Neighbor noise complaints

I bought a set of "Traps" drums and replaced the heads with drum-tec real feel mesh heads, this way I can practice whenever I want without disturbing the neighbors, it's not as great as an acoustic kit obviously but with the amount I practice there is no way around it. Before this I used to rent a rehearsal space but the rents are so high now compared to what you get it's not practical anymore.

I live in a strata complex so using an acoustic drum set would not fly at all, I wouldn't do it anyway if I could, my neighbors deserve their right to peace just as much as I value my right to it.
 
larryace said:
I guess what I'm trying to get at is this: Why not fight back against the complaining neighbor if it's my own house?

I think we should fight back and not let some curmudgeon dictate what we do. Screw being nice. They aren't being nice to me, why should I be nice to them (hypothetically)

I'd rather struggle with the neighbors than roll over and assume I'm in the wrong when I may not be.
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While I agree wholeheartedly, I try to keep the LOUD practice to small time frames. just to be respectful. Even I wouldn't like a 2 hour stint from next door..
 
My beat lab is underground in our walkout basement.

My wife says she can hear from upstairs, not overbearing, and inaudible when she’s in our garage or drive way directly above my room.
In that, at anytime, my wife can be inside and I can go down to play with no questions or resistance to remain hushed inside our home.

Sometimes it’s not the neighborhood prohibition; but the internal familiar strife, let’s say a newborn, kids nap time, in law moving in, or a spouse that may exhibit frequent headaches, or down right hated the noise and such.

Like most, I use the hours of 11-8 for hefty balls out wood shedding. I do it daily for at least an hour or two, it’s a habit that if I don’t drum - it’s a day for the birds.

If I am tinkering around my drums with a cup of joe at 8 a.m. or with a few beers after 10 pm - I could as well…

But while I have played, it seems a little non compulsory, the focus shifts away from what I’m doing behind the kit, to becoming what I should be holding back or put away for the next day.
 
where i live, the ordinance is something like this: between 7am and "dark", any noise can be made as long as it isn't above 90dcb at 100 yards for an extended period of time

when I move in to any place I live, I print up a flyer with this ordinance on it, as well as with the rules I have for myself, which are : I WILL NOT make noise that can be heard outside of my house before noon, and after 8pm....this includes lawn mowing etc.

I then put my e mail address on it, and also ask that anyone who needs quiet time for children or religious reasons should just e mail me to let me know.

I then make copies of these and go door to door in the immediate neighborhood and hand them out.

Because I am old school, I also make a point to greet and talk to all of my neighbors, just to try to keep the old school notion of keeping your community as a tight social group to enhance community comfort and awareness. My wife calls me the "mayor" of our circle.

We have 3 different drummers in earshot of my place, and we all know each other as well...on many weekends, it sounds like a rock concert. In the past 20 years, I have never had an irate neighbor come to my door

at school, we get the cops called on the marching band all of the time, and they can't do anything about it. We are not breaking any laws. The police have to show up, and there are many weekends where I will put chairs out for the cops to sit in and chill when they have to come back. And I also spread flyers around the neighborhood the school is in with all the practice times that we will be out there. We have A LOT of nasty, sad, irritable people in that neighborhood....the also complain about the whistles during sports practices, and the traffiic....i mean C'MON, you moved in next to a high school....that has been there for 60 years...get over it
 
Most noise nuisance laws I have read make no technical sense and your local PD probably doesn’t have a level 2 dB meter nor have anyone trained to use it. So that means it would take a court date to settle it.

Maybe you should just leave your lawnmower running in your front yard while you rehearse inside ;)
 
larryace said:
We're not interested in your neighbor. He's a security risk. A little of our knowledge in that man's hands could be a real threat to the planet.

We're not going anywhere. Take your time Art. We have a great life planned for you and yours. Hint: no physical pain or hindrances...
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Ok-that sounds great. I'm psyched.

But about my neighbor-how about just a pick up and an anal probe-I'm sure you'll find something stuck up there. I know, I know you can risk it. I'm thinking if we remove the blockage he might be friendlier-like The Lion and the Shepherd-remove that big thorn.
 
dboomer said:
Most noise nuisance laws I have read make no technical sense and your local PD probably doesn’t have a level 2 dB meter nor have anyone trained to use it. So that means it would take a court date to settle it.

Maybe you should just leave your lawnmower running in your front yard while you rehearse inside ;)
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one summer at school, we had a nuisance neighbor call the cops on us 3 or 4 times. The next weekend, he was out mowing his lawn, so I called the cops on him and hit him with the EXACT same line he would hit us with.

the cop was just facepalming the whole time, and after it was done, I apologized for his time. He actually thought it was pretty funny...but told me not to do it again with his "stern face" on
 
GetAgrippa said:
Ok-that sounds great. I'm psyched.

