I am contemplating moving into a condo. Not being familiar with playing/practicing flute in a condo, I am concerned about making too much noise for my neighbors. Does anyone have any practical suggestions / experience on how to mitigate noise from my practicing flute ? I am mostly concerned with soundproofing the ceiling, the walls do not directly abutt anyone else.
I have been searching the internet for sound proofing materials and wondering if anyone knows much about this sort of thing. Or is it not really necessary…
or maybe you can find someone’s unused sauna (not soundproof, but they do muffle things quite a bit.)
https://www.amazon.com/Heatwave-One-Person-Infrared-Sauna/dp/B004000M5Y
Well, that’s thinking INSIDE the box. Let’s see if anyone has suggestions for OUTSIDE the box.
It’s not easy making a room sound proof without major construction, like doubling up the drywall between the two rooms/apartments.
One thing that helps a little is to have lots of sound absorbing material. Not draperies, but heavy things like carpets, beds, couches and floor to ceiling library shelves.
Your best bet is to be a nice person who gets to know your neighbors and practices at reasonable hours.
Yes, support that last comment. My former teacher (Rob Sharer) gave me great advice when he said he spent a lot of time practicing in an apartment where he had to play quietly, and he learned to do so with great quality and power.
This has the effect of focusing the embouchure better than anything else I have done.
That being said, you can add carpets, curtains, furniture, etc to soak up the sound. An acoustically bright room would transmit more sound.
Lewis
Hi Rich,
I made a sound recording booth with the same intention as you describe but furthermore to achieve a sound isolation to record (the flute mainly)
The walls are constructed of compressed wood board 20mm (3/4 inch) made onto a frame of 3.5x2.5 inch softwood. It is 5 foot x 3.5 foot and tall enough to stand in. As I use it to record too I put a triple glazed window in the door. It is on a suspended floor which is the same material floated on some dense foam (1/2 inch) I call it my indoor shed
It has rockwool insulation in the cavities and inside it is covered in cheap carpet offcuts.
I’ve recorded vocals, double bass and acoustic guitar in there too. Most of my soundcloud page (below) tracks were recorded in there
If it’s primarily the ceiling you’re looking to soundproof, do a search on acoustic ceiling tiles. My father is mostly deaf, and when I was a kid, my bedroom was right above the TV. We got these tiles that are low-density pressed fiber with little holes punched into them. It worked pretty well. We put up furring strip and installed them in a 20x20 room with a staple gun; the whole thing took two of us about a day.
I live in a block of flats (as we call them this side of the pond). I’ve asked my neighbours straight out and they simply don’t hear me! Flute, clarinet, whistle, recorder and various fretted strings, they just didn’t know I played 
There’s no-one above me and the walls and floors are concrete. I keep the windows and internal doors shut when I’m playing, and am “sensible” about the time of day I play loudly … no complaints in over five years
When you check out the property, take a friend and a flute and test for sound transmission. Knock on a few doors and ask for comments. Hopefully you’ll be pleasantly surprised.
Good luck