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I have had bands where creating neighborhood noise wasn't welcome; and we didn't want to muffle the drums, either. As we were usually in the garage, we had room, it just needed a sound barrier to keep the noise in (and out, as alot of times we did recording as well.) We basically build a sound proof room. It was really simple to do, and it was cheaper than renting out a hall somewhere.

We used all sorts of materials. We saved up egg cartons which we attached to ceiling usually with stick pins and/or thumbtacks. We also carpeted the floor with remenants of all shapes and sizes to gain control of the acoustics in the room. With the walls, it was great is we could find the egg crate foam alot of people use on beds. This too, you can attach with stickpins, but small nails (or a staple gun) works much better.

For the doors, we took 4' x 8' pieces of plywood covered usually with carpet or eggcrate foam and place them between the doors and the band. We built a brace so the 4' x 8' boards were freestanding. This way you could move go in and out of the room without having to lug the plywood buffers around. We used two to stand between the band and the garage door and it worked very well in cutting noise both in and out of the garage.

If I were going to practice in a basement, I'd do it the same way; concrete does tend to let sound bounce and travel, so cover it and keep as much sound as you can to yourself!

I know some people live in appartments, and well, there's nothing to be done with that. You're in the same boat as pianists are - unless you go digital, you'll have to go to where the instrument is to practice.

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