I live in an apartment with neighbours above and below me. I play the Celtic harp. I suppose this is one of the least obnoxious instruments possible, but, like any live instrument, the sound probably does carry a bit. Furthermore, when I’m trying to learn a new piece I will play the same thing over and over again. If you were my neighbour:
At what time in the morning would you think is a reasonable time to start?
At what time at night would you think I should I stop?
How long would you think it reasonable to go on for in a given sitting?
Any opinions? I work strange hours, so I can do my best to accommodate other residents, but I don’t want to stop playing because I’m making it a bigger thing in my head than it really is.
Ask your neighbors. No-one else will have any idea. Personally it wouldn’t worry me what you did. Screaming kids playing outside my place don’t annoy me in the least. From the complaining by other neighbors I gather that it annoys them a lot.
I park my car at work in a secure rented spot in a residential apartment block. I have been parking there for about 8 years. When I first started parking there I noticed that every day that I left around 5, as I walked up the steep drive of the block, I could hear what I presumed was a child playing terrible scales on a piano. The kid was persistent because every day I would hear these scales.
Slowly they became poorly performed tunes, and then not so poorly performed tunes. And then, a short while ago, I actually stopped while walking up the drive to listen for a moment to a little bit of Bach. It was pretty impressive. I actually wondered whether I should go in to the block, find the flat with the pianist and reveal that they had a fan. A fan who had followed them since they were crap.
Your OP has made me realize that I haven’t heard any piano there for months. Not since Christmas I would think. And now I regret not going in and finding the mystery pianist.
That’s really funny and a good answer. I think it’s a great idea to introduce yourself to your neighbors, to let them know that you play harp and that you don’t want to bother anyone, and to offer to play in one room or another (to avoid playing above/below their bedroom, for example). Make it clear that you’re going to play but want to be a good neighbor.
Which brings me to what I think is another good answer: If you play as loudly as a television, you’ll probably be within your rights. Check municipal ordinances and the terms of your lease to be sure.
I’d say it’s reasonable to play from 9:00 to 22:00, but if one of your neighbors works nights, you should take that into account. You can also try to mute the strings (foam or something between the strings) if you’re going to be playing very early or late.
As a general rule of thumb, doing loud activities should be limited to times roughly 9 or 10 AM to 9 or 10 PM, maybe a little earlier or later depending on the demographics of your neighbors (ie, if there’s lots of kids, may need to be more aware of noise sooner). As a musician myself, I’ll practice at pretty much any hour of the day, but since I play piano, I can just play my keyboard with the volume lower if I feel the need to do it late.
My advice would be to go by ear and see what your neighbors do and how much of it you can hear. Can you hear their TVs? If no, chances are you’re safe playing at roughly that level whenever you might listen to your TV. If you can hear their TV, just use that as a gauge to know what volume you can play at as it gets later.
If you have some kind of sound dampening below your harp’s base, to help reduce the sound transmitted into the floor, I’m sure that would be appreciated by the downstairs neighbors. I don’t know if they make a product especially for this, or if just a couple layers of carpeting would be enough.