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disturbing the neighbors
- Thread starter Garry Raines
- Start date
And the police may show up at your door—whether you like it or not.
As a teen, our group had an on-going gig at a leading bar, restaurant club. One night the manager came to me and asked me to keep my bass volume down until at least 9:00pm. He said several quests were complaining about their filet mignons bouncing on their plates. After the band got finished laughing, I turned it down.
Hmmm, this may very well explain why your avatar is a photo of a child with blood coming out of his/her ear.
I think people are missing the point. It is not the rehearsal space that is too loud, it is the frequencies vibrating through the walls to the neighbors' homes. That is the inherent nature of sound, bass frequencies carry. The remedy would be to sound proof the room as much as possible.
I get ya. I think sometimes we forget that when we bounce a thundering low B against a wall 10 feet away, the entire wall acts as a speaker diaphragm!
I once had a bar patron ask me to turn down my bass because it was making her beer go flat
...
I wanted to tell her it was going flat because she wasn't drinking it fast enough
...but I didn't..
...I wanted to tell her it was going flat because she wasn't drinking it fast enough
...but I didn't..
This.
My Rumble 100 turned my apartment into a giant bass reflex cab when it was sitting on the floor. I put the amp on a stand and the the problem minimised.
Just a fact of physics, low frequencies are going to carry further than mids and highs. Bass frequencies are going to penetrate walls that otherwise stop mids and highs. Bass is sometimes almost non-existent in the room with the amp, but can be rattling foundations outside. So unless you can afford to build an acoustically sound practice room, I'm guessing not, you have two easy things to try to start.
One is, everyone turn down. I'll tell you from years of experience that volume will fool you. Blaring volumes mask a lot that is wrong and that you should be aware of. If you have to play at a blaring loud volume to sound good, you're not good, you're just masking garbage with noise. The best bands can play their material at low volumes and still sound full, punchy and edgy. That doesn't require volume if you know how to play.
Second is, as has been pointed out, you need to be sure you're not cranking out a bunch of low and sub bass unnecessarily. You may need to add a hi-pass filter, but first just don't boost the low end of your eq and see if that's all that's required. Same as what I said above applies to bass frequencies. A bunch of bottom end clouds the whole bass up and masks what''s really going on. A lot of bass players use that because they don't want what's really going on exposed. Don't be one of those. If you go for a more midrange-forward sound, at least for rehearsal, you'll hear what you're playing better and most importantly you'll hear what is not right.
One is, everyone turn down. I'll tell you from years of experience that volume will fool you. Blaring volumes mask a lot that is wrong and that you should be aware of. If you have to play at a blaring loud volume to sound good, you're not good, you're just masking garbage with noise. The best bands can play their material at low volumes and still sound full, punchy and edgy. That doesn't require volume if you know how to play.
Second is, as has been pointed out, you need to be sure you're not cranking out a bunch of low and sub bass unnecessarily. You may need to add a hi-pass filter, but first just don't boost the low end of your eq and see if that's all that's required. Same as what I said above applies to bass frequencies. A bunch of bottom end clouds the whole bass up and masks what''s really going on. A lot of bass players use that because they don't want what's really going on exposed. Don't be one of those. If you go for a more midrange-forward sound, at least for rehearsal, you'll hear what you're playing better and most importantly you'll hear what is not right.
My neighbor is a divorcee who doesn't have his kids most of the time and every Tuesday night his band practices till 10-10:15pm. 4 hours of loud pounding when you've got little kids trying to sleep kinda sucks.
I can hear the guitar and vocals, but the thing that makes it unbearable is the drums and especially the bass. That's the element that constantly is heard through the walls. I've asked a few times and my neighbor (the drummer) is cordial, but clearly not understanding enough.
I agree about turning down the lower frequencies and even practicing at reasonable volumes as a band. My band in HS and college practiced at loud volumes, but never in residential areas (always in a practice space), and now, 15 years later, I would practice in a much more reasonable level as the musicians I run with have matured.
I can hear the guitar and vocals, but the thing that makes it unbearable is the drums and especially the bass. That's the element that constantly is heard through the walls. I've asked a few times and my neighbor (the drummer) is cordial, but clearly not understanding enough.
I agree about turning down the lower frequencies and even practicing at reasonable volumes as a band. My band in HS and college practiced at loud volumes, but never in residential areas (always in a practice space), and now, 15 years later, I would practice in a much more reasonable level as the musicians I run with have matured.
Lol, it does not explain it, but your theory is probably sound regardless.
Does the picture bother you?
My neighbors on one side of my house are the nicest people going; if I ever was asked by them to keep it down a little, I’d be apologetic and would certainly comply.
My neighbor on the other side of my house is someone who talks to others, both in person and on his phone, at Foghorn Leghorn volume at 7:30 AM on a Sunday morning. Loud enough to wake me from a sound sleep in my own house. He will get no consideration from me at all. Our local noise ordinances do not allow enforcement between 6:30 AM and 10:00 PM.
If my good neighbors are away at work or on a trip, The Nuclear Option might have to come into play. Look at my profile; my equipment is quite sufficient. Just add the capability of generating 3 KHz signals at high volume, at any hour of the day or night, remotely.
The fact that the bad neighbors are renters is only part of the problem. Their landlady is an even bigger problem.
People need to be accommodating. People that aren’t need to be confronted.
My neighbor on the other side of my house is someone who talks to others, both in person and on his phone, at Foghorn Leghorn volume at 7:30 AM on a Sunday morning. Loud enough to wake me from a sound sleep in my own house. He will get no consideration from me at all. Our local noise ordinances do not allow enforcement between 6:30 AM and 10:00 PM.
If my good neighbors are away at work or on a trip, The Nuclear Option might have to come into play. Look at my profile; my equipment is quite sufficient. Just add the capability of generating 3 KHz signals at high volume, at any hour of the day or night, remotely.
The fact that the bad neighbors are renters is only part of the problem. Their landlady is an even bigger problem.
People need to be accommodating. People that aren’t need to be confronted.
He used some kind of black silicone stuff in all the joints. Total goop bits everywhere. To top it off, it was an off white color. Like taupe. Or mauve. But all the clear coat had disappeared so it was like a primer coat lol.
JeezyMcNuggles
Inactive
- Feb 23, 2018
- 14,723
- 20,970
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- I suck, but nobody really notices
That's funny. The only thing my neighbors complain about is the drums. We all pitched in and got an electric kit. Haven't had a complaint since.
Headphones are you friend. I live in a house where the landlord lives above us. The house is on the side of a hill and she lives in the much larger upstairs section while we live in the "in-law's apartment" on the lower floor of the house. I have a pair of the old Bose A2 headphones and they work great both for practicing and for critical listening to music. I actually leave my main amp at our rehearsal space so I'm not tempted...
If you can't use headphones with your rig, boost the low mids slightly, drop your Bass EQ to flat, and you should be able to actually hear yourself better without driving the neighbors nuts.
There's a lot of energy in that note!
I saw Moonspell last year, and their bassist had great technique, but his tone was so bassy that the entire theatre was acting like a cabinet. It was actually hard to breathe during their set. I couldn't hear anything at all through the wall of DEEP building-vibrating sound pressure. I wanted to throw a bottle at the sound guy, who seemed oblivious to the room clearing itself.
