Question--how to not annoy the neighbors

[Adamixoye]

I just moved (got married, needed a bigger place). It's a two-bedroom townhouse, so we have windows and our own walls on three sides, but the fourth side is a common wall with our only neighbor. We've made the spare bedroom into an office/music room. We're sort of limited by potential arrangements, and I'm wondering where I should put my amp?

 

(A) Back against a wall that is common, front facing into the room, away from the common wall

(B) Side against a wall that is not common, but front facing toward the common wall

 

I can work with either. I'm not planning to crank it regularly or at night, but if I want to get slightly loud in the middle of the day, what would annoy my neighbor less?

[BigKahuna855]

headphones.

[73 P Bass]

Dude, you're screwed! I hope your neighbor likes bass.

Seriously though, you might want to look into some sound insulation.

[jeremy c]

It doesn't matter where you put the amp.

 

Your neighbor will hear it.

 

Figure out your neighbor's schedule and play when they are not home.

 

Otherwise, get a little tiny practice amp like a Peavey Minx and keep it on "1".

[Adamixoye]

I didn't realize this was such an illegitimate question. Is there not a preferred arrangement? I realize that bass playing and stealthiness do not go hand-in-hand. I'm not talking about having band practice; I'm talking about playing at a reasonable volume where the sound doesn't seem like it's a million miles away.

 

In my previous apartment, I had a similar arrangement, but with an upstairs neighbor as well. I never heard complaints, though maybe they just tolerated it. The only difference was that the amp was along a non-common wall, and I pointed it into my room, and not toward the common wall.

[moot]

but if I want to get slightly loud in the middle of the day, what would annoy my neighbor less?

Living across town.

 

Jeremy is right. You have to play when the cat is away.

[bruiser_dup2]

I'm going with the headphones. Bass goes through everything; even the people who don't share a wall with you are gonna hear it.

 

Bruiser

[Fuego]

wow ur screwed, not as much if ya got a firewall tho. i lived at a townhouse one and there was like a 1 foot firewall between me and the neibor and it worked well,,,at least i think it did

[JBFLA]

I live in a 'Quad' type apartment: two common walls and two non-common walls. I'm also on the second of two floors.

 

My gear is in a central position (hey, I'm single, the gear is the corner of my living room, I'm not planning on making the cover of "Better Condos and Apartments" for interior design anytime soon).

 

My neighbors know I play, and I don't play after 9:00 PM (unless through headphones). One complaint in 6+ years here, and they asked me to turn down my stereo. uhhh... OK.

 

Discretion and respect will, hopefully, overcome any complaints, I would think.

 

Jim

[Adamixoye]

I see that no one has voted in the poll, except me, so I could see the results, to see that no one had voted in the poll...

 

I think you all are missing the point. I have lived in an apartment for the last 18 months. I never got a complaint. I know how to not be a jerk about playing loud and/or after hours. I know that living in any sort of apartment/townhouse is not the best idea for a musician who wants to be able to play. I'll just have to deal with it.

 

I am simply asking, is one setup even marginally better than the other?

[bruiser_dup2]

Maybe we're missing the point, or maybe we all think that it doesn't make any difference which way you point the amp. Bass is pretty non-directional, and it gets transmitted very efficiently by building materials.

 

Why don't you try it both ways, and ask your neighbors which way works better?

 

Bruiser

[Connie Z]

Hi Adamixoye,

 

Funny you should bring this up, because I am faced with a situation right now.

 

I live in a brick house which is spaced about 8-10 feet away from the neighbors house. It is a stand-alone house, not connected at all to the neighbor.

 

My band meets and rehearses in my living room, which is in the front of my house.

 

When we started rehearsals, I spoke with my neighbors directly next door to let them know that we have band rehearsals, and asked them quite sincerely to please let me know if the sound ever presented a problem for them.

 

When we rehearse, I know that you can hear the music when standing outside the house, and I've asked them about that, and they said, "oh, we like it. It's not too loud."

 

Well, the other day, the 10 year old son of the folks came to say hi, and as we were talking, he commented, "Oh, me and my mom go to sleep listening to your band!"

 

I said, "You mean you can hear the band in your bedroom?" He said, "Oh yes, but we really like it."

 

I was horrified. For one thing, even though they may like it sometimes, it is a sure thing that there will be times that they don't. Like if the Mother goes to bed if she is not feeling well, or has a headache or something. Also, the Grandfather who lives with them, has stopped speaking to me, which I was wondering why, and now I am thinking that he doesn't like our "loud music."

