Practice quietly????

[Karla]

I have a practice dilema. I practice my violin at 1-3 in the morning oftentimes. This isn't a problem as I live alone and on a 40 acre farm in the middle of nowhere. I am getting a room mate for awhile though and want to continue my bad practice habits without destroying my mate's schedule.

I found a device that quiets the violin down and went to try it. It sure didn't do a great job of making it quiet. It simply cut out some of the vibration. Outside of buying a Yamaha electric is there some way to make my violin more quiet? I believe the secret is in stilling the bridge. Is there a recommended silencer. Thanks in advance.

[thom]

A mute will help some.

[AJ]

I live in an apartment building so I don't want to disturb the neighbours either so I found a practise mute, also, but one of the heavy, metal ones, not the smaller rubber or plastic ones. I'd say it cuts the volume by at least half. I suppose if you really want to cut the volume you could stuff kleenex in the F holes

[rufviol]

Use a heavy metal mute for practice such as :

http://www.violinsetc.com/violinsetc/produ...p;pf_id=Mutes03

In spite of the mute the violin is still loud enough be heard around the house.

I use a Yamaha electric for even quieter practice. It is as quiet as the acoustic with the mute on. I sometimes put the metal mute on the silent too! - makes it even quieter. Not good obviously for tone development but at least you can learn the songs, some bowing/fingering etc without really annoying others, especially as a beginner.

[Link]

For quiet practice I use a Yamaha (I use it for everything, really) and it seems to be quiet enough to not disturb the people in my house...(although with my experience playing, I hope people would want to hear me play) other than that..........you can practice outside in your 40 acre farm in the middle of nowhere.....it can be quite peaceful actually..........

[saggio3of4]

Though I've never tried one I hear that the metal practice mutes are quite effective. I'm too cheap to go and buy one. My somewhat goofy solution is to use spring clothespins to gently clip a penny or two on each side of the bridge. IMO it's effective, produces a fairly good tone, and cheap.

Just my solution

Saggio

[Karla]

Thanks for the link. I've one on order now. I'll let you know how it goes. I bought a cheapy electric violin and it is still too loud so I filled it with that expandable insulation stuff (I swear I did that) and it is STILL loud. In fact the stuff expanded and opened the body so that it was actually louder and with a nicer tone. (very funny actually) So if I put this mute on that one I bet it would make something pretty doable for my situation. And the weather is getting nicer so I can soon go outside on that 40 acres and just let the real one rip!!

[Kreutzer9]

I also use a metal mute. I don't like the sound of the violin with the mute though. Not only is the sound reduced, but also it sounds different. But my bogger problem with that mute is I can't bow at the right location since the mute is between my eyes and the part of the strings near the bridge.

So maybe it's becuase that prevents me from judging the correct position of the bow, but anyway, when I sound bad, I always first check to see if I have the mutes on the violin and I find I guessed right.

Do you have sunc problem?

[rufviol]

The heavy metal mute is a 'practice compromize' at best - a tool used to not inconvenience others at home or next door if living in an apartment or staying in a hotel. This way you can still continue to make some progress (do your homework) learn new songs, bowings/fingerings etc and not be a general nuissance especially as a beginner.

If you still have a major problem bowing straight(parallel bowing - it's a bit overrated anyway) then the mute is going to get a bit in the way, as you've described. At the 'Kreutzer' level though you should not be having this problem

Bottom line - the mute is a compromize tool, the violin is not meant to be learnt with a heavy metal mute. Someday maybe we will all live on 40 acres and can throw those things out!

P.S. Karla remember to put something soft like a bunch of rubberbands on that metal mute, if/whenever it slips off the bridge or from your fingers, it will nick the surface of your beautiful instrument.

[Karla]

Don't worry. I will mostly practice during the more normal hours and without the mute, but for those 2:00 AM ones, I think it only fair that I at least attempt to not outblast the coyote's song! My cheapy one (now filled with the foamy stuff) is at work and I mostly use it to do LH finger exercises in between tasks here. I need it to not be loud when I bow. I try to practice for 10-50 mintues in chuncks througout the day whenever I get those minutes and it seems to serve me pretty well in my busy lifestyle. I think I'll be able to bring up the violin and the guitar this way.

The tip on the rubber bands is STELLAR! Though my violin is hardly new or pristine (1981 and well played) I worried about it falling and adding to the existing "art" on the spruce top.