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Problems with the old people next door

#21
GreggBummer said:
THERE IS NOTHING more frustrating than being really annoyed by something out of your control. That is why people call the cops instead of speaking with you directly.
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This.

Last house I lived in, a neighbor would crank his 600 watt stereo at any hour of the day or night. It felt like we couldn't even live in peace, in our own house, and that the neighbor "owned" a 1000 foot radius around his house.

I looked up the Madison noise ordinance: Here, there is no time period during which you are allowed to make noise. Allowances are made for things that are necessities, such as mowing your lawn.

No sympathy.
 
#23
We have a very similar problem. We're a house of music students, living in a student house - we HAVE to practice for our course. We keep it right down, don't even plug the electric drum kit in, and we keep all the amps low enough to comfortably sing over the top without breaking out the microphones. They still complain! We never rehearse after 7pm so it wont disturb them watching TV in the evenings or whatever old people do that's so important... But every time, 15 minutes in the doorbell will be ringing and they'll be telling us to keep it down. We always apologise and try to turn it down as much as possible but I get the impression it's not good enough. We pass the old couple in the street sometimes and we smile and say hello like good neighbours... But they just give us a dirty look and blank us. We've tried organising with them when we can rehearse so it wont bother them, we'd agree on a date but then on the day they'll come round in the morning and say "actually, can you not practice?" Well... We kinda have to at some point! I don't know what to do with these people, you might be able to have words with your neighbours and sort it out but some people are just bitter and can't think outside of their own little world.

You might just have to fork out for rehearsal rooms, bro!
 
#24
I loved it when a cop told us "I'll have to tell that lady there is nothing I can do cuz your not breaking any laws". This was about the fourth time he had come out and of course threatened fines, gear confiscation and such on the first few. Bottom line for us was knowing what the Law says. Most cops don't know the law or have a way to measure it. We eventually negotiated a night to rehearse when that lady was out shopping or something. The cop told her to come over and talk to us cuz we were actually nice guys.

It is frustrating that the first person to call the cops is "right" and everyone else gets bullied by the cops (just my experience). Another option is get a noise permit that allows all the noise you can make to a certain hour.

Your best bet is making friends with the neighbors cuz they will tolerate more and cut you more slack.
 
#25
stflbn said:
Things in OP that sounded curious to me...

1. "After a couple months of solid practice."

2. Poster doesn't say at all 'when' they're practicing solid for a month.

60 days of nightly "metallllllllll" hammering away would get a call to the cops from me also. Once a week of "metalllllll" at the wrong time (or any time) would get a cop call from me.

Play somewhere that's appropriate. Pay for it if you must.
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Ok yeah so we practice Sunday afternoons no later than 5pm and no earlier than 2pm

Sent from my iPod touch using TalkBass
 
#26
Metalbasshippy said:
So we finally get our act together as a band and start having weekly practices at my drummer and guitarists house. After a few months of solid practice I get a phone call from my drummer and he tells me that out of the blue a bylaw officer showed up at his house and tells him that the two old ladies next door called and complained about the our practicing. So now for the past few weeks we've been at a standstill which is making me mad because we were so close to getting gigs and now we can't practice at all because we've been threatened with fines.

So I guess my question to the collective wisdom of TB is how can we peacefully deal with this little dilemma?

Sent from my iPod touch using TalkBass
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are you able to deaden the room so sound is contained......try stuffing the windows and hang some old blankets/carpet on the walls/floor and see if there is a difference.....it's worth a try and should cost practically nothing
 
#27
Easy solution would be- rent a space or go to another band members house.

But look up the noise restrictions and noise laws in your local area ( you might be playing past a restricted time). Sort out a time to rehearse that works for you and the neighbours. Explain to them that playing music is a form of income for you and unless you rehearse at your house, you are losing money by paying to rehearse somewhere else/ not rehearsing at all ( hense no gigs!).

Also, i bet it wouldn't hurt to turn it down a notch.
A quiet practice usually means you here all the inconspicuous mistakes made by each other, as well as getting a better idea of how all the instruments parts work together... you will become a better band quicker, if you rehearse quieter.
 
#28
Send the oldies a can of Alpo.

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#29
You either need to turn down or find a rehearsal space. Simple as that. I have rehearsed in residential neighborhoods (basements mostly) and never had issues - ever. Why? Because you don't need to rehearse at gig levels. We didn't even mic vocals.

If you can't do that, then you need to rent space designated/designed for loud rehearsals - probably in a commercial area.

Good luck.
 
#30
honistly i feel for you my friend. i get the rozzers called on me by my nieighbors when i play a coostic bass or use my 1 watt amp.

doesnt help that they have a dog that NEVER stops barking, they hoover from 6am-1am, there kids are constantly screaming and they cant have a conversation without yelling and using the scottish phrase "fannybaws"
 
#33
Lots of options starting with turning down as others have mentioned or get serious and sound proof a rehearsal space to knock down the volume. I created a rehearsal space in my garage cheaply enough with 5/8 drywall, insulation and solid core doors. It's not totally soundproof but knocks the sound down to where neighbors don't complain. Other options are to rent a lockout space in an industrial area. Check your local Craigslist musicians section, usual some enterprizing individuals are renting lockouts or renting time in their personal rehearsal studios. I rent my rehearsal space to a couple other cover bands which includes my bass amp and PA. All that being said, sometimes the luck of draw is that you live next to some folks that are just going to complain if they hear even a whisper of rock music. I once used to live next to a "Bobby Knight" type of college basketball coach that would come over and scream at us in his underwear. And we were just kids jamming in the garage on little 40 watt combo amps without drums. My dad was even sleeping in the house at the time. The guy would call the cops and complain that a loud band was playing even if he just saw me moving gear out my van back into the garage. Turns out he was key member of a fundamentalist church that had hard on about popular music and dancing. This was way before "praise bands" became popular in churches and many of that generation considered rock to be the devils music. Since this guy was going to be unreasonable whether he could hear us or not - we rented an industrial unit for cheap and had the time of our lives.
 
#34
Even at high volume the decibel levels outside your house are usually not above most city sound ordinance levels and it certainly isn't above it in the old people's homes. If you're jamming between, let's say 9am and 9pm then you're safe. They're probably not hearing the music - just the bass and probably the snare drum. Tell them to go suck it.

I've got a punk band (i like punk) that jams kiddycorner from me and I can hear their bass from my porch, but inside I hear nothing.
 
#36
The amount of hate for older people in this thread really stinks.

Anyone, any age can be a pain or be unreasonable. Sometimes it is the people making the noise. Sometimes it is the people hearing the noise.

Remember those older folks could be your parents, grandparents, aunts & uncles etc. Remember those darned kids could be your kids, nieces & nephews etc.


BTW: GET OFF MY LAWN!
 
#37
You don't have to practice loud. Turn it down, put a pillow against the kick drum as a mute, whatever. If you HAVE to practice all amp'd and mic'd up, then run everyone to headphones. Otherwise, you either will have to work things out with the neighbors, or find someplace else to practice.
 
#38
Question: What's more important: practicing loudly or getting your gigs?

If it's getting the gigs, practice quiet enough so no one is bothered.

Bylaw officer? Is this a town house or condo? What city do you live in? It's easy enough to look up the "disturbing the peace" code to find out exactly what's they are talking about.

I'm curious about the months you did practice with no complaints. +1 on introducing yourselves to the neighbors. Maybe you can rehearse when they are not home. Do they have a schedule for attending some functions that you can work with.
 

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