Posted by Sean Chisham on June 17, 1999 at 08:27:35:
In Reply to: Silent Brass!? posted by Todd on June 16, 1999 at 18:49:10:
Yamaha is usually very good at listening to customer feedback when it comes to designing their products. For instance, when I was in Midwestern Music Camp in a galaxy far far away, Yamaha included the University of Kansas in their tour of several colleges to get feedback on a new convertable tuba they were designing. Everytime anyone had a comment to make, the Japanese engineers would write it down. They were very focussed on producing the best product they could.
I have commented in the past on how disappointed I was with the Silent Brass for tuba. The main reason I was disappointed was because I had heard their Silent Brass for trombone and horn and had been extremely impressed. My wife had demonstrated the horn one for me and I tried out the trombone one. When I tried the tuba one it was aweful.
Since that time I have heard comments from 1 or 2 people who enjoy their Silent Brass for tuba. Now that I think back, when I tried it I was using the cheapo ear plug type headphones which come with the device. Perhaps a better set of headphones would have helped. I am not sure. Anyway, if you do try one out, bring your own headphones to see if that helps.
I still have, perhaps unjustified, reservations about the potential for instrument bell damage when using the device over the course of several months.
sean