Please help me keep the lows in my own house

[Nev375]

Buy a shovel and a wheelbarrow. Bury your house.

 

[two fingers]

Buy a shovel and a wheelbarrow. Bury your house.

Or bury the neighbors.....




What????? It's Halloween!

 

[mcnach]

for starters, a high pass filter is a cheap option that might solve a ton of your problems. seriously, it doesn’t sound like much, but it’ll sweep up so much of that vibration your neighbors hate. however, if you’re bringing a drum kit in there... for what it would cost to isolate the sound properly, you might be better off renting a rehearsal space. i’ve lived in tiny apartments in dense cities for the past 20 years, and aside from a major acoustic engineering treatment, acoustic drums are gonna cause problems with your neighbors. have you considered an e-kit? i know a ton of professional drummers have switched to them during quarantine. they get the job done and are super fun.

anyway, start with a good hpf!

+1

Other than turning down or using headphones, that's often a decent alternative. It's still a compromise but you can remove a lot of the lowest frequencies and still have a reasonably good playing experience.

There's just no good and cheap way to insulate the garage to avoid getting the bass out.

Drums are going to be an issue too, I'd consider electronic drums so you can control volume and EQ too.

It's not ideal, of course, but maintaining good relations with the neighbours is important.

 

[Meaculpa]

Get your walls, ceiling and floor acoustically treated, there's no other solution than that if you wanna keep the beautiful loud volume!

 

[One Way]

Here’s one more idea regarding practice area within your house. I have a two story house and the foundation is a crawl space. When playing or recording in my studio upstairs I’ve never had a neighbor complain although they have mentioned they hear the music. When I practice on the main floor I’ve had neighbors ask me to turn the volume down. In my opinion the volume was no louder than when playing upstairs. I’ve come to the conclusion that my Mesa Subway rig is turning the entire first floor, hardwood flooring, into a passive radiator that transmits my glorious bass tone to the neighborhood through the crawl space vents.

 

[JeezyMcNuggles]

Moderators: the Amps/Cabs forum seemed like the best fit for this, but obviously we have more to consider than amplification here; please move this to Live Sound or elsewhere if more appropriate, with my thanks and/or apologies.

Contributors: I have read a bit about this subject on TalkBass and elsewhere, but obviously do not have a comprehensive knowledge of the topic or what has already been said on TalkBass. I hope you will kindly provide advice with my specific circumstances in mind. I would strongly prefer to solve this problem by containing my sound rather than changing or eliminating it. In that light, please do not suggest turning down, using headphones, or radically altering my settings. I can figure out any of those approaches easily enough on my own if containing my current decibels and frequencies proves infeasible. I can probably spend up to 500 USD if necessary.

With the preliminaries out of the way:

2020 forced an unexpected and unwanted major relocation upon my family, but at least we landed somewhere wonderful. We moved from a very rural location to a relatively dense neighborhood of single family homes in a college town, and I have literally no complaints about my neighbors. I wish they could say the same about me! We found this on the door this evening:

View attachment 4032003

The care they took to put this as kindly as they did indicates just how good we have it with neighbors, I think. (I suspect that this would have come up in an equally friendly conversation if not for the ongoing pandemic.)

I DO NOT want to be “that guy” around here, but I would rather not retire my big iron. Can I contain my sound? If so, how?

I currently have things set up like this:
View attachment 4032008

Things I have tried:

•1x15 solid state 80w combo on a stand facing the outside wall. This seemed unobtrusive until that 30-year-old combo stopped working.

•Tube 200w 1x15 combo on floor facing outside wall, or solid state 200w head w/1x15 cabinet on casters facing outside wall. Perhaps not surprisingly, these setups seem to project into my neighbor’s home

Things I could do now but have yet to try:

•I could put my extremely heavy tube combo on the stand.

•I could face any rig in any other direction.

