9 Tips for Practicing Saxophone Without Getting Shot by Your Neighbors
This article is based on a question sent in by Best. Saxophone. Website. Ever. guest writer and reader Charles “Chazz” Pratt in Phoenix, Arizona (question has been slightly abbreviated):
Here’s a question that’s been on my mind for quite some time.
Here's a new alternative to the uninspiring tunes often found in the average beginning sax book. This collection of 25 tunes, each with backing and demonstration tracks plus a video tutorial, is the product one of my most significant discoveries in over two decades of working with beginning saxophonists. That is, beginners learn fundamentals much faster by playing the kind of music that attracted them to the horn in the first place.
INFINITEMUSICAN.COM
🎷 Sax Fundamentals Faster
Where do people practice?
If you’re traveling (not as a gigging musician, but mainly in your work life) where can you practice without making so much noise you get in trouble at the hotel?
Just looking for some creative ideas!
Take care,
Chazz
Let’s face it. The saxophone is freakin’ LOUD.
No matter how you slice it, there is very little that can be done in the way of insulating those who share walls with us from the relentlessly penetrating acoustics of the saxophone. A sound engineer could probably give you a full explanation of why that is, but regardless, there’s something about the saxophone, and really, just about any wind instrument that makes the sound extremely difficult to contain.
A few months ago, NYC sax heavy and Best. Saxophone. Website. Ever. contributor Sam Sadigursky wrote an article chronicling his adventures trying to practice saxophone in various NYC apartments without having his limbs broken by his neighbors. This week, I’d like like to expand on that theme a bit by breaking down into list form some of the tips I’ve gleaned from Sam’s article, my own personal experiences, and feedback from some of my sax-tastic Facebook and Twitter buddies. I’ve also included tips that pertain to practicing while travelling and living out of a suitcase.
1. Ask Permission
Some say that it’s better to ask for forgiveness than to ask for permission. But for many of us it is hard to fully concentrate on our practicing while there’s even an once of self-consciousness that there may be someone else absolutely stewing in their apartment wishing that we and our God forsaken saxophone would be abducted by aliens.
One approach is to “beat your neighbors to the punch” by introducing yourself – ideally in person. Explain that playing sax is what you do for a living, or that it’s a great passion of yours, and that you’d love to be able to practice without disturbing them. I would suggest asking them what time they are normally out of the house, and most importantly, that they call you for an immediate ceasing of the sound instead of trying to track down the landlord – or worse yet – the cops.
Los Angeles session woodwind player and BSWE podcast interviewee Jeff Driskill took the following wise course of action:
A long time ago I took my horn into an apartment that I was planning on renting, made sure that all of the neighbors were home and started playing. 15 minutes later I started knocking on doors and talking to my potential future neighbors and told them that playing the saxophone was how I was planning on paying the rent and that I would soundproof the room as best I could (which I did). It was very loud in that empty apartment, but I asked them if they could live with it. They were all cool with it and I rented the apartment. Not fool-proof by any means but a pretty good way to weed out neighbors that just aren’t going to be able to put up with it at all.
Website contributor Brad Carman jokingly suggested on Facebook that you buy them some beer, but in all seriousness, for neighbors who are especially cool about the practicing, a nice thank you card or plate of freshly baked cookies could go a long way in keeping the good vibes going.
2. Serenade Your Clothes
If you don’t have a soundproof room of some sort, then you’ll find that a walk-in closet can be the next best thing. The clothes in the closet will go a long way towards cutting your sound way down, so the more clothes you’ve got packed in there the better (another excuse to go shopping ladies and gents!).
As I mentioned in a recent article, my wife and I just moved to a condo with no walk-in closet, so I’ve been forced to play with the bell of my horn stuck in between a sound-deadening mass of groovy garments. Although it doesn’t kill the sound as much as its walk-in counterpart, it still makes a dramatic difference.
If you do have a walk-in closet, burying your horn in the clothes while in that closet will make a truly noticeable difference.
3. Shove It!
One of the best-known remedies for the neighbor-maddening sound of an unwanted saxophone is to shove a sock, or t-shirt, or really any decent-sized piece of cloth into the bell of the horn. Of course, you can say buh bye to your low Bb and probably a few of the notes above it, but this really does help.
4. Turn your Car into a Practice Room
Of course, this only applies to those who own a van, truck with a camper shell, or an RV. I suppose you could try in a regular sized car, but unless your car was very large and had a ton of leg room, it would almost certainly force you into a very awkward and unhealthy position.
