make sure it's dead. For most efficiently muting a screech-stick, I recommend a Hummer, or at least the largest SUV possible. Don't worry, running over a cl*r*n*t won't guzzle much gas. The screecher will be extremely quiet after this treatment and your long-suffering cat will thank you.
Sssssssssssst!
Shadow Cat
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Author: skygardener
Date: 2008-06-22 14:41
If you use this mute what does it do in terms of pitch?
Post Edited (2008-06-22 15:13)
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Author: Old Geezer
Date: 2008-06-22 14:53
I got it from 1ststopclarinet.com, check it out on their website. All questions are answered with a purchase and trial...a little pricey but if you got to have it....
Lelia and skygardener posts on this thread do not amuse!
Clarinet Redux
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Author: Tony Pay ★2017
Date: 2008-06-22 15:07
Old Geezer wrote:
>> Lelia and skygardener posts on this thread do not amuse!>>
Oh yes they do. They may not amuse YOU, but that's another thing.
Tony
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Author: Mark Charette
Date: 2008-06-22 15:08
Old Geezer wrote:
> Lelia and skygardener posts on this thread do not amuse!
I guess now we'll need a "not for the humor-impaired" disclaimer.
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Author: skygardener
Date: 2008-06-22 15:17
I have edited my post for any Amish that may be reading.
Again I ask... Pitch???
"Buy it and find out", is not the kind of answer I am longing for.
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Author: Mark Charette
Date: 2008-06-22 15:24
skygardener wrote:
> I have edited my post for any Amish that may be reading.
Every time I go down to Ohio I've found the Amish to have a wonderful sense of humor; just as fine as the Mennonites, in fact.
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Author: Old Geezer
Date: 2008-06-22 15:27
It's clear that irony is lost on some people. Actually I was amused...a bit.
Clarinet Redux
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Author: TCrane
Date: 2008-06-22 16:04
So do these mutes change the pitch much? I'm intrigued by the idea of the mute. I often have only very early or late times to practice- don't want to wake the kids.
Regarding irony, have you noticed that humor in general and irony in particular rarely comes across in email form. Hence the rise of the emoticon. Is it the brevity of email or something about the nature of the medium itself? Or have we passed into a post literate age - we'll end up illustrating everything with a little graphic of some sort- or face the flame wars to come!
tc
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Author: Old Geezer
Date: 2008-06-22 16:49
To my ear (tin?) the mute doesn't effect the pitch much...to an electronic tuner low E is worried flat, it's harmonic B not so much.
Keep in mind this thing is not a miracle worker, it merely reduces the volume of sound maybe 35-40 %
Clarinet Redux
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Author: skygardener
Date: 2008-06-23 00:23
Mark C- "Every time I go down to Ohio I've found the Amish to have a wonderful sense of humor; just as fine as the Mennonites, in fact."
Perhaps I really should not have said that about the Amish. It really is not nice. I hope that the Amish on the BBoard are not offended.
Post Edited (2008-06-23 00:24)
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