kodiakblair Posted September 13, 2016 Share Posted September 13, 2016 As some may know I'd never been closer to a DB than a shop window before Saturday morning. I'm no great shakes at fretless either so fully expected to sound rough. This is beyond rough ! Is there any way to practise quietly ? I've ordered a string mute but doubt even that will be enough to protect the neighbours. For years I've always played electric bass at home through headphones or unplugged and there's no TV so I suspect I've become accustomed to quiet. I've a huge amount of work to do before I even grasp the basics and this hang up about the noise needs to be overcome first. Any tips or pointers ? Cheers KB Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheRev Posted September 13, 2016 Share Posted September 13, 2016 The string mute will be enough I reckon. If your neighbours can hear pizz playing on muted double bass then your walls must be made of paper.... Arco is a different matter - you could try taping up the f holes and stuffing a cushion between the tailpiece and soundboard, but then you won't be able to hear the note resonate properly, which is the whole point of arco. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beer of the Bass Posted September 13, 2016 Share Posted September 13, 2016 I've got fussy neighbours who never leave the flat, so I usually practice with a rubber mute on the bridge, soundholes covered and the spike resting on an old piece of flightcase foam with plywood on top (kind of like a makeshift Gramma pad). They can still hear it, but it's at least not loud enough to complain about. It does kind of take a lot of the pleasure out of practicing, when I so rarely hear the full acoustic tone of the bass. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alyctes Posted September 13, 2016 Share Posted September 13, 2016 If you can rig something up so that you can get contact on the mastoid (contact with the bone behind the ear, like an old-style hearing aid), that will go a long way towards hearing it enough to practice, even if it's muted. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kodiakblair Posted September 14, 2016 Author Share Posted September 14, 2016 Thanks folks. Appreciate the advice. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SubsonicSimpleton Posted September 15, 2016 Share Posted September 15, 2016 If you want to learn to get a good sound out of the instrument, you need to embrace the need to make some noise - the sooner you get on with playing your DB and stop worrying about what anyone else thinks the better. If you want to work on something this would be a good place to start. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ADKMPguLfoc Focus one thing and you'll make good progress, don't be tempted to spread your effort and attention too thin. As well as playing the scale up and down, use the same scale fingering to play melodies, simple basslines and you'll soon start to get comfortable with making music on that big empty fingerboard. Everyone starts at level zero and has to work their way up, don't give yourself a hard time about it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Burns-bass Posted September 26, 2016 Share Posted September 26, 2016 I have a music room at home which is great, but if I compre upright to electric the electric playing is almost always louder. When I first started playing my mum spoke with our neighbours and we agreed a practice schedule and a curfew (9pm week nights, and 8pm weekends). And I used to play LOUD too! Why not knock on their door with a bottle of wine and ask the question? It's what I did when I moved into our house here and was appreciated. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kodiakblair Posted September 26, 2016 Author Share Posted September 26, 2016 Cheers Burns-bass. The one set of neighbours have crazed dogs that bark if they hear a fag paper rustle and the other two have young kids,plus they're Muslim so I doubt wine will help there The bass mute turned out to be a 2 inch plastic disc and I've no idea how it works. Next move will be a practise mute from Thomann. No free time from work until December so no rush. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Burns-bass Posted September 28, 2016 Share Posted September 28, 2016 Sorry, my advice was pretty much common sense wasn't it? I do have a plastics end pin ball thing that I used to use when practising in a flat. It helped and I'l happy to send it to you if I can find it... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kodiakblair Posted September 28, 2016 Author Share Posted September 28, 2016 Burns-bass Your advice made perfect sense to me and I'll be keeping it in mind A Google search turned up a video on how to use the Tourte style mute similar to my £3 one but they were only muting 2 strings, A + D. Is this normal or do I need 2 of them ? Really appreciate your kind offer on the mute. Thanks !! You're a true Gent Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Burns-bass Posted October 1, 2016 Share Posted October 1, 2016 It was given to me for free by a kind soul, so I'm just passing it on! DM your address and when I can dig it out I'll pop it in he post :-) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr Bassman Posted October 1, 2016 Share Posted October 1, 2016 The Yamaha SLB 100 Silent Bass was designed for this purpose http://uk.yamaha.com/en/products/musical-instruments/strings/silentbasses/slb-100/?mode=model Or any EUB into an amp with headphone out. The Yamaha is prob the closest in feel to a real bass and has headphone out. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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