On the other hand, if you’re vehicle allows you to sit on a chair with your back straight or even stand, then you can always park the car somewhere away from the hustle and bustle and start sheddin’ away. You could even blast some play-along recordings from your stereo system and make your way around town as a mobile one-man show playing with the windows rolled down!
When I was touring with the Tommy Dorsey Orchestra (during the golden era of swing – you know, 1995), you could often find me horn-in-hand in our second-rate tour bus. What a killer hookup that was!
5. Take Your Business Elsewhere
One of the best solutions to this eternal dilemma is to find another place away from your home where you can practice at least some of the time, if not all of the time. Some ideas for places to practice away from home and the neighbors:
- Both Sam and Best. Saxophone. Website. Ever. featured artist Rob Wilkerson recommend finding your way to a local college’s music building and nabbing a practice room there. Perhaps you can work out some sort of deal where they let you practice in one of the rooms for free or for a small price. Or you can do as Sam did and teach a class at the school to get an student ID. If you’re travelling and don’t plan on being in town for more than a day or two, Rob recommends sneaking your way into the music building under the radar (but I didn’t tell you that).
- Many apartment and condominium complexes have a community room which is normally reserved for parties and miscellaneous gatherings organized by the tenants. See if you could score some time each week in one of those rooms.
- A small room in a professional rehearsal studio can often cost less than you think – especially if you have a flexible schedule that allows you to practice during business hours on the weekdays when those rooms are all but deserted. I’ve seen them for as low as $10 for almost the entire day. Many of them come with audio equipment which enables you to play along with recordings, or make digital recordings of yourself. Even if you have to restrict yourself to playing at home most of the time, making a trip to one of these rehearsal spaces a couple times a week can be a nice treat.
- If you’re staying in a hotel, Rob recommends that you be upfront about your plans for noisemaking and see if they’ll let you grab an empty conference room.
- You could practice outdoors. I personally don’t like this as option for a variety of reasons, but one thing you will get out of playing to the birds and the bees is that you’ll have a prime opportunity enlarge your tone. There’s nothing like the great outdoors to make us sound teeny-tiny and compensating for that teeny-tininess can be a great thing.
6. Get a Room
One sure-fire way to be able to blow your brains out (musically speaking, of course) from the comfort of your own home is to spring for a small sound isolation booth such as the ever-popular WhisperRoom (among other brands). This is one of the most expensive options and will run you anywhere from the high hundreds to the low thousands (in US dollars, that is). You won’t have too much room to move around in one of these, but many of these rooms include a ventilation system so that you can make yourself pretty comfortable. Of course, if you’re claustrophobic, you may find this option to be a bit of a challenge.
7. Yes, There is Such a Thing as a Saxophone Mute
All these years playing the saxophone, and it wasn’t until relatively recently that I learned that these things existed. Apparently the company E-Sax makes mute which is basically an encasing that you put your horn into an object much resembling a saxophone case. You simply put your hands in the holes and start playing to your heart’s content. It comes with a headphone jack so that you can hear the sound that’s actually coming out of the instrument as well as audio-in jacks for playing along with recording as well as audio-out jacks for recording. I’ve been meaning to pick one of these up myself since the whisper room is not an option for me at the moment. Of course, you have to consider that these will make your horn a lot heavier – especially if you’re a tenor player. Baritone and soprano players are out of luck on this one since it’s only manufactured for alto and tenor at this time. At $579 for the alto model and $619 for the tenor, it’s not cheap, but it’s definitely an option worth considering.
You can learn more about the E Sax practice mute for alto over here and for tenor over here.
A cheaper, less awkward, but far less sound-deadening option is the Saxgourmet Saxophone Mute which looks much like a trumpet mute and will run you only $45.
Finally, esteemed sax repairman and my former Tommy Dorsey Band bandmate, Tony Bigham shared with me that one of his customers would practice playing into a soft-gig-bag-slash-saxophone-mute made by the company El Saxco. I’ve seen some less-than-stellar reviews for this product plus it seems to be out of production and difficult to find used. However, Tony’s friend reported it to be quite effective, so that’s another cheaper option (shouldn’t cost you more than $80 to find a used one, possibly much less).
Demo of E Sax practice mute
8. Clicking and Clacking Keys
For silently improving your technique and possibly even your reading, professional woodwind doubler and music educator Bret Pimental offers the simple solution of practicing without blowing into the horn. The clinking and clanking as well as the pitch of the keys coming down can prove a very effective guide as to the accuracy of your playing. Grab yourself a metronome and you can run through scales, arpeggios, even etudes and really anything else that can be at least somewhat beneficial without blowing through the horn.
