ive always played my instruments late at night.
between 10 pm and 3am.
after 10 years in the same apartment, i now have new neighbours.
turns out the previous neighbour was almost deaf, and my new neighbours dont like me playing late.
i cant move;
i will probably have to soundproof at least some of the apartment when i can afford it.
in the meantime i need cheap solutions in making my instruments dead dead quiet, for a few hours every evening.
so any ideas for quietening the following would be helpful.
tenor banjo
dreadnought guitar
mandolin
bouzouki
gong
this makes me wonder how people have got on historically;
for eg, NY and London are 2 places where trad music has flourished, yet in both places people are in tiny homes, living on top of each other.
how do you manage to practice without upsetting everyone?
The banjo is pretty easy - it'll screw up some of the fine detail of your triplets, but you can work on the tunes at low volume by stuffing some sort of cushion in behind the head. Just remove the resonator if you've got one, and jam old socks, T-shirts, pillows, a small dog if there's one running around, anything at all in there. It'll muffle things nicely.
For the guitar, it's more difficult. The best suggestion I can make, honestly, is to haunt the used guitar shops around you and try to find a nice old Harmony hollowbody electric guitar. Unamplified, these produce more sound than an electric but not nearly enough to bother your neighbors, and the response is more like your dreadnaught than your telecaster. They can be had relatively cheaply, if you keep your eyes open.
I've been having the same problem meself. Here are my solutions:
tenor banjo: I ordered a "Mike's Mute" banjo mute (saw an ad for them in the classifieds over on the banjohangout website) Your man Mike generally makes them for 5 string banjos, but will make one for a tenor if you request it. They cost around $30 and work like a charm. I had originally tried the cheaper Gold Tone mute but it didn't work half as good and it kept moving the bridge every time I put it on or off.
mandolin: I'm getting an electric mandolin and will play it, unplugged, when it gets too late to play my acoustic one.
This isn't really an answer to your problem, but for years I used to work on ocean-going tugboats. You could never get away from the engine noise, which was considerable, to put it mildly. I used to tape a stethoscope to the surface of my guitar, in order to hear myself - worked quite well. I had tinnitus for about a year when I returned to big ships, but it eventually went away.
I realise that I'm supposed to be resting but I found it too hard to "bite my tongue" ...
Why do you need to practise at that time of night? Having said that, I've done it myself on odd occasions but obviously wouldn't if it annoyed anyone else.
Have you got a garden shed or even a camper van where you could move to instead?
Or do your practising in another room not directly below where your neighbours are sleeping or are watching late night TV?
I can appreciate those sorts of problems. I have grumpy flatmate at the moment who doesn't appreciate me practicing the pipes, even at socially acceptable times of day, but regularly gets in loud, angry rows with people on the phone at 8am.
Did you ask them if there is a tolerable time of day for your full volume practicing? 5 hours practice a night on a dreadnaught guitar, you'll be deaf soon yourself! I'd say get a smaller wimpier guitar for late practices as mentioned above, the mute listed above, and find out when you can blast full volume, I had a fiddle mute for about a week before my cat ate it. I lived in an apartment that had a huge echo, and just learned my downstairs neighbor's work schedule... pretty easy. Something to dampen your foot stomp if thats an issue, what about making a small sound 'resistant' room as far from the common wall as possible? There has to be 1,001 possible solutions.
How much practice do you need on a gong?
I'd love to see a gong at our local session.
It would take the attention away from my baritone uke, Indian harmonium, Stylophone, Cajun spoons, glockenspiel and banjolele!
On the subject of practising and noise, there was this guy who used to play his Great Pipes in the middle of Hampstead Heath, but got slapped with an Anti-Social Behaviour Order (ASBO ) for his pains.
i play that late because i'm a night owl, always have been.
i actually practice at anytime from 9am onwards, for up to 8 hours a day. i sing a fair bit too.
but its between 10pm and 3am when i really feel i *have* to play.
its not really practice; i'm feeding my soul. i'm sure some of you know what i mean.
to be unable to play at that time is killing me. well, maybe not, but its acutely painful.
of course its a vile squalid garret, i'm a musician!
as i said, i will have to soundproof at some stage, but right now i dont have the money
Mr Guernsey, i have actually considered playing in my nearest park. or even industrial estate but to do this on a banjo at midnight would probably get me sectioned, or arrested, never mind an asbo
'On the subject of practising and noise, there was this guy who used to play his Great Pipes in the middle of Hampstead Heath, but got slapped with an Anti-Social Behaviour Order (ASBO ) for his pains.'
I used to play sessions with him - he also plays the flute but would get the pipes out too.
You've not lived until you've played the Atholl Highlanders in B flat.
Not to mention the Siege of Dehli...
Between 10 pm and 1 am take your banjo to what ever busy downtown is near you. Find a corner and play to the passerby's. You'll be feeding your soul and making a few bucks!
