Re: any photo of Yamaha Tuba Silent brass ?


[ Follow Ups ] [ Post Followup ] [ TubeNet BBS ] [ FAQ ]

Posted by GP on May 30, 1999 at 11:31:17:

In Reply to: any photo of Yamaha Tuba Silent brass ? posted by Donald on May 30, 1999 at 08:45:40:

Donald:

I purchased the Silent Brass a few weeks ago. Now, I realize that some folks have really trashed it, calling it worthless. I will admit that it is not something that I would want to play on ALL the time. It is a bit awkward and it does have a bit of stuffiness to it. But I think it is remarkable for my particular situation. Imagine living in a big city in a small studio...you work days to pay the bills...you leave too early in the morning to get in a warmup...when you get home you have 3 hours to get all your practicing in. Not ideal.

What the Silent Brass does for me is several things:

1) I can get in a good slow 45 minute warmup every morning.

2) When 9pm comes around, I don't have to stop practicing just to keep the peace with my neighbors.

3)If I have a rehearsal in the morning, I CAN warmup beforehand. This is huge!

4)No longer do I have to choose between having a social life and getting my practicing in. I can go to hear a major orchestra without feeling guilty that I should be practicing.

As I mentioned before, obviously I want to make every effort to get my practicing in without the Silent Brass. But it does give me MUCH more flexibility in my practicing and my life. For anyone living in a big city where practice space and time is a major issue, I highly recommend Silent Brass. For those who have other options, I think is always best to play an "unencumbered horn".

As far as appearance, it is butt-ugly. It looks like a big bucket placed on your bell with straps that hook on the rim to secure the sealbetween mute and tuba. Then there is a phallic looking telescoping cone that lowers down inside the bell. It's like something out of "Alien". A cord is then attached connecting the mute to an electronic converter which processes the sound and sends it throuigh headphones. The heasphones included suck, so I recommend using phones a few steps up.

It leaves the tuba rather top-heavy, but for me it does the job remarkably well. I have not seen any photos of it on the web as of yet.

I look forward to hearing all the replies to will undoubtedly follow. Should be a lively debate!


Follow Ups: