Half a croissant, on a plate, with a sign in front of it saying '50c'
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Anti-Horn

 Play an instrument and no sound comes out
 
(0) 		  [vote for,
against]

What I mean is, say you live some place and you want to play your tuba, but you can't because playing the tuba is so loud it would disturb neighbors and you would eventually be kicked out of your apartment.

This device would attach to your tuba (or trumpet, trombone, etc) like a mute attaches to an instrument and play back the frequency to cancel the frequency coming out.

Of course, headphones would be plugged into it so that you, the player, could hear what was really being played, but you would be the only one.

That way, you could keep your apartment and play your instrument.

—maxipuke, Feb 03 2003

Obnoxious Neighbor Active Noise Cancelling http://www.halfbake...0Noise_20Cancelling
by RayfordSteele. Coming from the opposite direction. There are links to similar halfbakery ideas if you follow this link. [my face your, Oct 04 2004]

Digital Trumpet http://www.eng.newc...news/200208/06.html
[DrCurry, Oct 04 2004]

The string section has 'em http://www.mikesmus...VIOLIN/SILTVIOL.HTM
I'm sure this would work better than Grandpa's "Don't touch that thing till you learn how to play it!" [lurch, Oct 04 2004]

Yamaha Silent Brass http://www.yamaha.c...elCode=SILENT+BRASS
Available for Trumpet, Trombone, Flugelhorn & Euphonium [Cedar Park, Oct 04 2004]

[link]






       I have a pair of noise cancelling headphones that work the same way.   

       I don't think that a trumpet would work very well with a thing in the end plugging up the whole bell (if that's what you call it on a trumpet - i'm a pianist), although I might be wrong.   

       Why not a digital trumpet, that you could just plug headphones into and play the same way as always? It would have air pressure sensors, etc. so that you can figure out if you're doing it right.   

       Or, even better, redo your room with anechoic siding. look around for pictures; you'll eventually find a room with lots of pointy spikes all over it. no echoes or sound propagation.   

       This one's baked.
—Macwarrior, Feb 03 2003
   

       Just don't get one of those annoying fake digital horns like Kenny G. Yuk!
—snarfyguy, Feb 03 2003
   

       //It would have air pressure sensors, etc. so that you can figure out if you're doing it right.//   

       That might work for a woodwinds, but not for brass instruments. On those, the player's lips form an essential and integral part of the sound generation system; the tubing has a very definite and perceptible effect on what the player feels and most players would probably find it difficult or impossible to play without such feedback.   

       It may be possible to design an instrument with a transducer and electronics that mimicked the accoustical behavior of the tubing. Getting it to match well enough to make the instrument useful as a "transparent substitute" for the real thing, however, would probably be difficult.
—supercat, Feb 03 2003
   

       Baked. A transducer picks up the brass sound, processed to sound natural, headphones included.(link)
—Cedar Park, Feb 04 2003
   

       I just wish Kenny G would keep it to his elf, silently.
—thumbwax, Feb 04 2003
   

       This would be good for Bagpipes.   

       Bagpipes are good to listen to when they're being played hight up on the windswept slopes of a wild, lonely Scottish glen, and you're in Taunton.   

       Please don't misunderstand me; I don't dislike the sound of bagpipes, I just don't like them up-close-and-personal; they can be a bit overpowering.
—8th of 7, Feb 04 2003
   

       you've got good hearing, 8th :)
—po, Feb 04 2003
   

       Thankfully, no, my hearing is terrible - if t was better, I might actually be able to hear the bagpipes .........
—8th of 7, Feb 04 2003
   

       I was hoping this would be a device to nullify car horns. Where I live people honk way to much.
—xnihilo, Feb 04 2003
   

       ditto. a car silence, maybe the sudden sound of silence would draw attention more than adding noise. (listen to all the silence, must be a big fire)
—rbl, Feb 04 2003
   

       For bagpipes? DEFINATELY! In my old dorm room, the guy next to me played bagpipes at 3am on a regular basis.
—ArmoredHeart, Feb 04 2003
   
      
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