I know this topic has been discussed several times but I'm wondering if anyone can provide me with a more specific answer.

I live in an apartment with hardwood floor. Even though I've placed an area rug & whole bunch of pillows, stuffings underneath, the sound of the piano still travels down to my downstair's neighbour. I'm thinking of getting bigger and thicker carpeting & maybe add multiple layers if necessary. Is there any material (rubber? foams?) I can put under the carpet to help dampen/absorb the sound?

I don't practice very often and when I do, it's always in the afternoon. While my neighbour has not made much complaints up to this point, I'd really like to minimize the noise level if at all possible.

Thanks.

You might consider that the sound could be transferring through the legs....

If you isolate the vibrating mass from the floor it might help...at least a little.

Large caster cups with a layer of insulating material (rubber from an old wetsuit) as an example, glued to the underside.

There are makers out there who provide an undercover which can be insulated.

If your piano tuner can voice your instrument to produce a mellower sound, that may help.

I have seen a large sheet of half inch plywood placed under the whole instrument including casters...underneath that was very thick neoprene....or very dense insulation material...that also works.

Check this site, they may have a solution:
http://www.stevespianoservice.com/soundabsorders.htm

Enlightened self-interest. It really does pay to be a considerate neighbor.

A bigger piece of thicker carpet, and a thick underlayment will help cut the sound transmission to the floor below. You might try the Piatino caster cups under the legs. They are not cheap, but they're designed to decouple the piano from the floor acoustically. Check the back numbers on the Tuner/Technician forum, Jurgen at Supply has posted some information about them not so long ago.

The piano is making the floor vibrate like a speaker, or another extra-large soundboard. If you interrupt the connection, it will help keep the sound where you want it--- with you.

You could dampen the sound of your grand by this way

I recently contacted Steve's Piano Service and ordered a set of sound-absorbing casters and four sheets of the 1" fiberglass stuff to reduce the volume of my baby Yamaha DGB1 grand disklavier.

The fellow I spoke with at the other end recommended the sound-absorbing eggcrate-style foam over the fiberglass, but I went with the fiberglass anyway. I figure I can always buy some foam if the fiberglass sheets and casters aren't sufficient. The package arrived quickly and sits unopened at our house, waiting for me to find the time to install it.

I will report back with my results, whenever I get around to installing it.

Lynn,

As has already been mentioned here, the first step is to be a courteous neighbor - which it appears you already are! Good for you to try to take measures to reduce the transmissions of vibrations. It sounds like we have an identical living situation.

I read quite a few helpful posts here (and on the Piano Tuner-Technicians Forum), and ended up buying the "big guns" of vibration reduction - Piattino Caster Cups.

The feedback I received from my neighbors was that it reduced the amount of sound by, they estimate, at least 50%.

They are made of polyurethane rubber surrounded by brass (or you can also order nickel). They are extremely high-quality devices, and they really look stunning. The rubber serves as a break between the caster and the wooden floor.

Here is what they look like:





They come with a bit of felt for the inside so the casters don't scratch the cups. As you can see, the cups are "low-rise", meaning they don't lift the piano too high off the floor (perhaps 1 cm). Rather, the mass of rubber surrounds the caster - meaning, I guess, that the additional mass absorbs even more vibrations.

Hope this helps - best of luck!

Cheers

Check out Steve's Piano Service but the same products are about half the price at McMasters.com........check my article I saved for times like this:
(Uprights only, can't help for Grand Piano)

After testing the best methods with a friend of mine (before I buy my piano, being a Condo Tenant), this is our results for what worked best.
Things you will need:
1- 48x48 Flexible Vinyl-Coated Fiberglass Sound Control Blanket – (9781T35)***
2- 4x6 Rug
3- 54x54 Flexible Egg-Carton Polyurethane Sound Absorbing Foam – (9710T46)***
4- Wool Disc – 6 inches diameter, ¼ inch thick, (4 total) – (8307K42)***
5- Piano Caster Cups – 5 ½ diameter (4 total)
Put the 48x48 Sound Control Blanket under the 4x6 Carpet, you should leave 6 inches on each side of the carpet, basically the sound control blanket is in the middle. (This will control the Bass notes mainly) The wool disk goes underneath the Piano Caster Cups. (This will control the vibrations throughout the legs of the piano). Put the 54x54 Sound Absorbing Foam behind the upright with the Egg side facing and barely touching the back of the piano, the flat side should be touching the wall. (This will control the mids and especially the highs, i.e., Yamaha highs exclusively) you can cut the top to your size upright.
You can buy this stuff at a reasonable price at www.mcmaster.com
The product numbers are at the top in ( *** )

(Total Cost $ 177.00)not including the Rug/ Piano Caster Cups which will be up to you, make sure they are 5 ½ inches in diameter because the wool disk are 6 inches.
It really works great!!

Very helpful, Nicholas and Aliwally.

I may combine both of your approaches.

Thanks everyone for all the suggestions.
The situation with my neighbour is a bit tricky b/c one loves it and wants me to play more and the other really would prefer I just leave my piano alone - can't satisfy everyone !

I went through Steve's website and I think this is what I'm going to get:
1) Fiberglass Vinyl sheet - given the dimension, I think I'm going to need 2
2) Egg-carton foams - guess I really need to brush up my arts & crafts skills !!! (I might end up trying the 4" wedge instead - it seems to offer stronger NRC for <500HZ)
3) Wool disks & Pianitto Castor Cups (I just noticed there's already 2 layers of rubber under my area rug, weird it didn't seem to have any impact on reducing the sound).

Nicholas, looks like your set up is very similar to mine - hardwood floor a rug under the piano. Do you ever consider putting carpets all over? I'm wondering how easy it is for the sound to escape through areas where there's no carpet. Btw, did you get the 2 5/8" or 3.5" cups?

Aliwally, thanks for the info, but I guess I forgot to mention I have a Yamaha baby-grand - no matter how baby it is, it's still quite loud !!

It looks like it's going to be quite a pricey venture I'm getting myself into but I've been keeping my fingers off the keyboard because I don't want to disburb anyone. If it finally allows me to get the noise level down to an acceptable level w/ my neighbour, then every penny will definately be worth it !

That's fine Lynn, but everything that is on Steve's site you can get at McMasters.com - it is the same place he buys it from. The pictures are the same as is the descriptions, he took them from the McMasters site. (Read them both to see) You will save a lot of money buying from McMasters, it's the same exact stuff, trust me.

Egg Cartons:

http://www.mcmaster.com/#sound-absorbers/=1xuol5


Fiberglass Sheets:

http://www.mcmaster.com/#fiberglass-absorbers/=1xup0j


Wool Disks:

http://www.mcmaster.com/#wool-felt/=1xuq3d


Scroll down to the items, you can see NRC, size, price, etc....


Save some money. McMasters ships immediately.

Peace.