 

The bedroom of this child is about 20 whole feet back and away from where my living room is situated.

 

So I am so glad that this little boy spilled the beans, cause now I ask my bandmates to really keep it down. And I am looking into ways to reduce the sound that escapes through the walls and windows and doors.

 

My ideal situation is when I finally get my garage soundproofed and we can move into there. But that is a long ways off.

 

So I can say for a fact that even if they don't complain, they can probably hear.

 

When I lived in the townhouse that I was in for 13 years, I had a neighbor who used to play some kind of video game, which had heavy bass. It cames straight though my wall and totally ruined every TV show I was trying to watch. Even when he turned it down, the bass still came through.

 

Maybe you could try making the bass sound as 'treble' as possible, so that the sound doesn't travel as much. And I do know for sure that leaning a mattress up against the wall is a HUGE help.

 

Hope this helped. I voted in the poll.

 

... connie z

[Dispute]

I would try putting your amp on the non-common wall they may still hear it but at least it wont rumble their room, hopefully they wont mind a little noise during the day, or put it on a couch (unless its too big)

 

if all else fails get a night job and play while ther at work

[EddiePlaysBass]

Hmmm, tough one ... I guess it comes down to a bit of mutual respect

 

Where I live, we can "make noise" until about 10 in the evening (is that pm?). Noise being borderline deafening

 

But I usually practice until about 9 in the evening at the latest. And not exactly too loud.

 

But still quite loud

 

No complaints so far. I do have to add that I don't live in an appartment though, but in what is referred to here as "row houses".

[getz out]

Adam,

 

Congrats on the marriage. A healthy and happy life to you and yours.

 

You're screwed on the bass thing. Your prior neighbors just tolerated it and didn't complain.

 

Without soundproofing, there's really nothing above "maybe tolerable."

 

Check out the Auralex website.

[MvW]

neither position is better than the other because of the physics involved...

because it's not an acoustically designed/treated space, oversimplified: we're talking about generating bass within a resonant chamber - no matter where the bass is generated from within that chamber, the chamber will resonate in some way (not to mention the fact that rectangular rooms of generic size tend to suffer terribly from standing waves, etc.). instead, you can try to minimize the resonant qualities of the room itself (decouple the amp from the room, bass traps, etc.), but this can be pretty difficult to do as the smaller the room is, the fewer the options, especially if you don't own the spacee

[butcherNburn]

Good points here that I've adapted myself.

 

1.) Respect for the people around you, hopefully you'll get the same in return. This is a hard thing where I am because basically, I don't like their music and they don't like mine.

2.) Keep an eye on the clock.

3.) Do what you can to isolate your amp. Off the floor on a couch can make a big difference. Try some soundproofing on the common wall.

4.) Watch your neighbors habits, try to play when they're not home.

5.) Create an open dialog with your neighbor. Don't let bad blood boil before you talk about it. A simple "I hope I didn't bother you when I was playing yesterday", can go a long way.

6.) You play bass, they will hear and/or feel it.

My old apartment had notoriously thin walls and floors. I lived on the top (3rd) floor, no common walls. When my playing wasn't audible to the neighbors, they would often wonder why the pictures on their walls would vibrate.

[BigKahuna855]

a cheap acoustic could be another way to go. i believe musicians friend has a Dean acoustic-eletric advertised for $150

[bruiser_dup2]

Just out of curiousity, how is the voting going? I didn't vote, so I can't see the results.

 

Bruiser

[haggard]

Hi, Adamixoye

I had a similar experience some time ago. There is one important point, depending of course a lot on the kind of building you are living in. We lived in a stone (concrete) house, with common walls, and what I found out is that it is very important ON WHAT you place your Amp. If you put it simply on the floor, if you use a carpet, if you put it on some kind of table, the resonance (as transmitted from the floor to the common wall and to the floor of the neighbor...) will be greatly influenced. So I used to put the amp on a small table (it was a 150W Combo...) and this table on a double thickness carpet. If you are living in a wooden house, you can forget it, they'll hear you no matter what you do...

 

On the other hand you have the sound produced by the head into the room itself. I covered the common wall with a rubber-foam isolating material. Never had complaints until we formed a band and the drummer arrived...

If you play alone (no band) I'd get a headphone unit. There are some wonderful one's in the market where you can play along to CD's. I love those.

[Nicklab]

Headphones are definitely one of the easiest and cheapest ways to go. As for playing through a combo, I've had this suggested to me.

