Social anxiety and making music

[Linseca]

Hi everyone, I'm new to the forum so this is my first post

I have a question about people with sa who play music/sing or might even play in a band. Where do you go to practice? Right now I'm in a bit of an odd situation since I'm a college student whose moving out and getting my first apartment - and while I had no trouble practicing at home the idea of singing or making a lot of noise in an apartment worries me :: I've finally got to the point where I'm comfortable playing music or singing when I've practiced something enough and I know I have it down... but in the meantime I don't know how I'm going to go about that in an apartment (all I remember is a friend of mine mentioning how the drummers in her upstairs apartment always annoyed her w/ their practicing the same routine over and over)

I have pretty strong sa (hate calling people, meeting strangers, going around in very public places and all the usual) but for some reason showing people the end result of my art or music doesn't bother me that much. However I don't think I could EVER show people sketches or in this case have people around when I'm trying to write music or do vocal exercises or something...

Is there any other options like renting a storage space (I don't know how this works, or if it's ideal) or something else?

 

[scoobycrawler]

sorry im not really good at music and relaly i got no clue to help you with your problem so sorry i just trying to get my post number up but if i had an answer i would tell you but idk really thats kinda hard

 

[Linseca]

That's all right lol that's literally the reason I came here to ask (I wasn't sure myself)

 

[Mokkat]

I play bass and guitar, so luckily I can use a small amp or audio interface without making too much noise. I'd like to practice singing too though, but Im dead scared that it'll annoy my neighbours
When I lived with my parents, I was afraid of being noisy too. Probably because they don't have the slightest interest in my hobbies or music in general.

 

[Linseca]

Let me get this right. You would feeel embaresed if your neighbors would heard you doing vocalizees ?

Or just dont feel good cause u might be bothering them with the noise ?

Either way, you could put the music to the max to cover up your vocalizes, but u would get little feedback on how well u are singing
Or you could try to rent a house, not an apartment in a flat

gl with your career. i dunno why this video came in mind

YouTube - Susan Boyle (BEST quality) - Britains Got Talent

Haha well it's kind of a combo. Both vocal exercises, practicing or making new songs (I play guitar and sing... and in my opinion I don't sound that great when I'm still in the beginning process of creating new songs) and all the extra noise.

I'm literally looking at new apartments right now, but I'll look into that lol

Thanks! And I don't care what anyone says, I still think Susan Boyle is a badass. Even though I don't sing that style it's inspiring to see someone else who's a little unconventional succeed

 

[Linseca]

I play bass and guitar, so luckily I can use a small amp or audio interface without making too much noise. I'd like to practice singing too though, but Im dead scared that it'll annoy my neighbours
When I lived with my parents, I was afraid of being noisy too. Probably because they don't have the slightest interest in my hobbies or music in general.

Headphones plugged into your amp work great too! Although not always super ideal, but I did use them whenever my parents were home. The idea of neighbors/parents hearing a single thing I played (especially if it was something new) freaked me out also. Even at home I still worry about singing (if the neighbors can hear, how badly out of tune I might actually sound etc.) but the idea of doing it at an apartment kind of amplifies that. Haha, it's always nice to see other people w/ sa who play music.

 

[Pacific_Loner]

I had this same problem. If you are a student, there might have a music department where you can use cubicules (practice rooms). If you are like me and you find it necessary to be able to practice in your apartment, what I do everytime I move is telling the landlord that I play music but don't want to bother the neighbours, so does the place is well isolated against noise, etc. Good thing to do is also ask the neighbour if it will bother them and if it does, is there a time in the day where you could play without bothering them, this way you will feel more free to practice and less paranoid. Personnally I never had anyone complaining, only people telling me "oh noooo you don't bother me at all!!" It's still hard to practice knowing that there is people around that might be listening but you just have to try to forget it, you'll get used to it.

 

[BlackPuma]

Have you tried looking into low-cost sound isolation materials? I do it in low scale all the time. When I need to use something very noisy, I do it under a lot of laundry/blankets to filter out the harsh vibrations/sounds.

I haven't tried this in a larger scale, but perhaps you could build some kind of isolation cage (big enough for you to comfortably stand/sit in) with soft materials that absorb vibrations well.

 

[Whapz]

I know exactly how you feel. I listen to death metal and deathcore and I like doing those kinds of vocals, but living in the dorms at college I haven't been able to because I'm terrified of other people hearing me.

 

[vj288]

YouTube - Susan Boyle (BEST quality) - Britains Got Talent

I don't know why but this gave my chills to watch (and hear).

 

[Linseca]

Have you tried looking into low-cost sound isolation materials? I do it in low scale all the time. When I need to use something very noisy, I do it under a lot of laundry/blankets to filter out the harsh vibrations/sounds.

I haven't tried this in a larger scale, but perhaps you could build some kind of isolation cage (big enough for you to comfortably stand/sit in) with soft materials that absorb vibrations well.

Huh, I never actually considered just soundproofing the place (I guess I assumed it would be too expensive haha). But no, thanks I'll look into it

 

[Linseca]

I had this same problem. If you are a student, there might have a music department where you can use cubicules (practice rooms). If you are like me and you find it necessary to be able to practice in your apartment, what I do everytime I move is telling the landlord that I play music but don't want to bother the neighbours, so does the place is well isolated against noise, etc. Good thing to do is also ask the neighbour if it will bother them and if it does, is there a time in the day where you could play without bothering them, this way you will feel more free to practice and less paranoid. Personnally I never had anyone complaining, only people telling me "oh noooo you don't bother me at all!!" It's still hard to practice knowing that there is people around that might be listening but you just have to try to forget it, you'll get used to it.

Well I have to play in my apartment so I'll guess I'll have to mention it to neighbors and such - that'll definitely make me feel a little less paranoid :: hopefully it won't be too big of an issue

 

[Linseca]

I know exactly how you feel. I listen to death metal and deathcore and I like doing those kinds of vocals, but living in the dorms at college I haven't been able to because I'm terrified of other people hearing me.

That was one of my biggest fears when doing anything rock/metal oriented. There's such an emphasis on stamina/screaming that it's pretty much impossible to get away w/ doing it quietly. Totally understand your dorm fear...