So tonight I was doing some vocal exercises while downstairs in the kitchen. My parter was upstairs in the shower. Perfect time to do them!

Unfortunately, after she had finished, she came downstairs and scolded me for making such a racket! She could hear me while she was in the shower.

I know there's not much I can do about the structure/design of the place we live in, but are there any tips or tricks you guys have for keeping the effect on other people to a minimum? I'm willing to try anything!

I'm a very driven person, but in my experience (I've played guitar for many years) annoying the people around you makes it a lot harder to improve. Partly because you know you're annoying them when you practice and partly because they will say anything to get you to stop annoying them - including putting you down. My partner is very reasonable too (puts up with me being out a few nights a week for band practices plus at least one gig per weekend), so I want to try to meet her half way with this.

Don't be shy, any crackpot method is good by me!

Depending on what type of room you practice in, is it ie, floor boards, big windows, not many curtains etc. Depend on how crazy full you want to go, if your renting it will be more a problem to solve. But if its your house then you could put insulation & carpet/curtains/foam boards on the floors/walls/door etc. This can be very expensive, just depends on what you can afford, and to do it right becomes a bit of a nightmare!! There are lots of different sound proofing methods. Maybe check out a websites about this topic, there are a myriad of em.
The easiest thing may be to rent a rehearsal room. That way you can take/hire a mic and do mic work (backing tracks) also.
Unless there is someone you know with a garage or bungalow, spare room not being used. maybe ask if you can hire it at mates rates :) and see what they say. you never know. anywhere churches, try anything. How i frustrating, especially someone putting you down. You need to be in a positive environment, let alone sound proof

i hope this helps in some way

Rock Out

buy her some ear plugs

To add to lee's comment: buy yourself some too, incase the nagging/insults start coming.

Maybe get a vam too, and that sends a great deal of the sound back at you instead of letting it expand throughout the room.

I faced the exact same problem today! but with my neighbour who lives across the street. according to him, 4 different families have come and gone from the apartment next to his in the last 2 months...and i don't even use a mic! (i'm sort of proud of this in a perverse way - it's so very rock 'n' roll!)

anyway, i made my peace with him by telling him that i'd be practicing from 7 pm to 9 pm every evening. you could do the same...reach an understanding over the timings. this is your partner after all - if my neighbour could agree, i'm sure a partner wouldn't have any problem

my partner often sits in the same room when i practice, by the way...and she isn't into metal or any heavy music otherwise

you could also do it in the car. I do mine while driving around and somehow it makes traffic much more tolerable. maybe its because i know that the traffic isn't wasted time

btw the car doesn't have to be moving. you could just drive to some remote location and practice just like alice cooper did

i know this may sound completely weird and/or "ghetto" but i heard that egg cartons are great sound proofers for walls and floors. my grandmother is collecting some to try out on her ceiling because she hates all the racket we make upstairs with our music

Ever see that guy on youtube that practices in his car because his house is full of kids? He's ******* good at singing. Try that!

When someone complains I just start singing "THIS IS THE PAINKILLER!" whilst pointing to myself and yelling right into their ear. It doesn't stop annoying anyone but they'll leave you alone and you can practice as long as you want.

How about good ol fashion head phonage

Hey Vats

I couldnt help but laugh at your neighbour thang. I swear everytime i go to do the crazy screams, squawks, honks etc my neighbour goes out and starts up his chain saw hahahaha, I literally rofl
I think he thought i was being murdered or i had some weird exotic animal hiding out wid me

Thats why its good having a lot of space between houses.

Try to sing in a walk in closet full of clothes. That should help a little tiny bit.

Def try the car! If its still too loud somehow for your neighbors, drive to an empty parking lot or something. I've never tried it, but it seems like a good idea.

Yeah I do about 90% of my vocal exercises in the car!!!

I personally hate the car my ears are bad and the acoustics are terrible in a car. This doesn't really help the convo I just thought I'd throw it out there.

Well if the acoustic suck, you'll strive for better tone. So then go into a good acoustic room, and your godlike.

Think about it that way 8)


I just tell my mom, "i'm going upstairs to sing". She doesn't mind, she finds it quite interesting to hear hahaha.

I wonder what Jaime does? Married, with a voice that can shatter wine glasses. Must be hard to plan around that haha.

I also practice a lot in the car but because I don't have much time and have to do it while travelling to work.
I always have some air coming in through the glasses, this reduces the annoying sensation of high air/sound pressure in my ears.

And no, egg cartons do not isolate, they have a slight absorbtion and diffusion effect, what you need to isolate is something havy and rigid, like a brickwall for example...
Frank

"a voice that can shatter wine glasses. Must be hard to plan around that"

*pictures a formal dinner where guests manage to coax jaime to sing a little bit only to find the wine flying all around and over them from broken glasses and bottles*