9. The Space Age Approach
This option isn’t going to do you a lick of good if you’re looking to work on your saxophone tone production, but if you have an electronic saxophone-like instrument such as the Akai EWI or the Yamaha WX5, you can definitely practice things such as improvisation, etudes, sight reading, and anything else that’s not too saxophone-specific. Both of these instruments have a pretty formidable learning curve (especially the EWI) and will take a good deal of practicing just to get around these instruments. Additionally, since these are simply MIDI controllers, you’ll need to have some sort of sound source such a laptop computer with music software or a small synthesizer. But they’re a hell of a lot of fun to play, and thanks to the modern wonder of headphones, you can blast away.
Conclusion
At the end of the day, we all need to be able to play loud at some point. As Bret says, “To practice right, you really have to be able to play as if nobody’s listening.”
Obviously the best case scenario is to have a room in your home where noise making is not an issue. But on the other hand, if we find ourselves employing a few of the aforementioned methods of noise reduction, we can be forced out of our musical comfort zone, and there’s always something to learn when that happens.
So tell us, how do you practice without having someone take out a bounty on your head?
Image by vectorportal
September 23, 2011 @ 11:21 am
Since my father works from home, and is always on conference calls, I can pretty much only practice when he logs off (around 6pm). As for my neighbors, they’ve become pretty understanding that as a music student, I need to practice. It’s kind of hard to get mad at a kid, ya know?
September 23, 2011 @ 1:10 pm
Haha, very true! I mean, who wants to be the a-hole who stomps on the dreams of a youngster?
May 9, 2015 @ 8:04 am
Try an ‘old school’ DYI saxophone mute
After much experimenting with my 1920 Beuscher and some interesting artifacts that came with the old instrument, I found that a small carriage bolt tied to loop of picture hanging wire and slid down the neck (where the mouthpiece cork is) will mellow the tone and reduce the decibel level to up to 70-80%. You want the head to of the bolt to block most, but not all of the airflow. Attach the wire to the bolt tightly so you can use the bolts thread to adjust its distance into the neck and control exactly how much airflow is blocked. If you block too much you start going flat and losing high notes. Too little blockage has no effect. The bolt can rattle and buzz a bit, so I glued cork around the head of mine.
I accompany this with an Irish wool cap folded and shoved not far into bell and I can get a pure, mellow and dark sounding scale that is even quieter than my flute playing. My neighbors can no longer hear me on sax.
BTW – cultivating good intonation on whatever instrument you play can go along way towards reducing complaints from the neighbors…they may even like hearing you practice
January 25, 2016 @ 4:14 am
I want to do the same thing with a wine cork tied to a wire.is it possible it works?
September 23, 2011 @ 9:49 pm
Hey Doron! Great article! Now there’s no excuse! Appreciate your tips and all BSWE has to offer!
January 24, 2016 @ 12:27 pm
Throw out the saxophone it would make no difference if it was in the trash or not
January 22, 2019 @ 9:56 pm
love your answer
September 23, 2011 @ 10:33 pm
Love that Whisper Room. On my want list.
September 24, 2011 @ 10:34 am
@Chazz So glad you liked the article, thanks for inspiring it!
@Jason Yeah, if you have space in your home for it, the WhisperRoom is definitely one of the very best ways to go.
October 13, 2011 @ 7:45 pm
I’ve asked our neighbours, at social events, and they all say the same: the boys and I practicing is still way easier on the ears than lawn mowers, hedge trimmers, construction equipment and traffic noise, and ALL of those things are granted unfettered (sub)urban soundspace. I’m not so sure they include our upper overtone practice in that ;) but this is what they say, and they are somewhat proud to say there’s all these musicians living in their midst.
It is also true that we never begin our long tones or scales before 7am, and we never play beyond 11pm (well, almost never) we are, admittedly, living in a smaller city and out of the urban core where there is about 8 feet between buildings, so that helps too :)
But I think there is a point to be made for the chainsaws and lawn mowers, jackhammers and semis rolling down the main roads: if THOSE things are allowed by by-law, then really, where do they get off trying to bully a musician, budding or otherwise, provided you are within the noise-decibel limits of said jackhammer! Yes, you want to be a good neighbour, you don’t want enemies in your midst and you want people to be positive towards music, but like bicycles on the roadways, RIGHTFULLY we have no reason to be timid, we have every much right to that soundspace as everyone else, there’s no need to feel guilty, although we have every right as humans to be gracious about it :)
October 13, 2011 @ 9:19 pm
Hey Gary!
