Most everybody, when looking for a place to live, would see a house on the market right next to a county road thoroughfare and say “if only it weren’t next to the highway”. For me, it’s the opposite - I welcome it. The noise is barely audible from inside my house - although I hear it in my bedroom in the morning. But it provides a high “noise floor” outside the house - therefore noises that emanate from inside - like drums, for example - compete with the low rumble of cars, RV’s, and trucks flying by. Plus, there is no neighbor on that side of the house! It is also in a cul-de-sac, so my neighbor across the street is 100+ feet away. The house of my next door neighbor to the south is 50+ feet from mine, and behind the house is the athletic field of the Wayzata West Middle School. So a little rumble at 7:30 a.m. more than a fair tradeoff in exchange for being able to play the drums at 1:41 a.m.
In the last few years, I have invested considerable funds - and countless hours - installing sound treatments in the main floor living area, as well as the lower level of the house. The main floor, where the piano is situated, is treated for ideal acoustics in a recording environment. In the lower level studio, where the drums typically stay (sometimes they are in the main floor studio for recording/performances), the space is acoustically treated both for ideal sound, and also soundproofing, to prevent the very loud percussion - often with equally loud guitar + bass - from reaching the neighboring house.
My current project involves installing heavy tempered glass panels as noise transmission reinforcement for the windows in the main floor studio, allowing for higher volume ensemble levels to remain within the confines of the studio, and rendering any environmental noise from outside virtually inaudible. In the future, I plan to convert the garage - which currently exists as a woodworking/tool shop - into a third, full size live room recording/production/performance space.
