Soundproofing To Protect Your Neighbours

[Spectacled Warbler]

Does anybody have experience of soundproofing the wall(s), of a semi-detached / terraced house, which adjoin the neighbours to prevent them hearing concertina / melodeon playing and loud singing? What did you use and did it work?

 

I’ve read about building a false wall which doesn’t directly touch the adjoining wall, covered with acoustic plasterboard and soundbreaker bars, but all the information I’ve seen is from companies trying to sell their products. I just wondered anybody here might have tried these things and have any advice, including how they dealt with fireplaces?

 

All advice appreciated,

 

Thanks

 

Joy

 

 

[Łukasz Martynowicz]

Sound proofing is basically done by mounting airtight, semi-rigid bariers out of heaviest materials available. You need to dissipate energy of moving air. This is indeed best done by mounting acoustic plasterboard on sounbreaker bars, as they are "floating" joints.

But couldn't you just baffle your concertina/melodeon and sing less loud?

[Spectacled Warbler]

HI Lukasz, thanks for the advice. I could baffle my concertina and whisper, and have done that in the past when I lived in shared accommodation, but my playing is all in sessions, so I need to practise a a reasonable volume. Playing quietly at home doesn't prepare you for playing in a louder environment, bellows and breathing control are different.

 

Cheers,

 

Joy

[chris]

Make friends with neighbours and invite them round:-)

I bought a small detached house to deal with this issue - might be a way to go - probably expensive though!!!

Chris

[Andy Rhodes]

It is a problem . My neighbour spends a lot of time at home studying , so it is waiting for him\ them to go out or sitting on the stairs with all the windows and doors shut including the upstairs bedrooms . I also use a new model Lachenal for this as it is considerably quieter than the Wheatstone that makes my ears ring in a confined space . However I suspect that I can still be heard despite him politely saying he can't so not before 10am and not after 8pm.

Andy

[Geoff Wooff]

Ah! Well,

a solution could be to make a "Muffelatina"... you can see the general idea from the practice bags that Saxophonists use.

 

For the voice ? A well padded Nose Bag perhaps or ask at operasingerforum .com (if such a site exists)

 

I grew up in a semi detached house so I sympathize.... we chose our current abode with the noise we make in mind. It is about 100 metres to our nearest neighbour who says she loves to hear the music wafting over on the breeze.. just goes to show that whilst one can select a property by several criteria, the musical tastes of those surounding us are more difficult to take into account.

[JimLucas]

.. just goes to show that whilst one can select a property by several criteria, the musical tastes of those surounding us are more difficult to take into account.

 

Yep. Luckily, in the apartment I had for many years, the only neighbor who could hear me (multiple layers of brick between me and other neighbors) said she wished she could hear me better, but if I ever got over the love affair with the concertina she wished I would take up the highland pipes.

[Randy Stein]

I bought inexpensive rugs and hung them on my walls when I lived in Brooklyn. I also bought some portable panels, like the ones they use in office cubicles and sat between them when I practiced. This seem to damper the noise or a feisty neighbor.

 

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[David S]

Dear Joy,

 

Faced with the problem - not neighbours, but family! - I obtained a MIDI concertina and play on headphones. There is a very good 'app' synthesiser available for Ipads,although I use a small MU50 synth. The MIDI concertina was made by Roy Whiteley, who does a first class job on the conversion of decrepit Lachenals. Roy also does piano accordions, so I'm sure would do a melodeon.

 

www.accordionmagic.com

 

Best wishes

 

David