Twangy, you're obsessed. That just makes no sense. I hope you are really amazing on the guitar, banjo, gong, etc because if you aren't after 8 hours practice a day, you might, just consider another option such as therapy! Im kidding, I wish I had that sort of time/dedication. Move I guess, to the street start busking 8 hours a day and go to the back of a restaurants that toss out cardboard egg crates, and start sticking them to the walls, knew a guy who did his whole garage in those things.... he smoked A LOT of weed though.
and you need full resonance to really sort out your rhythms, so mutes just suck, I'd avoid them if possible. Socks, clothespins, stuffed animals, rubber mutey things, they all remove too much of the fun. I'd go for the cheapest sound proofing that you can invent.
I myself remembered/sorted out a tune in my head a about a month ago, and this all occurred at about 11:30 PM, so I grabbed my fiddle and started playing it and I was SO happy, I just wanted to get it before I lost it, next thing I knew my boyfriend was standing there at the top of the stairs furious with me, "It's TO &%$&^%$ late for that ... thats ^(*&^ loud!".... I said "but I have to play it now!!"...... and sadly I put away the fiddle....he doesn't get it. have to admit it was obnoxious on my part, but oh well..... s&%t happens!
To be fair, the sad reality of having flatmates or living in a tenement flat is that you probably can't play between 10pm and 3am. That's just life. I like practicing myself between midnight and 2am and now and then have lived in places where I can do that and not p*ss anybody off. For the most part, however, that is just infeasable and I have to find more socially acceptable times of day to play. Be flexible.
any fretted instrument with a bridge you can literally "stuff a sock in it" by putting a (preferably) clean sock under the strings right by the bridge. You run the sock under the strings toe first, and then bunch it up lengthwise next to the bridge to mute the strings and bridge. If you use wool socks, all you can hear is the thwack of the pick
Twangy, where have your deaf neighbours moved, and are there any vacancies in their building?
But thanks for your post. It makes me feel less guilty about occasionally disturbing the upstairs neighbour by practicing fiddle at such uncivilized times as 2pm on Wednesdays. Fortunately, I can tell fairly reliably when the upstairs neighbour is home, and if I had a dollar for every time she disturbed my sleep by walking about in the middle of the night, I'd probably be able to make a down payment on a house.
i should point out that ive only become a fevered trad junkie in the last few years.
before that i could while away the small hours with cubase, midi keyboards, electric guitars and headphones;
this neighbour sort of thing was never an issue
believe it or not i never really considered busking as a solution, but it might be worth a try this, so thanks for the suggestion.
I know this post is late and you probably won't see it, but if you have a closet with enough space that you can play, those work wonderfully. I've actually used my small walk-in closet as a room to record in before because it's quiet, and it has automatic dampening due to all the hanging clothes and such. I don't know if that is an option for you, but if you do it works.
practice noise
practice noise
ive always played my instruments late at night.
between 10 pm and 3am.
after 10 years in the same apartment, i now have new neighbours.
turns out the previous neighbour was almost deaf, and my new neighbours dont like me playing late.
i cant move;
i will probably have to soundproof at least some of the apartment when i can afford it.
in the meantime i need cheap solutions in making my instruments dead dead quiet, for a few hours every evening.
so any ideas for quietening the following would be helpful.
tenor banjo
dreadnought guitar
mandolin
bouzouki
gong
this makes me wonder how people have got on historically;
for eg, NY and London are 2 places where trad music has flourished, yet in both places people are in tiny homes, living on top of each other.
how do you manage to practice without upsetting everyone?
# Posted on September 15th 2009 by twangy
Re: practice noise
Do what i did, teach your neighbor to play. I live in a duplex and have taught my neighbor guitar and a little fiddle. Now we play together.
# Posted on September 15th 2009 by Barry1963
Re: practice noise
Gong?
# Posted on September 15th 2009 by Hup
Re: practice noise
You're joking right?
# Posted on September 15th 2009 by shanty
Re: practice noise
well i think its a gong.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Bardentreffen_2009_2169.jpg
what do you call it?
# Posted on September 15th 2009 by twangy
Re: practice noise
Well, I guess you play the alpenhorn then ... or is it the tambourine?
# Posted on September 15th 2009 by Hup
Re: practice noise
hey man, go deeper........
# Posted on September 15th 2009 by twangy
Re: practice noise
go away, I'm done playing
# Posted on September 15th 2009 by Hup
Re: practice noise
The banjo is pretty easy - it'll screw up some of the fine detail of your triplets, but you can work on the tunes at low volume by stuffing some sort of cushion in behind the head. Just remove the resonator if you've got one, and jam old socks, T-shirts, pillows, a small dog if there's one running around, anything at all in there. It'll muffle things nicely.
