Like another poster mentioned, I’d also like to see some photos of peoples’ various music rooms and practice studios!

My music room is actually quite well organised. I have a couple of bookcases for holding sheet music, music books, software instruction manuals, and magazines. The books of sheet music are stored in magazine holders. Loose music is hole punched & filed in ring binders, and manuscript paper books and pads live in a paper folder. The sheet music I’m currently playing, or use most often, is in a magazine holder on top of the piano.

I also have a small chest of drawers for holding small instruments, as well as things like my metronome, music software CDs, guitar tuner, strings, cleaning stuff, box of picks & similar small items. I have a corner desk for my computer & recording equipment, although cables can be a problem, as there’s only one power outlet in the room, so I have to use lots of extension cables. I do try to run them around the walls rather than across the floor where possible though.

As far as mess goes – my guitars are just leaning against the wall, and look a bit messy, but I’m about to buy a rack to store them in, which will save space as well as making them more secure. I also have an old keyboard & guitar that I’m not likely to use anymore, so I must let them go (I’m in no way a hoarder normally – just the opposite – but I do tend to hold on to musical instruments for some reason!). Unused guitar cases used to take up a lot of space, but I’ve now moved them into the roofspace cupboard just off my room.

I’m quite happy with the room overall, although more space would be nice (would love a drum kit & grand piano!)

At various points in my life I’ve played clarinet and a bit of guitar, and taken voice lessons. Now that I think about it, it was only the voice lessons that really created a stir, and it was in one apartment in which I had neighbors who were very fussy. (Though I admit a novice soprano with a strong voice probably wasn’t always the most appealing thing to hear. Heh.) I think the people who complained about my singing were the same ones who left me anonymous notes at the beginning of the Iraq war to take the anti-war sign out of my window, because it was on “their” home and they supported the war. I always considered MY apartment to be MY home, but…

Anyway, now and again I get it in my head to buy a clarinet again, or take up guitar and voice again, but Fear of Neighbors has made me hesitate. Since my current building is pretty tolerant, I probably fear needlessly, as long as I’m not going for operatic projection. And I have in mind more singer-songwriter stuff these days, so, we’ll see.

What I really want to know is how dwellers in apartments can take up musical instruments without getting in trouble with the neighbors and/or landlord!

Depending on the instrument, “quiet” or “silent” practice instruments and electric instruments do exist. They can get pricey and may not be the experience of the real thing, though. The best person to ask this question to is a professional teacher of whatever instrument you want to take up.

A similar string storage system (mine’s actually an oddly shaped box built into my desk)

A big bookshelf, with several binders and folders where music and lyrics go (I’ve got categories that make sense to me but may not to others). I have an “idea folder” where I throw loose, half-finished songs and when I’m lacking inspiration I look through it. Before those half-finished ideas either never got written down or were strewn about the house, eventually to be thrown out instead of finished.

Cable ties. I don’t have enough of these, but cable ties are amazing and make life far easier.

I got one of those stands that holds 3 guitars (or in my case basses). It’s right next to the desk I write at, so it is easy to get out the right tool for the job.

Quality headphones and a good DI: These mean that any time I have time, I can work on music, without bothering roomates or neighbours.

Our grandfather clock has a secret compartment in back of its face (it doesn’t have real clock workings) and I use that to store the miscellanea: polishing cloths, stands, tuners, metronomes, repair equipment.

My collection of non-silver flutes and penny whistles live in a basket on top of the piano, and the drums are stored in a corner. It ends up looking decorative instead of chaotic.

And, as Erin pointed out, works in the public domain are not affected by copyright.

What I really want to know is how dwellers in apartments can take up musical instruments without getting in trouble with the neighbors and/or landlord!

The binders I use for my sheet music look exactly like yours, except all the pages are in clear plastic pockets which allows me to take pages out if I need to (I have 2 pages in one pocket; only printed on one side, as often on the piano the page break is in a place where you just can’t afford sacrificing one hand to a page turn. This makes it easy to just put 3 or 4 pages next to each other on the piano). Plus you can easily take out the spine of the binder to add or remove plastic pockets as you wish.

@John – LOL!