You are right on the legal part and yes, I have the right to practise in my own house within the allowed hours.

But there is the aspect of co-existence and not having and angry enemy in front you r door apartment. So far I prefer to yield a little and use a less conflicting space if I can find and arrange it.

My garage is fine to play, though people can still hear the flute from the building entrance, it is low enough to be not disturbing. The main problem is that the acoustic of the place is so brilliant that I get a wrong idea of my tone. Inside the car, the acoustics is dry and similar to the one in my lessons' room at the music school.

No acoustic or human breath powered instrument is loud enough to violate any city's noise limits or restrictions. Cities have strict limits on acceptable hours for loud noises, but they tend to start at about 10pm. As long as you comply with these two rules to the letter, simply ignore your neighbor.

If you live in an apartment and the noise (or music) you make can be heard within other apartments in the same complex, your landlord can legally evict you, despite the time of day. Even if he couldn't, however, it is beyond rude to persist in making noises that can be heard in other apartments, especially if other tenants have complained to you.

I suggest Jose-Luis either make one of the rooms in his apartment sound-proof or erect a sound-proof chamber within a room. Otherwise, he can enroll in a local college and use their practice rooms or find a church or retirement home with practice space.

I am owner and my Queen of Night is renting, so eviction is difficult but anyway I want to remain friendly with all my neighbours. In the worst case I can continue playing in my parking... Or the car. I would love that solution, but I have no money and space to soundproof a room or have a soundproof cabin.

I've experienced the neighbor from hell, and agree that legality doesn't enter into it. It's just not fun. A ticked off neighbor can make your life unendurable. Best to remain friendly if possible.

short update:

I sharing my practise time between garage and car. For the car, I slightly modified an old music stand (just took the detachable upper part, and bent the two extension arm) so that it fits on the driving wheel and stays there firm and in good position.

So far, so good and my angry neighbour has returned me her morning hello!.

Somehow I find the idea of practicing in a car fairly disturbing. Anyway, if it's in a shared garage, carbon monoxide will tend to accumulate, and since the flute requires a lot of breath, you could easily be getting inadvisable levels in your bloodstream. But even if that is not the case, it's just too ridiculous.

I think you are exaggerating the difficulty of soundproofing. Evidently there is some area in your dwelling where you would practice were it not for your neighbor, so there's room, however tiny. Just make a small enclosure of old blankets and pillows wrapped around old boxes (or whatever you have available) up to the ceiling. Test it with a friend. If that doesn't work sufficiently, pile some more blankets and pillows on. I've done this in several apartments with various instruments. (I've also practiced the cornet regularly in a park at night with no one in sight.)

Thanks. I live in a small apartment building and there only 7 parking places. I own one. There is no risk of CO poisoning because the cars do not run at the time I practise.

Anyway I agree this is a little bit ridiculous. I would not mind, but though I solved the music stand problem for playing inside the car (the origin of this thread), it is still uncomfortable. I am not used to playing seated. I need to move around a little and also the space is too reduced , my elbows are constantly touching things and this does not help

So right now, I play almost always besides the car. I know now that I am heard from the ground floor and building entrance, but these are common areas. But at least I have no more conflicts with neighbours.

I also have a small terrace and I could arrange some soundproof area there, but right now I feel too lazy for that.

I would like to ad that getting rid of the neighbourhood limitations has allowed me to practise more, everyday or twice a day and I have made good progress. So I am happy in spite of all he inconveniences.

OOPS! I meant "would like to add"