Playing guitar in an apartment (noise level/angry neighbor woes)

[Leuchty]

Change his "hand lotion" with "extra hot sauce".

Shit dude, that situation really sucks.

Just go on with your life and abide by the Landlords rules. Maybe mention the "Loud late night adult content that may have psychological affect on you."

 

[Overtone]

Those Yamaha amps mentioned really are the most decent small queit thing I've played on so far. I also vouch for the GRAMMA/Great Gramma... they help a little, but probably not enough in this case. The thing is that nobody can discriminate about the source of a noise if it is the same volume as other noises. People have this idea that just because it's music coming out of an instrument, it's a problem, even if it's no louder than a TV or a barking dog or a conversation.

I know the feeling though... it's not only frustrating but it gets in your head while you are playing. Just hang in there and hopefully this jerk will get bored of complaining about it.

I'm actually kinda concerned because I'm moving into an apt. soon. My GF did all the apt hunting and she thought it was really well insulated when she checked it out. Now she is the first one living there and she says she hears the neighbors talking, the dog down the hall, etc... All I know is I'm going to try and keep everybody happy but there is nothing that will stop me from spending as much time as I want to practicing/writing/mixing. I do plan to get a rehearsal studio because it's useful for recording demo stuff and for really being able to go at it without having to constrain myself, and also to get a band started. Is that an option for you? I looked at the apt. hunt as something where it would be ideal to find a place where noise was not an issue, but I knew that could never be guaranteed so I budgeted a rehearsal studio.

 

[shredguitar7690]

Us nice guys spend too much of our lives bending to selfish people and not enough time sticking up for ourselves.

I was just telling my gf this. I try to be too nice sometimes and let people walk all over me. I'm glad I confronted him like an adult this time even though it turned out not that pleasant. I am not going to change my life, it is just intrusive to be getting knocks on my door from him and calls on my phone from the office being like "sooo were required to tell you that you got a noise complaint. blah blah". Thanks for getting me through this rant everyone. I feel more at peace now. I really do love this forum.

 

[shredguitar7690]

Maybe mention the "Loud late night adult content that may have psychological affect on you."

The most disturbing part is that the room that you can hear the porn in was previously the room of a toddler...

I do plan to get a rehearsal studio because it's useful for recording demo stuff and for really being able to go at it without having to constrain myself, and also to get a band started. Is that an option for you?

Sadly no. Not until I get a job and then I will probably just barely being able to pay my bills. I'm still in college and I don't want to work more than part time so anything that requires money is usually a no go (except when I get GAS of course.) And the ease of use of my place is ideal for practicing since I have two instruments to practice and the urge to practice either of them usually just comes as a whim that comes and goes on its own lol.

 

[AliceLG]

I had this situation with a grumpy neighbour. After one and a half years in my appartment and no complains about volume a grumpy guy moved in and started complaining to me. I asked the landlord and he told me that the volume didn't bother him or anyone else for that matter, just this guy. I stuck to my guns for a while and then he started complaining directly to the landlord. So I switched to headphones for a while, and it sucked but at least this asshole wouldn't complain so much. One day I decided I had enough and played through my amp at my normal volume, and he came upstairs and told me that I was disturbing him. I told him that he was interrupting my practice time, that I'm a working musician (an overstatement but what the hell) and that the more he interrupts me the longer I'll have to practice, and that he was the only one bitching about it, so the problem might be rooted elsewhere.

He moved out 2 weeks after. I haven't used my headphones for practice since.

That might not be your case, as your problem neighbour doesn't seem relocatable at all. But sometimes these kind of problems sort themselves out.

 

[devolutionary]

OK, I'm going out on a limb here, but I assume it is on the floor sitting with the base level? If so, raise it up and angle it more in the direction your ears are in when you're playing. It removes a lot of the vibrational elements and also means you get the sound straight on, which can improve the volume you are receiving.

 

[sleightest]

I like to play with my HD with headphones to dial in my tone and if I play at night but from like 10-10 I can be pretty fucking loud. My apartment is on the end of the complex so I have an alley on one side, cool neighbors that are at school or just gone most of the day and I live above the laundry room
Still I doubt people can hear me in the alley unless they go right up to my window, I crank it enough so Im getting a "full" sound from the tubes (100 watt head) and Im playing a 2x12 well below a earplug/drums level but loud enough that it would probably irritate someone at 2 am

 

[shredguitar7690]

If I was in an apartment and had a horn player next to me I'd be pissed as hell.

Hes below me and im not blasting away at all hours. Also this is the attitude that I hate to hear. Selfish and uncompromising. I need to feel comfortable enough to play in my own home at reasonable hours. I play for 30-45 min/day at most and not every day. I've had neighbors who were in orchestras or bands and it should be understood that they need to practice. If they need to practice for many hours on end or with an ensemble then thats something that can be done in a practice room but for short practices I don't think I should give in to this kind of attitude. It's not at all unreasonable to want to practice a musical instrument during the day in my home.

OK, I'm going out on a limb here, but I assume it is on the floor sitting with the base level? If so, raise it up and angle it more in the direction your ears are in when you're playing. It removes a lot of the vibrational elements and also means you get the sound straight on, which can improve the volume you are receiving.

Good Idea, maybe Ill do that. Just prop it up a bit.

 

[elrrek]

What wattage is your amp and how loud are you playing?

To be honest though, if you can hear the guys TV when you are not playing and he is not doing anything about that, then he has no grounds to complain.