That’s a really good point you bring up, never thought of that. I mean, those leaf blowers can go on for what seems like hours on end. So as long as my playing is at least somewhat easier on the ears, then I should be within my limits to blast away!
Doron
May 26, 2013 @ 9:10 pm
I can see where several of you are trying to lean with this, however you’re forgetting the title of the article. It says that because unlike the few happy situations you describe where neighbors are “understanding”, you can really drive somebody crazy with playing the same notes and measures on a saxophone to “get it right”.
Now imagine my situation; a beginner playing loudly and badly right on the other side of a wall shared by condominiums. The family living there already has a problem understanding considerate noise levels, as they have played their stereo and let their dog bark long past neighbor’s patience. Then the saxophone started.
They practiced in a far room at first, slightly annoying but tolerable, even thought I’m the type that wants to be absorbed by my OWN movie, music, or whatever, and I’ve CHECKED with my neighbors to see if it bothered them.
That’s the difference. I care. I knew those neighbors at one time didn’t have my piano, TV or stereo disturbing them, so since I moved in after, I knew I was CHANGING their life if I started with new noise they weren’t used to when making such a large purchase, having some sort of silent rest time (some people work odd shifts, remember?) when moving in there home.
I bought earphones so I could still practice. It sucks, but I moved in where I knew it would be a problem if I blasted away. So I don’t assume it’s okay.
My idiot neighbors? Well the player moved to a closer room to mine, so the the saxophone is intolerable. So yes, I hate them. I shouldn’t have to even talk to them about it. Get real…. you know it’s going to bother someone in that situation, but these people continue to do what they want until a big fuss is made. It’s pretty much standard issue here in vegas though; people stare at you, drive into your lane, make noise, and keep going until you can’t stand it, and they think you’re weird if you complain. they’re absolutely numb when it comes to thinking if they might be bothering someone. The laziness involved to be that inconsiderate is staggering. Yes, buy a mute.
May 9, 2015 @ 8:03 am
Try an ‘old school’ DYI saxophone mute
After much experimenting with my 1920 Beuscher and some interesting artifacts that came with the old instrument, I found that a small carriage bolt tied to loop of picture hanging wire and slid down the neck (where the mouthpiece cork is) will mellow the tone and reduce the decibel level to up to 70-80%. You want the head to of the bolt to block most, but not all of the airflow. Attach the wire to the bolt tightly so you can use the bolts thread to adjust its distance into the neck and control exactly how much airflow is blocked. If you block too much you start going flat and losing high notes. Too little blockage has no effect. The bolt can rattle and buzz a bit, so I glued cork around the head of mine.
I accompany this with an Irish wool cap folded and shoved not far into bell and I can get a pure, mellow and dark sounding scale that is even quieter than my flute playing. My neighbors can no longer hear me on sax.
BTW – cultivating good intonation on whatever instrument you play can go along way towards reducing complaints from the neighbors…they may even like hearing you practice
May 4, 2012 @ 3:59 am
Some good tips, thanks! However, they don’t solve the problems of the international business traveler (e.g. me). It’s not practical to take your sax with me, maybe unless it’s a sopranino. Besides, hotel rooms are not the most suitable places to practice, given the thin walls. I more or less found a solution in traveling with my mouthpieces only, plus a silencer. But that only helps for maintaining your embouchure and breath support.
When this site came up in the Google search results, I had expected a solution for the business traveler, so maybe it’s an idea to include one? (which one? no idea, I haven’t solved it for myself yet).
May 4, 2012 @ 9:17 am
Hello Johan. You’re right, this article is geared more towards dealing with residential neighbors, although an article aimed at business travelers could be good as well. Practicing saxophone on a business trip is a pretty tricky feat, but I do think that two of the tips given here could work. Asking the hotel if they have an empty conference room for you to practice in is a tried and tested solution. It won’t work all the time, but it’s worth a try. Other than that, if you’re renting a car, I would recommend renting a minivan, or some sort of van where you could sit with your horn and play in the parking lot. Short of that, I don’t know what to tell you, since the fact that you are travelling and have very little control over the situation (as opposed to being in your own home) makes it a lot more difficult. I wish I could be of more help!
July 12, 2012 @ 10:21 am
I quit playing saxophone nearly 3 years ago because of our neighbours – I was only 17 at the time but I was too self conscious and aware that it was going to cause problems. Shame, I really miss it and, even after having played it for three years before hand, I’ve forgotten everything I’d learnt!