Fun things on the way:

•I have finally cracked and will receive a brand new 200w Class D combo with a neo 1x12 by the end of the week. I can easily put that on the stand.

•I also have a period correct 2x12 on the way, but unless I use it as a somewhat expensive platform for elevating other speakers, it won’t help matters.

Things I am considering that would require expenditures:

•Something other than a stand to elevate the modular solid state rig

•Gramma pads or similar

•furniture blankets hanging everywhere

•garage door insulation, if it would allow continued use of the garage door

•a (relatively) inexpensive drum booth

It also occurs to me that I probably haven’t thought of everything.

What should I do?

Thank you for any helpful suggestions (or clever jokes).

Oh: nobody playing but me just yet, but my son’s acoustic drums will likely enter the picture soon as well.

Gotta set a better time. Knock on the doors of your immediate neighbors, and work it out. Thats all I gathered from the note. He doesn't want to be moved across his floor on his lazyboy, everyday after work.

 

[Plain Old Barry]

I haven't seen it mentioned yet, but do you happen to have a basement? If so, they tend to be much better at containing bass than garages.

I'm not a fan of headphones either. The $250 solution I found to practicing in my second floor dormer was a Roland Bass Micro Cube. They don't have much ultra low end yet still have the "amp feel" that is missing from headphones, yet when needed still make a great headphone amp. The rig also includes a basic drum machine, stereo aux in, and tuner. It travels with me to race tracks in my RV, too! I keep my Fender and Mark Bass performing rigs in the basement, out of the attached garage and above ground house.

We had two similar issues in my 'hood.

One was a neighbor that put speakers under his low deck to play for his in-ground pool. The deck created an outstanding 50 Hz horn that made bass surprisingly louder 150 feet away than around his pool. We could stand at his pool and have a normal conversation with the music playing, walk about 150 ft, and voila! Bass! Reorienting his speakers out from under the deck solved the peoblem.

#2 is a band that practices several houses away. In that case, the bass was louder in one room of MY house than outdoors. One corner of my house was amplifying low end. I noticeably reduced the sound that annoyed my wife by planting some new trees, adding loose insulation in the attic over the room, reorienting some furniture, and adding heavy window treatments with air gaps.

Communication is key, in both cases we're all still friendly.

 

[micguy]

You have 3 options as I see it:

1) Move practice to the basement and (if you have window wells) block them with some decent lumber. This can work remarkably well for minimal cash outlay.

2) Major structural modifications to the garage. No, some insulation won’t do it. I have a degree in Acoustical Physics; this option is NOT something a DIY’er can reasonably pull off.

3) Turn down or use headphones.

Sorry, but lhe laws of Physics are not in your favor. Isolating bass is a tough thing to do.

 

[DTRN]

Maybe work out a compromise. Show them the measures you are taking and offer to set your practice to be at a regular time. Invite them to a gig or a party.

Golden rule: When planning a loud party, invite all the neighbors. In fact include them in the planning.

 

[Redbrangus]

Golden rule: When planning a loud party, invite all the neighbors. In fact include them in the planning.

Another golden rule might be: when practicing all by yourself, as the OP is doing, it serves no purpose to play so loud you disturb the neighbors. Just sayin'.

Edit: BTW, the nice neighbor indicated that he/she is a musician with the correct rendering of a two eighth-note pattern.

 

[Guitalia]

Some perspective: I've been a bass player for decades, but my next-door neighbor starting to play his bass triggers an instant homicidal reaction in me that lasts for as long as he plays it. Luckily, he got bored with it after the first six months or so. (He offered to sell me his bass and amp then; if I hadn't been sure that he'd stopped more or less for good, I'd have bought them.)

So: yes to headphones and BackBeat, yes to electronic drums, unless your neighbors' rights stop where your freedom begins, or however that goes.