 

[cronux]

isn't there something like a "domestic law" in affect if you are living in an apartment? (domestic law - pardon my english, don't really know how to translate it from my language, the law that governs most activities of people living in apartment buildings)

by law you are permitted to play at normal, even higher levels (or watch tv etc.) every day between let's say 12:00 - 20:00. the only way your neighbor can go "around" that is by calling the proper authorities that dabble in measuring noise levels of clubs in apartment neighbourhoods. if he calls them, they would come to his apartment and measure the noise level, if it exceeds the level stated by law you won't be able to play guitar any more in that apartment (at least not at that level)

but i just think that you have a bitchy neighbor

 

[shredguitar7690]

I have a 75 watt combo amp and I have my overdrive and clean level around 2 and my master around 2. I can have a conversation easily while playing and my gf agrees that it is a reasonable volume. I think that most of the sound comes from reverberations honestly. I like the idea of propping my amp up to decrease that. My french horn is a bit louder but I don't blast it and it is not connected to the floor like my amp is so i assume it creates a similar amount of noise.

Ya he said that he turns his TV up to drown out my guitar but im like "dude I can hear your TV always, and I only play electric guitar like a few times a week for less than an hour usually".

 

[shredguitar7690]

. the only way your neighbor can go "around" that is by calling the proper authorities that dabble in measuring noise levels of clubs in apartment neighbourhoods. if he calls them, they would come to his apartment and measure the noise level, if it exceeds the level stated by law you won't be able to play guitar any more in that apartment (at least not at that level)

This is what im hoping doesnt happen. I'm definitely not breaking any laws so theres nothing to worry about there. My lease only says not to have excessive noise or odors and that tenets have to work these things out between themselves and the management is not responsible. Like I said, I'm going to talk to them tomorrow and get some details on what we can do if the complaining continues. Its beginning to invade my head when I go to practice which dissuades me from practicing. I try to avoid conflict

 

[Asdrael]

Keep with your reasonable hours so you don't attract too much attention. Also, I found out that having the speaker sit on this http://www.foampackaging.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2010/04/pu-foam-packaging-6.jpg attenuates a lot of vibrations, and make the percieved volume through walls much less.

And for the horn, I assume you use some kind of dampener like http://www.musik-produktiv.co.uk/pic-007707016s/denis-wick-dw-5530-uebungsdaempfer-mute-brass.jpg ?

 

[shredguitar7690]

That foam packing idea is great. Cheap too. I am not using anything to control the volume of my horn though. Its really not as loud as you'd think. It doesnt shake the earth like a tuba and Im not screaming my heart out with it. I play the dynamics that are required for the piece but I just dont get blasty. If I were in an orchestra setting or just anywhere where I could really let loose than ya Id hit those fortisimo passages with more oomph but I dont want to use something to mute my instrument because I need to do some hand muting parts in pieces.

 

[abandonist]

Egg crate foam does wonders for dampening.

 

[UV7BK4LIFE]

I suppose I should also mention that his late night TV viewing involves some rather adult content and that needed bringing up as well.

"Turn down the porn or I'll blow my horn" lol.

Grumpy old men can be hard to deal with, I guess it's a matter of finding the right approach.

 

[shredguitar7690]

When I did live in an apartment I was in a constant fight with my neighbor about his screaming infant. I have no sympathy that you decided to have a child. Won't stop crying? Take it out to your fucking car and sit with it in there. I'm trying to sleep.

Ya not sure if your trolling or not, but if you aren't I'm sure you and my neighbor would get along. I guess there really are two kinds of people in the world. The dog would get annoying though, Ill give you that.

 

[shredguitar7690]

"Turn down the porn or I'll blow my horn" lol.

Grumpy old men can be hard to deal with, I guess it's a matter of finding the right approach.

Ya he was very briefly sorry about the porn but clearly he didn't value the comparison between his loud porn at 1 AM and my guitar at 1 PM. Let's see, whos in the wrong here? lol

 

[guitarfishbay]

I think that most of the sound comes from reverberations honestly. I like the idea of propping my amp up to decrease that. My french horn is a bit louder but I don't blast it and it is not connected to the floor like my amp is so i assume it creates a similar amount of noise.

Raising your amp off the floor completely will make a big difference to what he hears. Don't just angle it, get a combo stand or put it on a stool or chair and get all corners of the amp off the floor. That should help a lot.

I can sympathise with this on several levels, as I bet can most people.

I'll leave you with the story of my samba percussion band...

A year ago we had to change rehearsal space due to a massive rent increase on the studio time, so we moved in to a Church. We practice there only once per week.

The Church is about 20-25 meters away from the nearest block of flats and in between the Church and flats is a main road.

We only rehearse between 7pm and 9:30pm on Wednesday night, and all locals were informed that this would be the case.

Yet we still got a complaint from someone, and subsequently had a noise inspection... We passed, as the walls/windows and distance contain enough sound to be ok by the local council.

However we were then told by the Church Vicar that he could guess who was complaining - as there is a local guy who regularly complains about the Church bells.... I mean seriously? If you live next to a Church with bells, what do you expect happens?

Some people just don't like noise they don't create themselves.

 

[shredguitar7690]

Ya I equate living in an apartment to living in a house with someone who isnt allowed on your floor. You are going to hear things and you both just have to be respectful. You are essentially sharing a space with someone. Apartments have their advantages and disadvantages. The fact that you share an area with a bunch of strangers is a disadvantage. If he thinks he can get total peace and quiet at all times of the day then thats just not the case. A way to circumvent that is to get your own property but then you have to take care of it yourself and its often more expensive so there you go. Live with other peoples lives going on just upstairs and through the wall from you and deal with it or get another living situation. Its all about compromise when your that close to other peoples lives.