July 12, 2012 @ 9:24 pm
Oh man, that’s too bad! I bet if you picked it up again it would come back to you much faster than it took to get to where you were originally.
Thanks for chiming in!
July 12, 2012 @ 9:30 pm
I came here in search of ways to get round it because I miss playing so much and this has been really helpful so thanks! :)
July 13, 2012 @ 10:13 am
My pleasure!
July 14, 2012 @ 12:15 pm
Doron: I recently purchased this inexpensive yet very effective device called a Saxophone Mute!
It looks just like a Trumpet Mute, but fits in the bell of any Saxophone. The cool thing about this is that it fits tightly in the bell and remains flush. Small and easy to take with you anywhere (no extra storage required as it sits in the bell), and only costs around $40.
The only downside to is (as mentioned on the website) is that you can’t play low Bb – a small sacrifice considering you can play your horn without waking the neighbors!
It truly cuts the sound by about half and let’s you get some decent practice in when making too much noise is an issue.
Hope this helps!
Chazz Pratt
Check it out:
http://www.nationofmusic.com/?action=products&catId=75&parentId=8&sitecode=sgoods
July 14, 2012 @ 8:34 pm
Yeah, I’ve heard of it. Wow, so it really cuts the sound by half? That’s awesome! Would you feel comfortable blowing loud through this thing in an apartment after 10pm? I might just have to pick one of those up.
There’s also actually a mouthpiece mute so that you can practice on the mouthpiece alone without killing anyone. I’ll probably look into that as well.
Thanks Chazz!
October 4, 2012 @ 11:34 am
OK – so a note from the other side. Me and my best friend/neighbor are being tortured by scale after scale after scale in our NYC apts. I did confront Mr Sax last spring as both of us work nights – I get to bed by 3 so I am usually up by 10 but my neighbor doesn’t get to bed until 6am. I ask/begged him to just wait until noon which he did for awhile. Summer came so ACs drowned out the sax on his end and on ours too but now in Autumn he is back to 9:30am practice sessions windows open. I am above him, my friend below and we are ready to strangle the sax around his neck. Those never ending scales are a really rough alarm clock. My friend wants to blast his stereo when he gets home from work to help press the point that no one likes to get woken up like that but we don’t want to disturb others. It is just inconsiderate at this point. I am a huge supporter of the arts but this is affecting our health. I am printing out yours, and other articles to once again beg him to respect his neighbors and if he can’t I am going to be forced to contact our management company. The reason I am writing this is not in any way to condemn anyone here, in fact I am thanking you for being concerned enough to read and comment on the article but next time you get irritated at a complaining neighbor, please think how you would feel if I allowed my 3 dogs to bark nonstop for 4 hours straight while you were sleeping every day. It is so hard. I am glad there are things he can do and I hope he heeds your suggestions. Thank you again!
October 4, 2012 @ 5:22 pm
Hello Susan, great to hear from someone from “the other side.” It sounds to me like your sax-wielding neighbor is just plain inconsiderate. I would be mad if I had a neighbor who also played sax but did so at 9:30am. He’s lucky that you haven’t called the management company.
I would try and establish some sort of friendly and constructive dialogue with him, and try to formalize some sort of schedule so that you can get some rest while he doesn’t have to worry about bothering you. For the sake of good diplomacy, I’d emphasize the benefit to him more than your benefit, since he doesn’t seem to really care about your benefit.
If that doesn’t work, you can always print this article out and leave it in his mailbox with a Post It saying that next time he plays before 10am, you’re going to get management involved.
I hope that helps!
Doron
May 26, 2013 @ 9:26 pm
Doron,
Nobody wants to try to establish a constructive dialogue with someone who already doesn’t care or understand that simple, seemingly obvious conflict. If I have to ask someone, especially after already talking with them once, to tone it down again, then I don’t want to talk with them at all. They should know better… how can they be smart enough to feed themselves and maybe drive a car, yet not understand they’re bothering somebody with that volume? He’s assuming others want to hear something they didn’t plan on hearing, just because he wants to practice? Absolutely ridiculous. He needs to ask permission, and do everything he can to not disturb others. We don’t live in caves anymore (which were probably quieter than today’s living). There’s no need to struggle for a good life in this country. Anybody adding to someone’s discomfort without being provoked should be embarrassed.
November 3, 2012 @ 1:28 pm
I’m about to shoot the guy under me in our apartment building, always plays and sucks so bad at it. Perhaps I will opt to print this out and slip it under his door instead.