But about my neighbor-how about just a pick up and an anal probe-I'm sure you'll find something stuck up there. I know, I know you can risk it. I'm thinking if we remove the blockage he might be friendlier-like The Lion and the Shepherd-remove that big thorn.
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We placed him there to be a thorn in your side, so you can be more easily swayed
 
My drums and my band's equipment is in my bonus room and that's where I practice and we rehearse. I covered all the windows with thick moving blankets and hung these blankets over the upended halves of the ping-pong table to absorb sound waves.

For my practicing, like many of you, I try to keep it to early evening on weekdays and between 9:00-12:00 and 3:00-6:00 on Saturdays and Sundays. I practice for a max of one hour because I figure most anyone can tolerate my drumming for one hour.

For rehearsals, we practice from 6:30-8:30 every Monday night. The neighbors know this and thus can both plan for it AND know when the noise will end. We also practice through in-ear monitors so that quiets most instruments, except my drums. Sometimes I consider posting a sign at the street reading "The noise will end at 8:30. Thanks!"

If a neighbor complained I would tell him/her about the above plan in hopes that knowledge would be enough. If s/he said no, it's still too much, then I'd research my city's noise ordinances and make sure I'm within them. If s/he said no, despite me being within the city's ordinance it's still too much, I'd politely say too bad you feel that way but I/we will continue practicing and rehearsing as planned and within the city ordinance. If they still complained I would refer them to the city council and stop responding to them.

I assume it would stop there, except I'm sure my neighbor would be angry with me and possibly trash talk me to other neighbors. But my other neighbors know me and I'm sure they would think the problem is with with the overly sensitive neighbor, not me, so anger and trash talk don't bother me.

If this neighbor continued to complain directly to me or ratcheted their displeasure up to harassment then I would go to the police and consider filing some kind of official complaint against them. BUT, I would not ever be rude or provocative to my neighbor. There is nothing they could do--harass me, vandalize my property--that would stimulate my anger. I would not antagonize them in any way and would simply turn any and all of that over-the-line responses over to the police. As long as I'm within the law and striving to act ethically I'm on solid ground and it's not worth my time and energy to be emotionally invested in any of their ridiculous behavior.
 
when my rock band in high school would practice, it would become a neighborhood event in the summer. People would bring chairs and coolers, and sit in the front yard with my parents and socialize while we hacked through Iron Maiden, Queensryche, Fates WArning, Anthrax and other metal gems of the time, as well as writing our own stuff.

again, in a day where you knew everyone on your block. Well. And you worked as a team. My parents had told the neighbors that we were playing. The neighbors knew us b/c we were the kids who mowed their lawns, shoveled snow, etc. It was a really cool vibe of people being involved in other peoples lives.

if you are diplomatic about stuff, usually positive things happen
 
Xstr8edgtnrdrmrX said:
if you are diplomatic about stuff, usually positive things happen
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Unfortunately everyone wants to introduce you to their tuff guy attitude first anymore. It's like one must first establish dominance before any normal human activities ensue.
 
larryace said:
This is a situation that I am not dealing with, but wanted to discuss.

If I'm playing drums in my single family house (not an apartment) in the afternoon for instance, with all the doors and windows closed, and my neighbor is bothered by the sound...and they knock on my door to get me to quiet down....do they really have a right to do that during afternoon hours?

I'm in my house, during weekday working hours, do I have a right to play drums? I'm thinking yes. Listen to lawnmowers. Are drums in the house less loud than outdoor lawnmowers?

I'm going with yes, generally speaking. Apartments I get, but in my own house? Would I have the right to submit a complaint that my neighbor is bothering me just as much for knocking on the door, interrupting me and complaining to me? I have rights too.
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I would say in my opinion if it's a house then play on! But just to cover your butt, check local noise ordinances. I had an apartment and got silencer pads or played my electric kit, but in my house, well that's my castle!
 
When living in town, I’ve been fortunate to live in houses with basements. The sound could be heard, but would be drowned out by the cars/traffic going by.

While living in a studio apartment decades ago, my mother told me to get my drums out of her garage or she would burn them. I set them up in my apartment, tapped on the snare and heard a knock on my door. It was the manager. “Are you nuts?” I still laugh about it ’cuz his face showed he was truly incredulous. It was the middle of the day and I figured everyone else was at work. “Nope. That guy up there is a bartender and gets home around 4am. That woman in there is a nurse who works third shift.” (11pm–7am for you Brits). I sold the kit the following week.

So, @larryace , I was respectful when needed and apathetic when allowed.
 
