Is there some kind of practice mute for flute? I have been lent a flute and would like to try it out without disturbing neighbours too much. Only found for trombones and such when googling.
-
1There is a confusion as to what gets named 'flute'. Whilst a lot of us consider it to be the transverse instrument that is played by blowing over a hole near the end, the rest regard a flute as something otherwise known as a recorder, blown straight into the mouthpiece at one end. Recorders can be muted, transverse flutes not.– TimCommented Apr 24, 2022 at 11:07
-
In warm weather, when windows are open, I can hear the flute teacher who lives about 8 houses up the block... but I don't mind, it sounds nice.– Michael CurtisCommented Jul 8, 2022 at 12:46
Add a comment
|
3 Answers
Assuming you are talking about the standard orchestra flute, or another kind of traverse flute: no, it's impossible to mute a flute.
Brass instruments such as trumpet or trombone can be muted because all of the sound comes out of the bell. The sound of a flute is far more diffuse.
For other members of the flute family, fipple flutes, there are mutes available. Here's one for recorder (note the site says "flute" but they mean "recorder").
-
Interesting. Usually impossible things become possible with progress, but I guess there is no solution for now.– EmilCommented Apr 23, 2022 at 19:11
-
@Emil you can practice inside a soundproof booth; this is not particularly new technology, but it's prohibitively cumbersome in most contexts.– phoogCommented Apr 23, 2022 at 19:23
-
3@emil The reason you can't mute a flute the same way as a trombome is that on a trombone/trumpet all the sound comes out the hole at the end, while on a flute the sound comes out of every hole. Including the one you blow in, and including the tone holes, and if you cover them partially for muting you also change the pitch. So you need soundproofing that covers the whole instrument while still letting you operate it. Commented Apr 24, 2022 at 2:02
-
1@Emil - there will always be somewhere: local schools are well underused - there could be plenty of times when there are no pupils - evenings, weekends, holidays, etc. Churches often have rooms that could be used. There have been several questions revolving round 'where to practise'. If/when you find a teacher, they may have ideas.– TimCommented Apr 25, 2022 at 7:52
-
1@lvr123 The difference is that a large part of the sound of a flute comes directly from the embouchure hole, and you can't put that in a box without putting your head in there as well. Commented Apr 16, 2023 at 22:10
My way of playing "muted" is to barely blow in the hole. For sure you can't practice your sound quality, but you can practice everything else. I'm doing this quite regularly without anyone noticing it !
You can construct some sort of vocal booth (that's what my friend did), with some sound isolation and couple of vents for the air.