November 4, 2012 @ 1:15 pm
Could be a good idea. Ideally, you can open a dialogue with him and come up with a solution that works for both of you. Best of luck with that sticky situation!
May 26, 2013 @ 9:38 pm
Doron,
Last but not least, I should explain I am a huge fan of music, almost chose the saxophone as a 4th grader but chose the drums instead! Then the piano. In both situations I made sure the neighbors were okay with my practicing, but I was lucky back then to live where we had basements, and though the houses weren’t acres apart and expensively built or huge, they were at least nearly 25 feet apart.
Your first point, “Ask Permission” is hugely important, I’d say the most honest and responsible of all. The mutes and other stuff are great too, and I’m so bothered by the timing of my neighbors I may GIVE them a mute even though I don’t have much money. I just think they won’t buy one. It’ll suck if they don’t use it. Maybe suck for them too. I can still unplug my piano. Oh and, drag my real piano to the same room.
May 28, 2013 @ 12:59 pm
Sounds like you have soem very inconsiderate neighbors. I would tell your landlord if they don’t listen to you, or if it’s really bad and they’re outright defying you, I believe you’re within your rights to call the cops.
Although I have an allegiance to my fellow sax players, I have more of an allegiance to the basic tenant of treating others as you would like to be treated.
March 2, 2013 @ 11:56 am
hey doron, i’m a beginner and i love your site, very informative and inspiring! i wanted to ask if trying to play very softly, like in those exercise for long tones which starts in crescendo and ends with decrescendo, but only try to stay on the lowest volume possible which is still audible, can be a good way to practice in those small hours of the morning:)
thanks.
March 5, 2013 @ 2:23 pm
Hello Roy,
Being able to control your sound at low levels of volume can be a great thing to practice, but ultimately, I believe it’s important to be able to sound good at all levels of volume. So even though you may have to play softly in the evenings, if you could find some way to be able to practice at full volume on a regular basis as well, that would be ideal.
So glad to hear that you enjoy the site, I really appreciate the feedback!
Best,
Doron
March 29, 2013 @ 4:39 pm
Hi,
I try to practise at home when the neighbours are gone. Not always suitable though. Was thinking of the down stairs toilet with a heavy blanket draped around the walls. Not sure if it will work. Waht do you think?
March 30, 2013 @ 6:48 pm
Hmm, well the thing about bathrooms is that they have very little insulation as the floors and walls are very resonant, so you’d really have to get a good amount of blanket it there to keep it from resonating like crazy. That’s why I like to use carpeting rooms, or if possible, a walk-in closet.
But I think that the bathroom/blanked idea is definitely do-able, and probably wouldn’t take not too much time to set up, so I’d give it a shot!
April 6, 2013 @ 10:20 am
Hi,
Nice article. I´ve been practicing saxophone since I started to learn this wonderful instrument and also now as a professional I always practice at home in my apartment! Yes, you´ve read it right in my flat. In these more than 25 years of playing and practicing I have moved 3 times not because of angry neighbours but because of changing to bigger apartments. I´m very lucky to have neighbours thoes doesn´t complain but miss my practicing when I´m on tour or absent for a longer time. I love practicing at home because it is quality of life that is not reserved for guitar and Keyboard players only. My advise to all those who want to practice home and have good relationship to the neighbours the following rules and tips.
1. Do not start practicing before 10 am and after 9pm.. ( you have about 11 hours time between to blow your axe)
2. Don´t practice annoying but necessary workouts like overtone exercises more than 30 minutes during a practice session.
3. Don´t blow all the time loud without control like a rock saxman but also learn to blow soft like Ben Bebster :-) DYNAMICS
4. After practicing all those, runs, scales , chops and patterns. PLAY SOME OF THE BEAUTIFUL POP, JAZZ OR CLASSICAL BALLADS you know very well.. You´v got me now?? Soothing all ears you have caused strain to :-)
Your neighbours will understand why you have to practice and be proud having you near.
5.GET the low price but effective SAXMUTE by Magilanck http://www.saxmute.com with this 3 pieces of foam you can mute the sound to 50% as the manufactures says but I can play comfortable all keys even deep at night and mute 75%!! and it stregthen you sound.
OK, these are some of the reasons I had and have no stress with my neighbours.
Your right to blow at home… I hope these guidelines helpful.
Lemmi know Saxomen and Girls your experience after you´ve tried my tips..
