Are Pipes too loud for an apartment?

Baen · Post by **Baen** » Sun Sep 07, 2003 9:20 pm

I'm on the verge of ordering a practice set (a concert D set), but am wondering whether I'm asking for trouble trying to learn them in an apartment setting? Are there any ways to dampen the sound? Does acoustical soundproofing work? I don't want to alienate my neighbors. I thought of Scottish Smallpipes, but am not as enthused with them as with the Uilleann Pipes.

If they're just too loud, maybe I'll just stick with the whistle! Any apartment dwelling pipe players out there?

many thanks,
Baen

Tony · Post by **Tony** » Sun Sep 07, 2003 9:43 pm

Baen,
I don't live in an apartment but I've used a decibel meter to measure the volume of several different sets of pipes.
Do sounds like stereo, alarm clocks, banging pots & pans, slamming of doors pass through the walls?? if so, you're guaranteed to be heard... but your neighbors will hear you play whistle too!
Pipes are around 80-100db
If you're already addicted, you may have to make a special sound proof enclosure not to be heard into the next apartment.

Here is some previous discussion of loud pipes:
http://chiffboard.mati.ca/viewtopic.php ... a85db8cda5

Baen · Post by **Baen** » Sun Sep 07, 2003 10:07 pm

Thanks, Tony,
I read the back posts on hearing loss, and...quite an education. Here I was worrying more about other people being annoyed at the sound of pipes, whereas of equal or greater importance is one's own hearing. A friend of mine commented that I would want to be careful of hearing loss, since the pipes can be loud. I dismissed it at the time, but now see that she was right.

I know that in Bill Ochs instruction book for the Clarke tin whistle, he says that if you're going to play in the third octave, you should definately wear hearing protection. Once I was just noodling around and went into third octave notes, and the next day had some pain in the ears. I bit of a warning there!

From what I've been reading here, it seems that by using different reeds, you can quiet the sound down quite a bit. Can you do it to the extent that you could make the noise level tolerable--for both yourself and for your neighbors?

Baen

Tony · Post by **Tony** » Sun Sep 07, 2003 10:25 pm

My honest answer is no.
You can adjust a reed to play quieter, but you run the risk of affecting the sound quality, intonation and overall playing performance, especially with a wide bore D (concert pitch) chanter.

Are you already playing whistle??

Kevin L. Rietmann · Post by **Kevin L. Rietmann** » Sun Sep 07, 2003 10:26 pm

Read all the posts here on "narrow bore" D chanters, which are quieter by some degree than the session monsters. Maybe just a bit louder than your smallpipes.
You can always tell your neighbors to, uh, em, mind their own business. Mine have always liked the piping, although admittedly the first one was an inarticulate schizophrenic and the second drank his body weight in Pabst Blue Ribbon every day. No, they were like that when they moved in, smartasses!

lemonsquash · Post by **lemonsquash** » Sun Sep 07, 2003 10:32 pm

Does the apartment have a spouse or anyone of that nature in it? Your neighbors can, as Kevin says, mind their own b. A spouse is trickier.

kevin m. · Post by **kevin m.** » Mon Sep 08, 2003 12:36 am

I Live in an apartment with neighbours on both sides(who have kids,so they are used to noise),and a neighbour downstairs to me.I think that it's the guy downstairs who will be an involuntary audient when my pipes arrive (D Concert chanter).
I already play the whistle and flute,and have had no complaints about noise levels,though I try not to go 'Hell for leather' most of the time (The downside of this is that my playing can end up being too 'reserved')
Also,I try to stick to practicing at 'sensible' times-i.e. practicing that latest reel at 3am = NOT RECOMMENDED!

Uilliam · Post by **Uilliam** » Mon Sep 08, 2003 12:46 am

Ye don't have to stay in the apartment,local park,wood,beachchurch hall etc etc etc
Slan go foill
liam

j dasinger · Post by **j dasinger** » Mon Sep 08, 2003 1:12 am

I think it's quite easy to quiet down the chanter by adjusting the reed. While what Tony said is true about the sound quality being affected, it's really not that bad. It actually sounds normal in my apartment, I only notice how quiet it is when I go play with other musicians. You can make the reed too easy so it will want to jump octaves when you don't want it to, but I've found that my chanter reaches an appropriate quietness before that point. I play at all hours of the night and early morning and I've never had anyone complain. Although I think it mostly depends on how good the insulation is at your apartment building. A good test is, if you can often hear your neighbor's TV, radio, or alarm clock, then they will most definitely hear you playing. In my apartment, I never hear a peep out of my neighbors. Anyway, get the pipes, worry about these details later.
j.

Baen · Post by **Baen** » Mon Sep 08, 2003 4:28 am

I appreciate all the great input, and nice to know that there are some pipers who do actually live in apartments, and it doesn't necessarily have to be a problem.

Playing the whistle at odd times when others aren't likely to be home seems to help, or when enough other noise is happening that it doesn't seem an issue. On one of the websites it has info. on quieting them down by using a piece of tape to partially cover the fipple window.

I've emailed the maker (Seth Gallagher) and asked him if his chanters are wide bore or narrow bore.

Baen

Tony · Post by **Tony** » Mon Sep 08, 2003 4:37 am

I think your answer will be wide bore and louder than your average chanter.

Baen · Post by **Baen** » Mon Sep 08, 2003 8:23 am

Yikes...any suggestions for other makers? Or if you would send me a PM, that would be great. I know people have different opinions on this, and I don't want to be divisive.

Can one use a different reed to make a loud bore chanter as quiet as a small bore chanter? Or can one request a maker make a narrow bore chanter, if that isn't what they typically make?

Baen

No E · Post by **No E** » Mon Sep 08, 2003 12:34 pm

When I started playin (on a Seth Gallagher wide-bore concert D set), I was living in a condo with neighbors on all sides (left, right, above and below). I did get the occassional comment ("hey, that almost sounds like music!"), but no real complaints. I did set some commone sense rules for myself, e.g. no practising after 9:00pm, no practising before 10:00am on the weekends, etc. I also told my neighbors to let me know if my playing was bothering them; aparently, it didn't.

With a little planning, common sense and courtesy it can be done!

No E

Post by **Nanohedron** » Mon Sep 08, 2003 12:40 pm

Baen, if you put up with rap and hiphop, they can put up with the pipes. Parity is a word that fits the case.

fancypiper · Post by **fancypiper** » Mon Sep 08, 2003 1:13 pm

I have had neighbors who would put their ears to the wall so they could hear my (bad) practicing. :roll: Most of my neighbors have been great and if the door is cracked, they knock and come in.

I have to play tunes I already know then, because I feel as if I am performing is I know someone is listening to me.

I only had one complaint about music. I had the window open during a very nice day and a trombone player (who would never play any for me, so I wonder) complained about me playing whistle. I had to shut my windows when I wanted to practice.

Apparently the whistle will carry further than the pipes, even though they are quieter.

I have a fairly loud D 1/2 set by Mark Hillmann, possibly louder than the Gallagher but the two are fairly close in volume. I do have louder drones than any other set I have heard.

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Are Pipes too loud for an apartment?

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