 

Get a wooden box that is appropriately sized to set your amp on. Then, fill the box with sand. The sand apparently will act as something of a dampener and absorb some of the sound that would normally be transmitted through the floor. It won't necessarily stop the sound from getting to your neighbors, but it might keep your rig from vibrating the floor and the walls.

[73 P Bass]

Originally posted by Nicklab:

Headphones are definitely one of the easiest and cheapest ways to go. As for playing through a combo, I've had this suggested to me.

 

Get a wooden box that is appropriately sized to set your amp on. Then, fill the box with sand. The sand apparently will act as something of a dampener and absorb some of the sound that would normally be transmitted through the floor. It won't necessarily stop the sound from getting to your neighbors, but it might keep your rig from vibrating the floor and the walls.

Back in the Fifties and Sixties sand filled speakers were all the rage; an Art teacher of mine used to brag about them.

The headphone thing isn't a bad idea. I used to have a Boss GT6B that was great fun with headphones, had a good DI, and modeled alot of great effects.

[alexclaber]

The lows are omnidirectional from any bass amp, so what matters is how close the amp is to the party wall, not which way it's facing.

 

Keep the volume low, don't plug in late at night or early in the morning, and avoid cranking the bass knob.

 

My neighbours suffer an Acme cab with a 900W amp against our common wall, but they haven't complained yet!

 

Alex

[SteveC]

I have the same situation. I play through my stuff - no headphones - and I have had no complaints. I keep it down, and try to be respectful. I can only assume that since there have been no nasty notes or calls, I must be doing OK.

 

I was thinking of getting my cab up off the floor, maybe use one of those GAMMA things to try and isoate it a bit more?

[wraub]

Get a GRAMMA underneath your amp.

 

Or go with the home made damper (not dampener ) idea, a sand filled box would probably work.

 

Or, get to know the neighbors, a token of friendship might go a long way.

 

But what do I know, I live in a building full of bass players, so I don't really worry about it.

 

Good luck.

 

Peace,

 

wraub

[ClarkW]

Auralex Gramma. As far away as possible from the common wall. Thin out the bass boost for practice sessions. Headphones if you can stand them. My SWR Workingman has a headphone jack, thankfully, as does my TASCAM Bass Trainer. I have a shared wall but my neighbors have never complained (probably because they are single guys and almost never home), and I don't use a Gramma at home. If you keep to reasonable playing hours and let them know that you want their feedback if it bothers them or not, you will be fine.

[Eric VB]

*bump* [Was looking up headphones and came across this thread. Just thought I'd add my experience.]

 

Played in my basement with "only" 350W into two 4x10s. I was trying to diagnose a strange noise coming out of one of my heads, so I was playing "excessively loud" (um, one o'clock position). Neighbors house is 25-30 feet away. My amp was backed up against the wall closest to their house, and they were in their room closest to my house. I got a phone call; they thought the bass playing was wonderful but couldn't hear their TV over it. (But then again, I usually play 240W into a single 4x10 at like the 8 o'clock [barely on] position.)

 

Um, moral? Not just those with common walls need to worry about annoying their neighbors/neighbours!

[tnb]

Headphones, I don't see anyway around it.

 

Right now, we live in an apartment. The woman on the 2nd floor works the night shift at a restaurant/bar. So I am very careful when I fire up the upright. I can only imagine what it sounds like at 10am after not getting home until 2:30am. I don't practice electric through an amp very often.

[kriptic]

I would suggest doing what i am about to say and give it a shot.

Here's a fix to really drop a lot of the bass growl / punch / earthquake that would go through both house's floors and wall.

 

Take your speaker cabs and raise them off the floor. Put them on top of a chair or something so there is less of a contact surface on the actual ground. Plus the higher the cabs are, the better you will be able to hear them and be able to turn the bass down.

 

I KNOW this works for people in apartments with neighbors all around AND BELOW them! hehe

[mcbn]

Adamixoye,

 

6 + months later how is everything working out?

 

FYI, I personally don't have a problem with my neighbors. 1 apartment next door is a corporate apartment and the people are only there about a month before someone else rotates in. On the other side the people aren't home that much. I think they are college students.

 

The upstairs guys are A**HOLES though! I'm ready to fire up the 410 and crank my head to about 7 or 8 and shake the pictures off of their walls. 2 o'clock in the friggin' morning and they are playing Dave Matthews Band loud enough that it wakes my girlfriend up. Of course she wakes me up just to say, "Do you hear that?"!!!! Now I do honey, thanks. I just wish they were playing something that didn't suck.

 

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