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Complaining neighbour

But we're talking about Essex..
LOL....indeed we are.

Just seems to me that contacting the res council isn't particularly 'aggressive', particularly in light of the neighbor having done same.

I actually DO hope for OP sake that neighbor just knocks it off. if within the rules of a tenancy agreement, everyone is entitled to practice their axe at sane hours.

One other option I thought of was....if there's a walk-in type closet in the unit, those can be pretty easily 'soundproofed' with easily-available materials, so that would mitigate volume significantly, while allowing musician to play unencumbered by any additional apparatus slapped on the horn.
 
One other option I thought of was....if there's a walk-in type closet in the unit, those can be pretty easily 'soundproofed' with easily-available materials, so that would mitigate volume significantly, while allowing musician to play unencumbered by any additional apparatus slapped on the horn.
The saxophone shop where I go, has one of these:
Well, actualy a bit larger than this model, but this one would be OK for home use.
Price for this model in the Netherlands would be close to € 5.000,- Geluidsstudios.nl - Studio Bricks One - Dé specialist van NL.
 
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What an opportunity. Play to the album by ear... with repetition you'll be s***hot

You might find you'll need to ask him/her to turn it up
Now That is a good idea, and you can progress as a better layer!! Be Positive.....Regards
 
Closets are very absorbent. Soft reeds and thin mouthpiece openings help as well. And then there's insulation around the cracks in the door.
 
I have horn-playing friends who have used stuff like this, lining the walls and ceiling of the closet. It does significantly mute the volume when you listen from outside the room. thing is you cannot do it half-arsed. Gotta cover the entire surfaces.

 
I also have the Sax Mute One and use it in conjunction with the MMD Saxmute sponges, together, they reduce the sound to that of a quiet radio but there is a bit of a tradeoff in sound at the top and bottom ends of the range (I play alto) although that might be my poor playing ! Fortunately my neighbours are very nice and didn't complain even before I got the mutes but as a beginner then and now still learning slowly, It must be very annoying to hear someone play the same part (badly in my case but even very well) over and over again (I'm a slow learner) and I know I wouldn't like it although I fully agree your neighbour is being stupid as well as unpleasant. Bad neighbours can be hell so I wouldn't risk escalating it even though you're within your rights in all aspects. Wishing you the best of luck with this, David
 
I also have the Sax Mute One and use it in conjunction with the MMD Saxmute sponges, together, they reduce the sound to that of a quiet radio but there is a bit of a tradeoff in sound at the top and bottom ends of the range (I play alto) although that might be my poor playing ! Fortunately my neighbours are very nice and didn't complain even before I got the mutes but as a beginner then and now still learning slowly, It must be very annoying to hear someone play the same part (badly in my case but even very well) over and over again (I'm a slow learner) and I know I wouldn't like it although I fully agree your neighbour is being stupid as well as unpleasant. Bad neighbours can be hell so I wouldn't risk escalating it even though you're within your rights in all aspects. Wishing you the best of luck with this, David

If you havent got any complains, you aint trying hard enough . practice more!
 
I've had some major issues from my downstairs neighbours over the 3+ years since I moved into my flat. Parties, "plant smoking", banshee wailing and a lot of 90's R&B at all hours. I put up with it until a few nights ago when I lost my rag. The thing is, I knew they'd call me out on my saxophone playing, even though I only play about 2 hours in the afternoon every day. I went down and said my bit firmly but calmly. I'm a millennial too (!) and I understand people having a 'good time' but these people are wild!

The husband began shouting about my all-day 'flute' playing and a lot of other unrepeatables. The thing that keeps bothering me is the 'flute' comment. I'm playing alto. I want a dark tone, I'm not a fan of bright alto! That comment got to me.

With the lockdown everyone is home in the day and that's when I've always practiced. I live alone and am home throughout the day. Saxophone is my escapism and my daily stress reliever. I was playing quietly before all this happened and when I went to have my second sax lesson the teacher told me I was too quiet. I said it was a result of living with neighbours all around me!

The neighbours said my 'flute' playing had improved over the year (I'd already told them it was a saxophone) so that's something. Obviously they were being facetious. I told them "If I sound good, I'm not learning"...

