Noise levels and neighbours

[KevB]

With considerate positioning of practice amp and sensible volumes it should be possible to do some practice without headphones. I sometimes need to hear my bass and sound module through separate combos and there are enough cables without a lead from headphones getting in the way (yes I'm aware of wireless headphones) and I always get very sweaty when I have them on. Not had any complaints yet, the small children of my neighbours screaming at each other make far more noise than I do so I already have the moral high ground. Luckily the arrangement of our two semi detached houses means my little practice area in the box room is as far away from neighbours rooms as you can get. Only use a little old Marshall B25 for bass practice, as long as I can hear if I'm playing duff notes that's all I need for that situation. Sound module goes through little Behringer monitor (5'' speaker) I use at gigs,more than loud enough and still clear at the low vols I use for practice. If you need to practice at gigging vols go hire a practice room somewhere suitable for the job.

[cheddatom]

I play acoustically at home. I wonder why more people don't play unplugged?

[bartelby]

[quote name='cheddatom' timestamp='1437121394' post='2823693']
I play acoustically at home. I wonder why more people don't play unplugged?
[/quote]

After about 6pm I'll either play unplugged or through my laptop into headphones.

The idea of playing through an amp at 9pm seems absurd to me...

[FinnDave]

[quote name='bartelby' timestamp='1437121680' post='2823699']
The idea of playing through an amp at 9pm seems absurd to me...
[/quote]

The idea of laying through an amplifier at home seems totally unecessary and self-indulgent to me. The only reason to play alone at home is to learn new parts or improve your playing in general. For that the 'tone' argument is redundant. No need to make others unwilling share your mistakes.

[urbanx]

I tried plugging into my laptop once, but my jack didn't fit...
I use PC speakers for the backing track, and amp for me - I can barely hear it over the neighbours dog / teenage daughter

[mcnach]

[quote name='FinnDave' timestamp='1437123267' post='2823719']
The idea of laying through an amplifier at home seems totally unecessary and self-indulgent to me. The only reason to play alone at home is to learn new parts or improve your playing in general. For that the 'tone' argument is redundant. No need to make others unwilling share your mistakes.
[/quote]


There is a thing called "volume" in the layout of my home amp's controls. It seems to be able to regulate how loud it goes, from rattling windows to completely inaudible. I have found a spot in said control that allows me to hear my bass very well at a volume that's no louder (in fact probably quieter than many) TV sets in people's homes. Who would have thought it?

Now, more seriously... bass indeed travels. For people leaving in apartments, or sharing walls with neighbours... it's important to be aware and careful about that. But it's not just bass amps... TVs (especially with a full sound system! Those explosions sound awesome in the room but they can be really annoying to neighbours), stereos... Some people don't realise how much noise they make. Stop and think about it.

I do use an amp at home, but it's generally not very loud at all. In fact sometimes I practice along to my mobile phone, which is great as its bass reproduction is very poor... so it allows me to play back recordings from rehearsals when we're working on new songs, and it allows me to try different basslines until I find what I like. I set myself a curfew of 9pm, because that's where the little girl upstairs seems to be going to bed. I have indeed spoken to neighbours telling them to not be shy if the noise is annoying... and their response is that they hear it sometimes but it's not obtrussive. My downstairs neighbour says she didn't know I played bass at home...

Be mindful and you don't need headphones all the time.

[CamdenRob]

I am fortunate in this regard in that I live in a basement flat with foot thick walls, so playing at moderate volume thorugh an amp is fine, also the neighbor above is deaf.

I do struggle with my Mesa guitar rig though... the lowest possible volume it puts out is still a bit much even on the 10 watt setting

[Leonard Smalls]

I play loudly - often at full gig volume, especially if the Mrs is out.
The neighbours can swivel!

However,as they're a least 100m away and my walls are 3' stone rubble-filled I'd need to be playing through Motorhead's PA for them to hear me.
Living in the middle of nowhere is excellent for playing loud music...

[RAY AGAINST THE MACHINE]

I live in an upstairs maissonnette . This means the floors are carpeted. I have ceiling speakers in the bedroom & hallway. Tbh, I got talked out of putting them in the living room by a chap in Sevenoaks hi- fi .

I use a combo playing Bass , but at a very reasonable volume . Amp is on a stand or table .
Also , if the mood takes me , I play through my Mac computer with line 6 interface & studio monitors ( not loud tho').
No complaints from neighbour , although she will
Have a fit when she notices I cut part of her climber down yesterday , before going to s korn gig.