C. Dave Run said:
Unfortunately everyone wants to introduce you to their tuff guy attitude first anymore. It's like one must first establish dominance before any normal human activities ensue.
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yeah...that seems to be the norm now...lame
 
Ghostin one said:
I've spent YEARS trying to get our township to enforce the noise part of the zoning code. One neighbor has a fleet of dirtbikes and atv's they used to ride up and down the property line. The township's response? They wrote a new noise ordinance requiring complaints from two or more properties before any enforcement would occur.

Now my other neighbors have a nascar modified 358 they run in their garage 120' feet from my house, 50' feet from the property line.
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I can sympathize. The neighbour behind me has a Harley that doesn't leave the shed, but he will run it, revving like kid, for an hour. Same goes for the pontoon boat in the yard. I have contemplated setting up in the back yard facing his house and playing for as long as I can.
 
someguy01 said:
I can sympathize. The neighbour behind me has a Harley that doesn't leave the shed, but he will run it, revving like kid, for an hour. Same goes for the pontoon boat in the yard. I have contemplated setting up in the back yard facing his house and playing for as long as I can.
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For three long months I rented a room with a window to the alley behind the house. Every morning the guy across the alley would start up his Ford F-250 fitted with loud, Magnaflow mufflers, and let it warm up for about 20 minutes. I left a note on his truck one evening, asking politely if he could not warm up his truck for such a long time, and indicated where my bedroom was. A couple days later my note was returned to me (in the mailbox) with the message, “Close your windows”. 😑
 
So Larry will my new home allow me to play my drums with no hindrances? Can I procreate and make new babies- pass on my traits? I’m not interested in financial gain but can I still work and feel productive? Are there others like me there? Will I fit in? Does your species “feel” emotions like love and laughter?- I suspect so from you but we humans may have rubbed off on you. Will I have access to all your knowledge or is it way beyond our comprehension? I have so many questions- I feel giddy youth like that movie Cocoon. Will I get to visit earth again or is it a one way ticket? So is your time same or ahead of ours so you know our future- our we living in your past?
 
GetAgrippa said:
So Larry will my new home allow me to play my drums with no hindrances? Can I procreate and make new babies- pass on my traits? I’m not interested in financial gain but can I still work and feel productive? Are there others like me there? Will I fit in? Does your species “feel” emotions like love and laughter?- I suspect so from you but we humans may have rubbed off on you. Will I have access to all your knowledge or is it way beyond our comprehension? I have so many questions- I feel giddy youth like that movie Cocoon. Will I get to visit earth again or is it a one way ticket? So is your time same or ahead of ours so you know our future- our we living in your past?
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These are slave questions. Dude, carte blanche (within reason)

To answer your questions in order:
1. Yes
2. For sure, we have mistresses in competition for you. We are providing a whole lush planet just waiting for you. You are to be appointed highest authority until you wish to leave.
3. You will be doing more than your part into saving this planet and everyone on it. There's no need for money here. We imagine what we want.
4. Not yet. We need a compelling reason...you...to attract others. That's a fact not me blowing smoke up your derriere.
5. You are already revered.
6. What a dumb question. Let me put this bluntly. Almost the entire human race is dumbed down. We know how to reverse that. Our sense of laughter and emotion is roughly 82.7564 times better than the very best of those particular human experiences.
7. We will give you all you can handle but we have to withhold certain info until when it's go time.
8. Carte Blanche.
9. Human conception of what time actually is...is so seriously flawed so you'll need recalibration to understand the actual answer. Not a valid question.

You'll be a rock star when you want, a country boy when you want, whatever you can imagine becomes reality, with certain restrictions, when you say. You have no control over others free will. Persuasion is fair game though. You're the boss (for the most part) Imagine the complete opposite of what you guys have here. Great health, lots of respect, practically limitless power, no assholes, our authorities can't fleece you here. Land of milk and honey. You can even fly unaided.

This is our best offer. It's becoming a take it or leave it situation. Your stock will drop if you don't decide before I leave in 2058. We're also looking closely at Darth Vater. Are you really gonna let that chump prevail?

Look we want you. You have what we need.
 
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I could not possibly care less, never have, and never will. Call the cops, see how that works out for you. Lulz.

That said, I've lived in apartments and houses, and I have never once received a complaint for practicing/rehearsing with 50 watt amps, PAs, and now drums. In my current situation, the two closest neighbors have noted that they can hear me play, but it doesn't bother them.

I always stop at 10pm, so there's that, I guess.
 
I think it depends on what you’re practicing. Hand independence with Jim Chapin jazz exercises? No problem. Sextuplet patterns with both feet, forward and backwards, left and right leading, miked drums into a PA system with death metal vocals as a backing track? Get ready for shotguns and a 911 call.

And are you any good? How old are you too? Who wants a 60 yo man practicing death metal who’ll never see the light of day?
 
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