Well, I'm glad I got that off my chest in the café. Thanks. This lockdown thing isn't easy when you're living alone, especially with pre-existing health problems.

Maybe I'll get a tenor next week...
 
I must be lucky. When I play my bari, no complaints, but I can be heard 2 houses away
 
I can’t give too many details but this person has unfortunately got reasoning issues , if you get my meaning Halfers , Just unluckily, actually the person plays good music but plays the album on repeat many 100s of times . its bonkers ... really .
I had a similar situation with a neighbour in Edinburgh when i lived there! (played a different instrument back then) but they would retaliate with an album on repeat for hours on end! I went to a second hand shop one day and bought 5 or 6 fairly decent albums, and taped them to his door in an envelope with a note!
Note said "thanks for the free music over the last few months, but its got to the stage im getting sick of playing along to the same album every day and you dont seem to have any more, so i took the liberty of buying these for you to play in their place! they are slightly more challenging tunes and id like to learn them too.... if your wouldnt mind playing them on occasion i would be forever in your debt.

PS. What speakers are you using? Id be interested in getting a set of them myself, the quality of the sound even thru the walls is outstanding!"

I had a knock at the door that evening and the guy simply said "fair play, but i work nights would you mind practicing about an hour later in the day to let me sleep a little longer? I said no problem and invited him in for a beer!

Never heard another thing from him after that!!!!
 
I would not recommend this but our previous neighbour was a deeply unpleasant lady in her 70s (she was even on neighbours from hell over a long standing dispute with her other neighbour where she counted kerb stones and decided the neighbour had stolen a 6” strip of land). She used to play music VERY loud if she saw either of us relaxing in the garden. As we back onto woodland which is peaceful and filled with birdsong this was annoying. I very politely asked her if her would turn it down. Her response was that she could play it as loudly as she liked and I could do the same if I chose to. My gig rig for bass guitar consists of a 1000w Terror bass head and two massive barefaced cabs. So for the next three days I put ear defenders on and practiced at full gig volume. After three days she knocked the door and suggested it may be best if we both turned down a little to which I happily agreed, after making sure she saw the size of the speakers through the door. Thankfully I don’t have any other neighbours or I would not be popular! I practice the sax in the utility room as it’s the furthest I can get from our new neighbour.
 
I would not recommend this but our previous neighbour was a deeply unpleasant lady in her 70s

Just out of interest. What sort of music did this particular unpleasant lady in her 70's play at high volume?
 
Just out of interest. What sort of music did this particular unpleasant lady in her 70's play at high volume?
Weirdly for someone of that age it was radio 1, so you can imagine the utter tripe that was around in the early 2010s. And she would wait until she saw us outside and then turn It on full blast with the patio doors open, she never did it if we were in the house. She really was an odd cookie, she used to film us continuously if we worked outside, that didn’t bother me ( I doubt there is a website for ‘slightly sweaty man mows the garden) but when she started filming my young daughter in our garden I did get the Police to go and have a word. She also planted stuff in our front garden randomly. Generally we didn’t get too much trouble, the lady the other side got massive amounts of hassle and there were regular bust ups over the fence that the Police would intervene with. She also had her porch knocked down by the coppers when she was on holiday as the other neighbour reported that a strange smell was coming from the house. I stood with a bottle of old peculiar watching that (after telling them she was on holiday - they said they couldn’t chance it). It really is a quiet area but you just need one strange one..............
 
The stories above show that 1: two reasonable people can come to an agreement without too much fuss 2: two reasonable people can be forced through circumstances to come to an agreement 3: One unreasonable and one reasonable persons can fight each other to an agreement, but 4: two unreasonable people will never come to an agreement whatever the circumstances and the fight will just escalate. I’m too old to spend my time fighting the petty things in life. I want to fight the big fights if and when I have to. So if I have to be a reasonable person in the schema above I’ll try to be that. Doesn’t mean I’m a pushover because I’ll fight my corner but there’s always room for compromise. It’s all in the mindsets. Dieu et mon droit, numerous wars.
 

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