I just finished school and have moved into an apartment. This is very strange for me since I've always had access to a practice room on campus or an open field at my parent's farm. My next door neighbors are now literally next door, and I don't want to upset the status quo with my playing.

Who of you practices regularly in an apartment? Things I would like to know from you are the following:
-do you practice exclusively in your apartment, or is there somewhere in your community that you can go to make a lot of noise when you need to?
-how did you introduce yourself to your upstairs neighbors? Was there bribery involved in some form or another (e.g. a house-warming gift)?
-if you are a member of a small ensemble such as a brass quintet, where do you rehearse?
-do you have any practice routines that don't bother the upstairs neighbors?
-do you use a mute to dampen your sound? Is it effective according to your neighbors?

Unrelated: I've just come off of a long hiatus from posting on this forum. I look forward to seeing what all has developed! If you're a regular here, send me a PM to introduce yourself. I'm trying to get more connected with the amateur brass community.

Several months in, I have nothing useful to report. My upstairs neighbors are very loud, and my horn practicing pales in comparison.

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To be clear, the volume of my upstairs neighbors is not a retaliation against my noise. They were loud weeks before I even got my horn out. I didn't notice how loud it was until I compared it to my horn playing.

When I lived in a duplex and practiced I used a fairly simple practice mute. My neighbors were quiet and definitely would have heard if I didn't use it. I think best to play nice and they'll not feel they have to compensate for your loud practice by being even louder.

Yamaha SB3XC Silent Brass System for French Horn is an ideal mute that allows a player to hear him or herself but also blocks out noise almost completely to anybody who's not in the same room. In other words, only people in the same room can here the player, but it is very faint. This information is only from the reviews, because I am only saving for one. They are a little pricey, but from what I've heard, they're very handy for musicians with small practicing space or who travel in hotels frequently. I myself practice with neighbors, but at reasonable times for only 2 hours maximum, and they don't seem to mind at all. Good luck finding a solution!