[operative451]

My upstairs neighbour only uses their flat as a 'crash pad' in The City (of plymouth - god knows where they live!) and is rarely there. I'll check for open windows or lights before cranking the octaver!

My 'other' neighbour was always 'yeah yeah i love live music, yay hurrah!' and then came and yelled at me one time when he had a hangover... Er, you said it was okay dude, make your mind up? Luckily he either works or is out most evenings, and the layout of the building is that he's right at the front (on a main road, not quiet!) and i'm at the back. The buildings next door on both sides are derelict!

[Bobthedog]

[quote name='Leonard Smalls' timestamp='1437129531' post='2823804']
I play loudly - often at full gig volume, especially if the Mrs is out.
The neighbours can swivel!

However,as they're a least 100m away and my walls are 3' stone rubble-filled I'd need to be playing through Motorhead's PA for them to hear me.
Living in the middle of nowhere is excellent for playing loud music...
[/quote]

This for me too, although my ears cannot take gig volume in the room I use.

[Old_Ben]

If you get a multi input interface there is no reason why you couldn't both play together on a computer program such as reaper, and output it through computer speakers / a hifi and control the bass using inbuilt plugins etc, you could even import other music into it to make a more controlled practise environment

Failing that put some thick foam under your amps to prevent it travelling too far through the building.

[ambient]

Someone mentioned above about the level of noise from TV sets. We live in a ridiculously noisy society. Time was when cutting your lawn you used a push thing, one neighbour still does, then raked up the cuttings. All done reasonably quietly. Nowadays you use an electric one or maybe a petrol one. The noise these things create is ridiculous. My one neighbour then uses a petrol driven blower thing for his cuttings, what a racket that produces.

In fact my neighbour who uses an old fashioned manual lawn mower, then rakes up his cuttings, does his lawns quicker than those who use modern noisy ones, he has less to pack away afterwards too.

Power washers for washing cars, what's wrong with a bucket and sponge ?

Thing is, yes bass players need to be considerate at home, but I think society as a whole needs to be.

Edited July 17, 2015 by ambient

[RockfordStone]

im lucky enough to live in a detached house with only one house to the side several metres from my house.

I use a mixture of headphones, amp, computer and acoustic.

The trick is to be considerate. even if you do use an amp, why would you need to play loud if you are playing alone?. as said before, louder than you would have your tv is probably over the top.

we have a good relationship with our neighbours, one of them is also a musician and has a son who is a drummer, so we know that if it caused an issue we would be able to have a chat.

we often have people revving their engines in adjacent house, chainsaws at 6/7 am etc, but there is no need to upset neighbours when really you don't have to play that loudly.

Edited July 17, 2015 by RockfordStone

[Twincam]

One side the neighbours often play loud music with windows open, we dont complain so bugger them. And the other side, the one I think the sound will effect alot more make odd noises all through the day and night. But still I'm trying to keep it sensible.
We don't play on the amps after 8. Although once or twice we have played till 9 but much lower volume. We also don't normally play for anymore than an hour or so.
My lass thinks we are ok and she is the sensible one.

[hubrad]

[quote name='Mornats' timestamp='1437071688' post='2823408']
Maybe have a chat with your neighbours and give them your mobile number. Say that you do practice bass but don't want to disturb them. Tell them to drop you a polite text if it sounds unreasonably loud to them. That way they have a way of telling you to turn it down that's not confrontational (which may have been why your old neighbours didn't say anything to you directly) and you'll be happier in the knowledge that you're not disturbing them.
[/quote]
This, really. I know our neighbours have two kids, as we sometimes hear the six year old throwing a full-on tantrum then the following day we'll all laugh at her! We get on really well with next door, and I said that very thing to them ages ago, just in case I forget it's way past someone else's bedtime.
Similarly handy if one of the houses is about to do some DIY or the like.

[scalpy]

I live in the converted loft of a Victorian house. If practising I don't even use headphones, unplugged has been fine. But our downstairs neighbour has taken to leaving the front door tothe building open at all hours, despite many polite conversations and communications in writing.

So I make sure now once a week I play the entirity of rappers delight fully amped when she's changing onto night shift. Not big and not clever I know but enough is enough!

In other circumstances when we've had to organise a quick rehearsal at home for a gig at short notice, we invite all the neighbours, get a few bottles in and have a nice informal run through and nobody minds.