For the guitar, it's more difficult. The best suggestion I can make, honestly, is to haunt the used guitar shops around you and try to find a nice old Harmony hollowbody electric guitar. Unamplified, these produce more sound than an electric but not nearly enough to bother your neighbors, and the response is more like your dreadnaught than your telecaster. They can be had relatively cheaply, if you keep your eyes open.
# Posted on September 15th 2009 by Jon Kiparsky
Re: practice noise
I've been having the same problem meself. Here are my solutions:
tenor banjo: I ordered a "Mike's Mute" banjo mute (saw an ad for them in the classifieds over on the banjohangout website) Your man Mike generally makes them for 5 string banjos, but will make one for a tenor if you request it. They cost around $30 and work like a charm. I had originally tried the cheaper Gold Tone mute but it didn't work half as good and it kept moving the bridge every time I put it on or off.
mandolin: I'm getting an electric mandolin and will play it, unplugged, when it gets too late to play my acoustic one.
# Posted on September 15th 2009 by triplet upstairs
Re: practice noise
This isn't really an answer to your problem, but for years I used to work on ocean-going tugboats. You could never get away from the engine noise, which was considerable, to put it mildly. I used to tape a stethoscope to the surface of my guitar, in order to hear myself - worked quite well. I had tinnitus for about a year when I returned to big ships, but it eventually went away.
# Posted on September 15th 2009 by will morgan
Re: practice noise
I realise that I'm supposed to be resting but I found it too hard to "bite my tongue" ...
Why do you need to practise at that time of night? Having said that, I've done it myself on odd occasions but obviously wouldn't if it annoyed anyone else.
Have you got a garden shed or even a camper van where you could move to instead?
Or do your practising in another room not directly below where your neighbours are sleeping or are watching late night TV?
# Posted on September 15th 2009 by John J.
Re: practice noise
I can appreciate those sorts of problems. I have grumpy flatmate at the moment who doesn't appreciate me practicing the pipes, even at socially acceptable times of day, but regularly gets in loud, angry rows with people on the phone at 8am.
# Posted on September 15th 2009 by DrSilverSpear
Re: practice noise
Move out of what sounds like a vile squalid garret and live in a proper Haus where you can do what you want like real people.
# Posted on September 15th 2009 by Krick Stahlschwanz
Re: practice noise
How d'you stop the dog in the banjo (now there's a good tune name!) from barking and upsetting the neighbour's?
# Posted on September 15th 2009 by Trevor Jennings
Re: practice noise
"neighbour's peace and quiet"
# Posted on September 15th 2009 by Trevor Jennings
Re: practice noise
Another thought - if you practice loud enough you won't hear the banging on the wall ...
# Posted on September 15th 2009 by Trevor Jennings
Re: practice noise
Did you ask them if there is a tolerable time of day for your full volume practicing? 5 hours practice a night on a dreadnaught guitar, you'll be deaf soon yourself! I'd say get a smaller wimpier guitar for late practices as mentioned above, the mute listed above, and find out when you can blast full volume, I had a fiddle mute for about a week before my cat ate it.
I lived in an apartment that had a huge echo, and just learned my downstairs neighbor's work schedule... pretty easy. Something to dampen your foot stomp if thats an issue, what about making a small sound 'resistant' room as far from the common wall as possible? There has to be 1,001 possible solutions.
# Posted on September 15th 2009 by SandyBottoms
Re: practice noise
I go to the pub.
# Posted on September 15th 2009 by pavlf
Re: practice noise
How much practice do you need on a gong?
I'd love to see a gong at our local session.
It would take the attention away from my baritone uke, Indian harmonium, Stylophone, Cajun spoons, glockenspiel and banjolele!
# Posted on September 15th 2009 by yhaalhouse
Re: practice noise
That's NOT a gong !
Perhaps a bong ?
# Posted on September 15th 2009 by Guernsey Pete
Re: practice noise
On the subject of practising and noise, there was this guy who used to play his Great Pipes in the middle of Hampstead Heath, but got slapped with an Anti-Social Behaviour Order (ASBO ) for his pains.
# Posted on September 15th 2009 by Guernsey Pete
Re: practice noise
Don't you mean for other peoples pains?
# Posted on September 15th 2009 by bogman
Re: practice noise
i play that late because i'm a night owl, always have been.
i actually practice at anytime from 9am onwards, for up to 8 hours a day. i sing a fair bit too.
but its between 10pm and 3am when i really feel i *have* to play.
its not really practice; i'm feeding my soul. i'm sure some of you know what i mean.
to be unable to play at that time is killing me. well, maybe not, but its acutely painful.
of course its a vile squalid garret, i'm a musician!
as i said, i will have to soundproof at some stage, but right now i dont have the money
Mr Guernsey, i have actually considered playing in my nearest park. or even industrial estate but to do this on a banjo at midnight would probably get me sectioned, or arrested, never mind an asbo
# Posted on September 15th 2009 by twangy
Re: practice noise
'On the subject of practising and noise, there was this guy who used to play his Great Pipes in the middle of Hampstead Heath, but got slapped with an Anti-Social Behaviour Order (ASBO ) for his pains.'
