Oh my – what a wonderful city Munich is – even if it is raining. And one of the first things I saw after climbing 4 flights of stairs to my brother and sister-in-law’s apartment in the Haidhousen area of Munich, was a wooden “whisper” room.

My brother is a horn player – a world-class horn player. He is presently principal horn for the Bavarian Radio Orchestra and for 30 some years was principal horn for the Munich Philharmonic. After finding this new apartment right in the middle of a park near the Iser River, he had to convince the landlord that his 3 times a day practicing wouldn’t be obstrusive. Somehow he was able to get the potential landlord to visit someone who had a “whisper” room in their apartment so that he could hear that there was really no sound emerging.

So there it was – a 13,000 Euro wooden room with snap together sides that block 95% of the sounds he makes when practicing. And even after nearly 40 years of playing the horn, scales 3 X a day are not the most pleasant sound for the average neighbor.

I was instantly jealous – because I could hear the low low low noise floor and knew that I would be very happy in that room. He has it hung with mirrors and pictures and a ventilation system – which is great for him, because he is trying to keep his noise out, not outside noise from coming in.