Cheers
Cybervoodo
April 6, 2013 @ 10:24 am
ahhh, I agree with Doron mucho Carpets, Curtains and things in the room absorb a lot of sound..add to my tips :-)
May 28, 2013 @ 12:57 pm
Wow, these are some great tips! I’ve been wondering about that Magilanck mute, seems a lot less extreme than the E Sax.
Thanks for sharing!
July 2, 2013 @ 11:26 am
Hi Doron, hi folks,
I just read a review on amazon about the Magilanck mute, says nothing good. I’m interested in buying the e-sax mute (or the chinese copy from sax partner). Since I have a wife and a baby the only way to play sax longer is to go down to the basement of our pre 1900 apartment house (dust, moisture, mold and other creepy things – Tim Burton would love it). But one problem with the e-sax mute is that you cannot play low Bb, C and so – no overtone exercises! Since the build in microphone seemes to be a laugh the mute is not ideal for sound training which is my main object. I also think the sound pressure level in that case gets high so the diaphragm of any mic will be distorted when playing.
So here is the BIG QUESTION:
Did anybody in the saxplaying world come up with an idea that is between the e-sax mute and the whisper room? I’m thinking of some wooden box with openings for the hands and the sax neck with enough space for a(modified)sax stand and a mic, but smaler than that walk in box (a home improvement market should have the necessary stuff).
Greetings from Berlin
Rüdiger
July 2, 2013 @ 12:08 pm
I’ve never heard of such a contraption, but if you can invent something that’s comfortable to play in, then I think you’ll have yourself a hit!
October 29, 2013 @ 11:57 am
Hi again,
I just ordered the saxpartner VTS-2 sax mute (the chinese copy of the japanese E sax mute from your article) from woodbrass in Paris. It’s on sale now and costs only 161€/222$ instead of 379€/523$! I don’t know about shipment to the US or elsewhere outside Europe, but at that price it might be worth to give it a try(?). And by the way – I don’t have a woodbrass endorsement deal.
October 29, 2013 @ 5:10 pm
That’s awesome Rüdiger – feel free to leave a comment here saying how you like it!
October 30, 2013 @ 1:10 pm
Hello again,
it arrived! I gave it a test run… and it works better than I expected! The built in mic doesn’t distort like I thought, I can hear myself like playing against a wall – sound training by longtones etc. is possible. Even the low keys are playable, I did some overtones, it works. At last I can practise the whole horn (not just the mpc)daily again. Comments from my wife, baby (both sleeping right now) and the neighbours: NONE
Positive side-effect: I have to do more back exercises to hold that thing properly (who did say that germans are so negative ;)
Greetings Rüdiger
October 30, 2013 @ 5:26 pm
Yeah, when I tried it I found it pretty heavy, especially for tenor. But, that’s awesome that it’s working for you. Perhaps the added weight is a small price to pay in exchange for the opportunity to practice whenever you like.
October 31, 2013 @ 9:39 pm
it is 12:30 right now at my house and I am trying not to wake anyone up with my alto sax and the closest thing I had were some socks,I tried the thing where you take some socks and put them into the bell of the horn and found that it does not mute the sax at all,I need to practice,I have been playing for 3 months and I am in beginner 8th grade band and I have been moving along and progressing so much that my band teacher had decided to move me to advanced band since my 3rd week of playing the sax and he assigned me to learn a song(march zuma) and I have been practicing for two days after school to learn it and was hoping to play it for him tomorrow but I need a few more hours of practicing it to master it but I don’t want to wake up my parents.Everything I know about playing the sax I thought myself because my beginner band class move to slowly for me.i need a quick solution to my dilemma,I don’t want to wake them up but I need to practice,what should I do?
November 2, 2013 @ 10:29 pm
Hello Cameron,
Congrats on making the advanced band after just 3 months, that’s amazing!
Yeah, the sock technique isn’t going to do much. Since I wrote this article, I learned about another saxophone mute that is inexpensive and while it might not let you get away with practicing at 12:30am, I think it could certainly help: http://nationofmusic.com/index.php/product/saxgourmet-soprano-saxophone-mute/
All in all, I think that oftentimes in these situations the best thing to do is to talk with the people you’re trying not to disturb, and come up with a schedule that allows you to practice when it’s going to be as unintrusive to them as possible. Explain to them how important this assignment is to you and how excited you are about music. I remember when I was a kid my parents were always concerned that I was spending too much time on music and not enough on my other school work. I’m not sure that that’s the situation with your folks, but if it is, maybe send them a link to this article: http://www.nytimes.com/2013/10/13/opinion/sunday/is-music-the-key-to-success.html?_r=0
I hope all of that helps, best of luck!
