Unjust Noise Complaint

By t

Hi All, Just inquiring about some advice. I have lived in my apartment for over a year and a half. I attend SDSU as a music major, so quite obviously I need to practice at home to be ready for class. I have always been respectful of my neighbors in terms of the noise. I quite luckily am a guitarist and keyboardist, so i have volume knobs i turn all the way down as to not be too loud. The noise is as loud as a tv set to ten volume out of one hundred. So, not very loud, just enough to be audible, and be sure i am playing correctly. I never play before 10am, and i am sure to be done practicing by 6pm, staying in the alotted noise ordinance time. In the year and a half i have lived here, i have never had a fellow renter, landlord, or the police come to my door to talk to me about noise. That is, until this past week. I got a knock on my door at about 4pm, a hour after i stopped practicing. I open the door, and to my surprise, there are two police officers outside. I have never been in any sort of trouble with the law, so i was naturally perplexed as to why they were here. They then proceeded to tell me that they had received a noise complaint about my playing. The renter below  me, who has lived there a little more than a month, had called the police. Apparently he works at night, so he has to sleep during the day. The police gave me a warning, and told me if they received another call, i would be issued a ticket. I was quite annoyed with the fact that the renter neither knocked on my door, or informed the landlord, to let me know there was a problem. Had he done so, i would be much more sympathetic to his situation. I find it  ridiculous that i am expected not to play at 3pm. I know several responders will claim maybe the noise is louder than i think but i asked the tenents on either side of me, and they both said that the noise is at an acceptable level. What can i do? Not practicing my college material simply is not an option. I have rights too, don’t i? What can i do to defend myself should he call the police again?

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