Edited July 17, 2015 by scalpy

[darren]

I have a detached house, the nearest neighbour the other side of my garage and play through a 15w combo at less than half volume. I've never given bass noise pollution a second thought. However, when my 1 year old is teething and screaming at the top of her voice (poor thing) I do tend to close the windows to protect the neighbours.

[mingsta]

Headphones for me too. I enjoy playing much more knowing I'm not pissing any one off.

[pjb13.bass]

Have you thought of getting an electro-acoustic? I have an Ibanez AEB10E which is perfectly audible unplugged if you just want to learn a part or generally practice and it won't disturb people in the next room never mind your neighbours. If you want to gig it you have to plug it in but it does have an XLR out so when I use it in the folk-rock/americana band I am in I go direct into the PA and it sounds fine. Another bonus is that whilst the action is fine generally if you learn a tricky part on the acoustic it is often easier to play on the electric.

[Chris Sharman]

Play loud enough and you don't have neighbours for long.

Problem solved.



Being serious for once in my life though, I am fortunate in that my house has walls made of good, honest, Derbyshire stone almost 18 inches thick. I had been playing my sax and basses for over a year when one of the neighbours came round on a party night and said "I didn't know you played..." she was going to apologise for her playing Metallica loud late at night; our response was "do you? we've never heard it". Old buildings are good for this sort of thing it seems.

I do stop playing at 9pm anyway as I consider that a fair and considerate cut off time, however if anyone ever had a problem with it I would take their comments etc into consideration.

Live and let live.

[Heket]

On a side note, if you want an amp that doesn't disturb anyone you could give the Yamaha THR series a go. They are digital modellers with 2 X 5" speakers and small enough to fit on your desk. With it I can play amplified but as it's tiny with tiny speakers the sound doesn't travel far. It still sounds good though. Don't expect to get any sort of volume out of it, but that's not what we are after here. They are not cheap but go give one a try. A bonus is that they function as an easy recording amp, just plug it into your USB socket and go.

I originally got mine for guitar but love it for bass. You won't get as much use out of the models, but the other features are still just as useful. There's a Yamaha shop in London if you go near there, otherwise I've seen them in plenty of other stores. They're not advertised for bass at all, but they are suitable.

[JapanAxe]

[quote name='Heket' timestamp='1437211299' post='2824422']
On a side note, if you want an amp that doesn't disturb anyone you could give the Yamaha THR series a go. They are digital modellers with 2 X 5" speakers and small enough to fit on your desk. With it I can play amplified but as it's tiny with tiny speakers the sound doesn't travel far. It still sounds good though. Don't expect to get any sort of volume out of it, but that's not what we are after here. They are not cheap but go give one a try. A bonus is that they function as an easy recording amp, just plug it into your USB socket and go.

I originally got mine for guitar but love it for bass. You won't get as much use out of the models, but the other features are still just as useful. There's a Yamaha shop in London if you go near there, otherwise I've seen them in plenty of other stores. They're not advertised for bass at all, but they are suitable.
[/quote]

And there's one for sale in the [url="http://basschat.co.uk/topic/265371-fs-yamaha-thr10-practice-amp-more-pics-added/"]Basschat Marketplace[/url].

[Iain]

[quote name='Lozz196' timestamp='1437067861' post='2823361']
I`ve always worked on the theory that my bass doesn`t go as loud as my TV at regular listening volumes, found it`s a good way to minimise this. I`ve also got some thick foam under my practice amp, and lastly only play between the hours of 9am - 9pm.
[/quote]

Top quality suggestions.

Also - cut the low bass on the amp - that's what travels. you won't, hopefully, be playing at a volume that moves your internal organs around. Alternatively play through a decent pair of studio monitors - at home volumes they should be fine.

[Alex_SG]

We live in a Detached house and our closest neighbour is about 20 meters away.
My whole family play instruments...

Me: Electric Guitar, (electronic) drums and bass
Wife: Clarinet and piano
Son: Clarinet, bass and piano
Daughter: Flute

We have a good relationship with the neighbours, and they have accepted that we need practice time.
Their dog barks incessantly, but we've never officially complained, just had a friendly word with them.
We don't report them, they don't report us... Simple!
We don't play any later than 7pm, or earlier than 9am.
Neighbours are happy, and the council or police have never been called to stop us.

Edited December 30, 2016 by Alex_SG