Doron
July 17, 2016 @ 10:11 pm
It was Eric Dolphy’s father who said: ‘Don’t that instrument have more than one note?’ to which he replied, ‘Yeah dad but it’s gotta’ be just right.’
One option is to practice in your head. This can take many forms but if actually practiced…when you are free to play, everything will be there, right on the money.
July 18, 2016 @ 9:42 am
how about….
playing quietly!
April 13, 2020 @ 3:39 pm
What if a piece calls for fortissimo…?
October 23, 2016 @ 2:15 am
I may have missed this in the replies – does the saxophone sound affect the players own hearing over time? Many electric guitar players and rock singers wear earpieces to lessen the potential damage to hearing. Any thoughts? Also as a relative newcomer to the sax I can’t actually gauge the volume to expect when I play.
December 16, 2016 @ 3:49 pm
My upstairs neighbor is a professional saxophone player. I absolutely cannot stand the sound of the saxophone anymore. He practices scales or whatever over and over and over and hours at a time and it drives me crazy. Duh Nuh Nuh Nuh Nuuuuuhhhhhh… Duh Nuh Nuh Nuh Nuuuuuhhhhhh… Duh Nuh Nuh Nuh Nuuuuuhhhhhh… Duh Nuh Nuh Nuh Nuuuuuhhhhhh… Duh Nuh Nuh Nuh Nuuuuuhhhhhh… Duh Nuh Nuh Nuh Nuuuuuhhhhhh… Duh Nuh Nuh Nuh Nuuuuuhhhhhh… I want to break the sax over his head. Now over the years, we’ve both tried to rectify this situation. He got a whisper box, but it was still too loud. He further padded the box, but the sound still resonates. He’s done the best he can and I get that, but it’s still not good enough. I can deal with normal sounds – music, tv, stomping around – but no one should be subjected to this nor be expected to tolerate it. So my advice to all you in this comment section – If you are buying a condo or renting an apartment, get one on the first floor so you don’t torture your downstairs neighbor.
January 22, 2019 @ 10:07 pm
love what you wrote. I have a very ennoying neighbor such as yours. I hate Saxophone and no this person moved next door fter we had been here a long time. There are insturments that are not made for residential buildings. Saxo is not a suitable instrument for apartment living. I’m sorry but if this is your job, hobby whatever…get a house or rent one.
March 1, 2017 @ 8:24 pm
I’ve been playing in a band for 15 years and recently decided to learn to play the alto sax (first wind instrument). I’m surprised at how loud it is! Sometimes I practice in the back seat of my truck. I’m seriously considering the esax mute because walking back and forth to my truck is getting old. If I can keep the noise down, I’d be practicing several times a day in small bursts.
May 9, 2019 @ 7:07 am
I have a problem with the noise I was ok on nightshirt as I was on my own but now I’m on days and can’t play it . Can’t play at home either .
August 29, 2019 @ 1:07 am
Hi there,
Great writing for us to give idea about what to do.
I’m a newbie who’s interested in learning sax but haven’t bought a sax yet. I live at a flat, at the entrance floor. I also have opportunity to go down stairs to the basement but as basement is an empty floor, i think it will make much more echoe there.
What do you think about playing at basement while it’s me sitting at this first floor? Will it be still noisiy to disturb other neighbors?
April 13, 2020 @ 3:37 pm
This is great, thanks! I don’t know if this is sax-abuse, but we (school orchestra) normally carefully place our swabs in our bells for a small bit of silencing if we’re being too loud. It doesn’t really help all that much, but it’s better than nothing… Once, my friend even forgot to take it our, she was wondering why she couldn’t get louder the whole class haha. I also know those fluffy stuffed neck straps work amazingly if you need to make it a LOT quieter, assuming you have an extra one…
June 10, 2020 @ 5:22 am
HEY THERE IS ALSO SOMETHING THAT COULD BE USEFUL, CALLED TRAVEL SAX (http://www.odiseimusic.com/)
June 10, 2020 @ 8:32 am
Hi Wes,
The Travel sax is a scam!! Beware, people. I was scammed. They don’t accept Paypal payment and that says everything. its offered on dubious sites that go offline after they have scammed enough people. I don’t think that thing works even.
Can I play the saxophone quietly at home? Techniques for apartment-friendly practice - PlayWoodwinds
November 30, 2024 @ 3:03 pm
[…] even quieter practice, musicians can try practicing without blowing into the horn, focusing on finger movements and key clicks. This method allows players to work on technique and […]