Piano World Home Page Forums Our Most Popular Forums Pianist Corner Apartment living & Piano "noise."

I'll be moving soon and plan to purchase a piano soon after getting settled in my new home.

Are some apartments so well insulated for sound that an acoustic piano would be no problem? If so,I'd expect such an apartment would be pretty expensive.

I'm torn presently between living in an apartment or buying or renting a house.

I know I could buy a V-Piano, use headphones and do fine in an apartment but I expect in time I'd get tired of this and want a real acoustic sound.

I imagine several people in this group had or have a similar problem and be glad to hear from you.

Bech

I'm surprised you so casually mention your options of renting or buying. It's not a small decision IMHO.

That said, I've lived in 3 different apartments (3 different cities) in the last 4 years, and have never had a problem with my piano. I think it's possible that I get lucky with my neighbors, but everytime I brace myself for complaints following a "so you have a piano in there?" query, I get nothing but compliments and praise.

Please don't buy a V piano.

-Daniel

learning how to play very softly is extraordinarily beneficial.

you can dampen the piano's sound in many ways. you can stuff pillows in the rafters of the soundboard, put acoustical tiles on the walls, cover it with quilts.. lots of things.

My advice is that you get a house, if you want an acoustic.

I use a digital with headphones, since I'm in a condo. Its not my first choice, but I have no doubt that I'd have a lynch mob at my door, if I brought in an acoustic. If I can hear them, they can hear me. Think about it. Apartments are built so they can rented out. Everything is built with low cost in mind. I could be wrong, but I doubt it anyone goes through the trouble of insulating or soundproofing.

On the upside, the digital does have its advantages. I can practice any hour of the day (or night), thanks to headphones.

Short of actually soundproofing an apartment, I think it's hard to say. Of course this is just a layperson's opinion but I find that sound can travel in funny ways, thereby making it hard to predict where and how it will be heard. I guess it would be safe to say that a place with paper-thin walls will probably do little to dampen the sound. Beyond that, who knows.

I live in a "pre-war" apartment building; it was probably built in the late 1920s. Pre-wars are generally considered to be solid; the walls are made of plaster, for example. Fortunately, none of my neighbors have complained but they can hear me, as I can occasionally hear (faintly) my neighbor below practicing her string instrument. I guess what I'm saying is that to some extent it's a crapshoot. I just try to do my part and not play late at night or early in the morning.



I considered this for similar reasons, but decided against it. I am so glad that I eventually decided on an acoustic piano.

Good luck with your decision.

Maybe you should get a silent piano (a hybrid piano that can be used both as an acoustic and with headphones). That's what I am going to do too soon, although I actually have very nice neighbours. It is probably your right to play for a couple of hours without headphones, but not all day...

One mistake would be to rent an apartment and then buy your piano on the assumption that pianos are allowed. Begin by consulting with your rental agent or apartment supervisor to find out if pianos are even allowed. Some rental apartments (I lived in one, once) absolutely forbid musical instruments of any kind; it's clearly stated in the lease agreement.

Then, if a piano is allowed, ask the same person - tell them to find out, if they say they don't know - how sound-proof the particular building is. Even if a lease allows the playing of a piano during certain specified hours of the day, this doesn't mean that a neighbour might not complain if s/he is overly sensitive, home all day, or just plain cantankerous. Answering a complaining neighbour that the lease allows you to play doesn't necessarily mean that the neighbour is going to back off; an upset neighbour can make life pretty unbearable if s/he wants to.

Not all apartment buildings are created equal: some are much more solidly built than others, some are better sound-proofed than others. A frame structure is much more likely to transmit sound than a steel and concrete structure. Even the location of a certain apartment unit within a building can effect how much a piano might be heard. Your first job is to do your research even before you sign your lease agreement in the case of an apartment rental.

Regards,

Something that I have just been thinking about in the last couple of days or so by the way is whether - if you live in an apartment and have a small room - it might be an option to buy a "small" acoustic (still with silent option though). Originally I was thinking of buying a piano like the U1, but then during the last couple of days I have been thinking a small piano like the one casinitaly has might give me the opportunity to practice longer without headphones if it is not too loud...

The piano can be heard just as much by neighbors if you live in a house, especially if it's an older one with poor insulation. I've never had troubles with neighbors and practicing. The worst I ever heard was "I've had some comments" when I asked the landlady. Not nasty ones apparently.

During my last stretch of living in NYC, I lived in 3 apartments.

The first was in a building built after WWII, fireproofed - which meant that each outside wall of the unit was encased in a 6 inch sheath of cement. No matter how loudly I played, the only place it was heard by others was in the hallway.

Then, times got tough (long story). I had to move to a place that was way cheaper - sort of a starving artist/ghetto-ish kind of place that was built in the 1870's with no concrete between units. The only place out of maybe 10 whose landlord didn't flinch, or shut the door in my face, when I said that I owned a piano. I put rugs and plastic down.

I know that the piano was heard well outside the unit, because I would actually get compliments from the people downstairs - not to mention that sometimes people would hang out in the hallway to listen. I was very, very lucky.

Next place was upscale, from the 1920's. A building filled with musicians, walls built with wood and plaster. I was told that - like the other pianists there - if I threw sound-deadening material against the soundboard and keep the lid down and maybe covered, there'd be no complaints.

