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Joined: Feb 15, 2005 Posts: 1512 Location: Norwich
So my neighbour just came round super pissed off, beacuse I was playing an electric drumkit, with headphones on, between 12:30pm-1:30pm. He said he's going to phone the police, council etc and try and get me evicted. Can he actually do anything? I mean its nowhere near as loud as an acoustic kit, and I think during the afternoon is a reasonable hour. I think the issue is he works nights and sleeps during the day. I tried reasoning with him, asked him when the best time of the day to play was and it seemed as though he just wanted me to stop playing all together (which I'm not going to do obviously...). Any suggestions/similar experiences? _________________
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So my neighbour just came round super pissed off, beacuse I was playing an electric drumkit, with headphones on, between 12:30pm-1:30pm. He said he's going to phone the police, council etc and try and get me evicted. Can he actually do anything? I mean its nowhere near as loud as an acoustic kit, and I think during the afternoon is a reasonable hour. I think the issue is he works nights and sleeps during the day. I tried reasoning with him, asked him when the best time of the day to play was and it seemed as though he just wanted me to stop playing all together (which I'm not going to do obviously...). Any suggestions/similar experiences?
he cant do shit!
the police will need to file a report with recorded Db figures, my guess is that its pretty quiet and he's a cunt. Next time he comes round punch him in the cock and tell him that he's a total artphag.
Joined: Mar 11, 2009 Posts: 112 Location: Wymondham
You've already asked when's the best time for you to play - beyond that there's nothing more you can do & you can state it to the police if they get a call (which they probably wont - the guy is just a bit of a twat - if he was reasonable he could at least suggest a different room - further from wherever he's sleeping etc)
practicing drums at home is certainly a nightmare, but you've done all you can, it's an electric drum kit - he can either discuss it like an adult, or sod off. _________________ http://www.hamptonguitartech.co.uk/
Joined: Apr 19, 2005 Posts: 5794 Location: At the bottom of the garden, amongst the birds and the bees
FourARSEDSheep wrote:
Any suggestions/similar experiences?
The police will politely tell him to fuck off. The council will tell him to talk to you (again), then probably ask him to keep a record of when you disturb him (which they'll never do anything with), and they'll make a note of the complaint. If he then complains again they'll probably send out the Environmental Health people with a decibel meter - they need several readings at different times on different days over a certain level (I think it's about 85dB but I'm not sure) before it's considered a problem.
If he keeps moaning, someone (either the police or EH) will knock on your door/leave a note and tell you there's a been a complaint, and what you need to do - basically "don't do it again" - but if it's inside your house and it's not deliberately obnoxious (like a really loud stereo) there's not much they can do. I doubt they'd take you to court as you're being reasonable (you can even use this thread in your defence), and it's not the sort of noise that will travel out of the house that badly, only through walls.
I suggest you give THIS a perusal - there's a section on "How do I complain" and what action can be taken against you.
If you're a really nice guy, you might try "floating" the kit - separate it from the floor with something dense and heavy like a folded up duvet or something. Most of the loud, low frequency noise will be transmitted through the floor rather than the air, so if you can lessen that you might eliminate the problem.
Joined: Feb 17, 2005 Posts: 2281 Location: Sheffield
One thing, though-if he works nights & sleeps during the day, he was quite possibly tired & irritable when he spoke to you. Be careful not to presume he's a twat when clearly he spoke to you when he wasn't at his best.
Not saying he has a point; just saying if you discussed it when he was refreshed he probably would be more reasonable & less angry. We've all been woken up when we haven't wanted to be-and when it's happened, we've all been annoyed about it. _________________ [Likes Japanese boys and still listens to A-ha]
～Language is...bridges, so that you can get safely from one place to another. And the more bridges you know about the more places you can see～
Joined: Feb 16, 2005 Posts: 1038 Location: UEA Norwich, Ipswich
Police don't deal with it, the council do. If you are a private tenant there's very little that can be done, if not you could receive a visit from a noise pollution officer, if you live in the mile cross area it'd be a really reasonable guy anyway, who will hopefully arrange some kind of compromise. _________________
Joined: Feb 16, 2005 Posts: 5203 Location: Norwich
I think everyone has done a good job of summing it up on here, for once a constructive thread! Haha. I would say the same as the others though, an electric drum kit isn't that loud unless you play it extremely hard (Mr Barker....) and even then I doubt it would be massively over 85dB.
If the bloke can't come to a compromise then he is being childish, even if it is something like you playing in the early evening instead of the afternoon. Also as Pesti mentioned, you can try dampening the area around the kit although it doesn't make that much difference as I have done it on my kit at home.
I've found that the bass drum is pretty pesky for transmitting sound around the house and the houses immediately adjacent. If you can get your hands on some polystyrene or a duvet like Pestilence suggested that would be cool. Also hot rods work just fine on an electric drum kit, not exactly the same feel but it reduces the sound a bit and still gives you the work out.
Joined: Mar 25, 2005 Posts: 256 Location: Wymondham
It sounds like you are already doing what you can to keep the noise down. The fact you are playing an electric drum kit and not an acoustic on suggests that you are trying to keep the noise to a min. You havnt been threatening towards him and you have tried to resolve the issue like an adult. If the guy wont be reasonable and talk to you like an adult i dont see how he can expect to have his way.
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