 

[ChrisBee]

1. Headphones/in-ears for solo practise.
2. Rehearsal space/studio for rehearsals/jams with others.

Best investment of your $500 would be to buy boxes of ear plugs and Jack for the neighbours

 

[jnewmark]

So you've got loud bass and a drummer right now in a garage; sooner or later you will probably add a guitar player and/or keyboard player, I'm assuming. Its just going to get worse. Find a rehearsal place where volume is not a concern, and use the garage for your vehicles.

 

[JMarkD]

You cannot solve this issue. You are already "that guy". Add drums and it will go from nice Post-it notes to cops banging on the door. Either learn how to play quietly (it is not all that horrible) or look into a storage unit where they allow bands to practice (also a fun way to meet other musicians). Or move back to the country.

For the record, I practice regularly in my garage practice space using my DB750 turned WAY down. It still sounds good and my arena fantasies are still intact. My neighbors tell me they never hear it and I live in a very dense very small town. Good luck with the drums. Always be respectful to officers of the law.

 

[Slidlow]

First check local bylaws re: noise and times of day. A DB meter will allow you to see if your output is within those laws. Once you have confirmed your compliance then you need to have friendly conversations with your neighbours to see how everyone can reach a level of mutual satisfaction. You will be able to tell them that you are bylaw compliant but willing to work with them. It has been my experience that bass frequencies travel best through dense materials so soft layers inside should help dampen. An insulated garage door is of course better then non-insulated. I'd also consider hanging some thick moving blankets an inch or so off the walls. Lowering volumes has to be considered. How loud does everyone need to be in a closed garage?

 

[Fun With Dirt]

Eep. Echoing what a lot have already said. It would take an unreal amount of work to stop the lows. Not impossible, just likely very impractical. Your best bet is to find a way to practice with headphones or in-ears. Drummer will need an electric kit.

 

[Dirk Diggler]

Gramma pad would be my only solution, but that won't solve it.

As already stated you'd need to look at covering all your walls/ceiling/floor with low frequency absorbing material.

And the drums will be a definite no go.

They seem like reasonable neighbors, work with them if you can, you might be able to compromise.

Good luck,
Dirk

 

[Avigdor]

Can I make another suggestion (probably obvious and therefore redundant...): If my neighbours were so nice about it, I would include them in the process of finding a solution. I'd start by turning down for a start, but then I'd have them over for a cup of tea and some cake and show them my rig and talk with them. Are there times when they are at work with no-one in the house? That could be my time to turn up. When they come home from work, turn down. Maybe arrange practice times where they'll tolerate you playing a bit louder, if at others you'll be more quiet. Explore what might work for all concerned. Technical solutions will not be easy for all the reasons explained elsewhere.

Arrange a safe word - make it clear that you want to be constructive and if it is still too loud they should give you a quick ring. I have had great success with the conspiratorial phonecall approach: 2 rings followed by two rings. Or just a whispered "Rosebud" when you pick up. Be creative, but meet them and figure out a way that'll work.

And I'd also explore this with all other neighbours within earshot - they may not have said anything yet, but why not start off on the right foot by making the first step?

 

[Plain Old Barry]

Here’s one more idea regarding practice area within your house. I have a two story house and the foundation is a crawl space. When playing or recording in my studio upstairs I’ve never had a neighbor complain although they have mentioned they hear the music. When I practice on the main floor I’ve had neighbors ask me to turn the volume down. In my opinion the volume was no louder than when playing upstairs. I’ve come to the conclusion that my Mesa Subway rig is turning the entire first floor, hardwood flooring, into a passive radiator that transmits my glorious bass tone to the neighborhood through the crawl space vents.

We had a local nightclub that happened to be located adjacent to a residential development. Several homes were the correct distance from the club where the sewer pipes acted like tuned ports or organ pipes.

 

[Bassdirty]

I agree with everyone else. you aint gonna stop it for 500. Really, you need a room IN a room, with both of them soundproofed.

I was also thinking, if they can hear and feel it in their house, maybe find out what music they like, and start playing that...


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