At that time, I did the bulk of my practicing at the schools I worked for, and my new wife and I just loved the place, so........well, turns out it was a freakin' nightmare!! My neighbors were all retired neurotic bat-heads who were constantly home, and for the longest time it was nothing but complaints from them..... and me walking on eggshells when I did have to practice......eventually, they either passed on, or went into nursing homes, so it got easier after a couple of years........

Be careful. Try to scope out what your neighbors will be like, before you decide on an apartment.

I live in an apartment with only one common wall, nobody above. I only play between 9am and 9pm and have never had a complaint. the only indication that anyone hears it is one day some kids started singing scales while I was practicing.

I'm searching for a condo to buy and am restricting the search to ground units with no one above and hopefully one common wall only.

I have been living in an apartment in the past 4 years and I play an acoustic piano (Yamaha WX-1) daily. I have been lucky to have wonderful neighbours but another owner in my apartment is not so lucky. He has two highly skilled children playing/practicing piano several hours a day and got a lot of complaints from his upstairs neighbour. In the end the Strata Council had to be involved to resolve the issue. BruceD's gave wonderful advice about checking out the apartment conditions and bylaws etc. Regardless, playing an acoustic in an apartment is problematic at best. Whenever I play/practice my piano I am always concerned, but there is no way I am going to replace my acoustic piano with a digital one; they are simply different.

I tended to think that sound would be more of an issue for people living below me, rather than above. Based on these two previous posts it seems upstairs is the bigger concern. Interesting. Now that I think about it as mentioned in my earlier post I do hear my string player neighbor who lives below me, but I just figured that was because I didn't happen to have a musician living above me.

Hello Bech,
I have lived in apartments and condos most of my life. I always get complaints from my downstairs neighbors. You have to be prepared for that, if you are thinking of renting any apartment. Try your hardest to get a house or townhouse. But if not, these a few tips that I have discovered from my many years of apartment living:
1. Always go for the lowest apartment in the building; preferably the corner unit. So, you will be sharing the least common walls.
2. Try to insulate your piano, and also the surroundings. Look into piano sound proofing; there are many websites that deal that. Invest also in a thick area rug with thick padding. I moved recently and had to spend close to 1K just to carpet and sound-proof my apartment!
3. "Warn"/introduce yourself to the tenants of closest the unit(s) to yours of your piano sound and tell them you won't practice after a certain hours. Work with them and try not to antagonize them. But be prepared to get some nasty ones! (Once I had a neighbor that complained even of my little dachschund running)
Best of luck!
JN
Ps. Go with acoustic piano

I generally agree with the "good neighbor" policy to apartment living. But it can get tricky. When I happened to be in the elevator with a (downstairs) neighbor, I casually asked if she could hear my piano playing, or something to that effect. She immediately tensed up a bit and said she could hear someone playing -- all the time.

As I hardly play "all the time" I really don't think it could have been me. Perhaps it was her next-door neighbor who is a professional string player, though she also doesn't play constantly. Besides, is it possible that a piano and a stringed instrument could sound the same to a casual, inexperienced listener? Who knows. Fortunately, nothing has come up since, but it certainly made me pause as to how much I want to draw someone's attention to "noise" coming from my unit.

I live in an apt and I got a silent option on my vertical. I can play with headphones for scales and repetitions, or in "quiet hours" but play normally between 9.30 am and 8pm.

I told my neighbours before buying that I was getting a piano and they were actually cool about it - now they tell me that they can hear me but it doesn't bother me. They've also told me they notice I'm improving, which is fun.

I'm really lucky though, my neighbours are very easygoing and one of them is also a musician - (I hear him playing too!). The family downstairs used to have a digital they played and they say they are considering taking it up again (the mum and the daughter).

As others have said, you have to ask if pianos are allowed, first of all.

Good luck!

If you live in an apt., condo, or townhouse, an acoustic piano is all but ruled out due to noise concerns. There are some people who claim they live in an apt. and play an acoustic piano, but I suspect they are casual players, that is, people who just play what they know well. If you're going to be challenging yourself on the piano, experimenting, and pushing the limits of your playing, then you'll drive the neighbors nuts on an acoustic piano.

A V-Piano is essentially a concert grand for $6000; you wouldn't be able to tire of it. I use a $600 Williams digital and I can't tire of it.

In very general terms, I'd recommending finding a "home" where you're not bothering other people, as opposed to an apartment, where you're likely to be "bothering" them. Either that, or (these days) invest in an electronic touch-sensitive keyboard and some earphones. I antagonized my lower-floor neighbors with my acoustic piano in an apartment dwelling, and ended up almost being asked to move out. Other posts here have indicated that they had quite sympathetic neighbors, but I can tell you that this certainly wasn't true in my case.

The first time I met my neighbours I was literally scared because I was afraid they would said something. I usually play my current digital with headphones, but I also play other instruments. The flute in particular has a sound that can be usually heard through the walls.
But they were actually very nice and just said "Hello, love!"...

I don't want to take advantage of their kindness though of course, that's why I want to buy a silent piano rather than a normal acoustic.

Didn't Horowitz live in an apartment? I know he played a big Steinway there. I'm sure too that it was an expensive place and probably had several rooms and possibly special insulation in the walls. Ever since I seen him interviewed in his apartment on YouTube I've been wondering how he played without neighbor problems. Anyone know?

Of course there are advantages to both a house and an apartment. I am really tired of yard work and house maintenance. An apartment avoids this. I forgot to mention I like good stereo equipment and plenty of volume so this and an acoustic piano would call for a house.

Believe it or not I know a guy who lives in Hemet, California who has small rock colored green for his "grass." No mowing for him!

Bech