I used to play sessions with him - he also plays the flute but would get the pipes out too.
You've not lived until you've played the Atholl Highlanders in B flat.
Not to mention the Siege of Dehli...
# Posted on September 15th 2009 by biggus dave
Re: practice noise
wooden clothes pins with springs can clip on to mandolin and banjo bridges, or stuff foam into the sound hole[s]
# Posted on September 15th 2009 by Dont
Re: practice noise
Between 10 pm and 1 am take your banjo to what ever busy downtown is near you. Find a corner and play to the passerby's. You'll be feeding your soul and making a few bucks!
# Posted on September 15th 2009 by shanty
Re: practice noise
Twangy, you're obsessed. That just makes no sense. I hope you are really amazing on the guitar, banjo, gong, etc because if you aren't after 8 hours practice a day, you might, just consider another option such as therapy! Im kidding, I wish I had that sort of time/dedication. Move I guess, to the street start busking 8 hours a day and go to the back of a restaurants that toss out cardboard egg crates, and start sticking them to the walls, knew a guy who did his whole garage in those things.... he smoked A LOT of weed though.
# Posted on September 16th 2009 by SandyBottoms
Re: practice noise
and you need full resonance to really sort out your rhythms, so mutes just suck, I'd avoid them if possible. Socks, clothespins, stuffed animals, rubber mutey things, they all remove too much of the fun. I'd go for the cheapest sound proofing that you can invent.
# Posted on September 16th 2009 by SandyBottoms
Re: practice noise
I myself remembered/sorted out a tune in my head a about a month ago, and this all occurred at about 11:30 PM, so I grabbed my fiddle and started playing it and I was SO happy, I just wanted to get it before I lost it, next thing I knew my boyfriend was standing there at the top of the stairs furious with me, "It's TO &%$&^%$ late for that ... thats ^(*&^ loud!".... I said "but I have to play it now!!"...... and sadly I put away the fiddle....he doesn't get it. have to admit it was obnoxious on my part, but oh well..... s&%t happens!
# Posted on September 16th 2009 by SandyBottoms
Re: practice noise
keep the fiddle - lose the boyfriend. You never get that kind of hogwash from a fiddle...
# Posted on September 16th 2009 by airport
Re: practice noise
To be fair, the sad reality of having flatmates or living in a tenement flat is that you probably can't play between 10pm and 3am. That's just life. I like practicing myself between midnight and 2am and now and then have lived in places where I can do that and not p*ss anybody off. For the most part, however, that is just infeasable and I have to find more socially acceptable times of day to play. Be flexible.
# Posted on September 16th 2009 by DrSilverSpear
Re: practice noise
*unfeasable
# Posted on September 16th 2009 by DrSilverSpear
Re: practice noise
any fretted instrument with a bridge you can literally "stuff a sock in it" by putting a (preferably) clean sock under the strings right by the bridge. You run the sock under the strings toe first, and then bunch it up lengthwise next to the bridge to mute the strings and bridge. If you use wool socks, all you can hear is the thwack of the pick
you might need a pillow in the back of the banjo
...and tell your neighbors to fek off
# Posted on September 16th 2009 by Nate Ryan
Re: practice noise
Twangy, where have your deaf neighbours moved, and are there any vacancies in their building?
But thanks for your post. It makes me feel less guilty about occasionally disturbing the upstairs neighbour by practicing fiddle at such uncivilized times as 2pm on Wednesdays. Fortunately, I can tell fairly reliably when the upstairs neighbour is home, and if I had a dollar for every time she disturbed my sleep by walking about in the middle of the night, I'd probably be able to make a down payment on a house.
# Posted on September 16th 2009 by Tall, Dark, and Mysterious
Re: practice noise
Twangy, if you can 'convert' your pratice to playing live _ good luck
# Posted on September 16th 2009 by lisaniska
Re: practice noise
thankyou for all the input.
i should point out that ive only become a fevered trad junkie in the last few years.
before that i could while away the small hours with cubase, midi keyboards, electric guitars and headphones;
this neighbour sort of thing was never an issue
believe it or not i never really considered busking as a solution, but it might be worth a try this, so thanks for the suggestion.
# Posted on September 17th 2009 by twangy
Re: practice noise
I know this post is late and you probably won't see it, but if you have a closet with enough space that you can play, those work wonderfully. I've actually used my small walk-in closet as a room to record in before because it's quiet, and it has automatic dampening due to all the hanging clothes and such. I don't know if that is an option for you, but if you do it works.
# Posted on September 29th 2009 by Jimmy B