Everyone loves music, but not everyone loves living near a musician. You may think your wailing solos sound great, but those who live near you may not agree. In apartments, soundproofing your space can be vital if you don’t want to win your building’s “Most Hated Neighbor” award.
Apartment soundproofing can run into some money, and since you don’t own your home, you won’t want to make a major investment in it. However, there are easy ways to cut down on the amount of noise your neighbors hear.
How to Soundproof Your Apartment
- First, make one room your practice room and concentrate your apartment soundproofing efforts on it. This will be much easier than tackling the whole apartment. Choose a small room (or even a walk-in closet) that is as far from your neighbors as you can get. Then try these apartment soundproofing tips.
- Add insulation to the walls. Egg-crate foam panels are a good form of apartment soundproofing. Cut sheets of inexpensive wallboard to fit your walls. Attach the smooth side of the foam to the boards with a staple gun or adhesive. Tack the wallboard to the walls. For extra sound dampening, cover the panels with heavy fabric, tapestries, or curtains. Foam panels may be used on the ceiling as well.
- Layer rugs on the floor. A heavy rug will help with apartment soundproofing. For best results, it should cover the entire floor. Use a thick foam underpad to help reduce noise transmission.
- Fill the door creases. Don’t forget that a lot of sounds can leak through a door. For inexpensive apartment soundproofing, use weatherstripping foam tape on the top and sides of the doorway and install a sweep on the bottom edge. For additional noise reduction, hang a heavy curtain over the door.
The success of apartment soundproofing may be limited, so always be considerate of your neighbors. Find out if they are away from home at regular times, and try to practice then. Explore ways to reduce the sound your instrument makes. Mutes are available for many stringed and wind instruments. You can get electric keyboards, guitars, even drums and use headphones when you practice.
If apartment soundproofing simply doesn’t work, it may be time to pack your instrument and move. Use our site to find Phoenix apartments, Seattle apartments, Dallas apartments, and Austin apartments where your chops will be appreciated.
