Lady complains abt drumming neighbour

[doublestrokesg]

Hey guys, a resident complained on the Straits Times forum on Sunday abt a drumming neighbour who 'has been playing the drum so loudly that even her floor vibrates.'

The article reads:
My Family has been living with noise pollution for more than six months. Our neighbour downstairs has been playing the drum so loudly that even our floor vibrates. The situation has not improved despite a talk with the nieghbour to lower the noise volume. We have even made calls to the police.... In a closed living environment such as an HDB block, are residents allowed to play band instruments without sound-proofing their units? Can the authorities please help?

Although no reply has been given from HDB or any town council like body thus far, I think this article will affect those drummers with acoustic sets, living in HDBs.

Personally, I think 'a talk' is not enough. You're just discussing, but arriving at no resolution. Moroever, when a neighbour confronts another regarding such issues, both parties will tend to be in a state of being aggravated, one from the noise, and the other from feeling stifled and intruded.

Similarly for me, my neighbour voiced her concerns abt not being able to have her sleep due to me practicing (she works a crazy shift so sleep is precious and I totally understand that). However, we were not able to come to a conclusion because both parties were so heated up when she confronted me at my flat.

After much reflecting, I decided to stop playing by 6pm so that she wouldn't have to be welcomed home from work by the loud thuds coming from my unit above. I have since not heard from her for almost 18mths now and I'm still able to practice daily, albeit ending by 6pm.

Therefore, I feel that a certain compromise has to be struck simply bcos the HDB block is after all a 'close living environment', but the key factor is in understanding the plights of both parties (drummer and the compaining neighbour), and then putting an effort to work around it. But if your neighbour is the 'guai lan' type, die die don't want u to play than bobian la...


Darryl aka doublestrokesg.

 

[soft]

we definitely have to be responsible musicians. :wink:

 

[Cheez]

My neighbour actually pounded on the wall at 10:00pm - because I was playing my keyboard too loudly. Actually, I was using headphones - the sound was actually my fingers literally playing on the keyboard! :roll:

But then, I'm not in Singapore, my apartment's wall are very thin and night time tends to be very very quiet...

 

[atee]

I've a friend who pasted a thick layer of newspapers on his cymbals and toms etc. I think that'll help a whole lot in reducing the noice made, and you can still practise your chops. Maybe take them off the moment your neighbour steps out of his/her door.

But yea, drums are pretty inconvenient.

 

[bryanlim]

well

plz do update this thread. i wanna wish what happened. :smt096

 

[yuen]

when i practise usually light strokes, but still quite loud.i got a thick carpet so no complaints from below.My neighbours upstairs sometimes use something hard to knock on the floor so i know that they are unhappy,,, but i still practise, limit untill 7pm...... Sometimes damm boring come home only got an hour plus to practise.... But my saturday,sunday session in the afternoon, i guess all my neighbours can hear.... But must control a bit before the Man in blue come knocking....
My neighbour quite understanding,,, cos there kids are shouting, screaming in the weekends, and some occasional overnight mahjong sessions....
Guess im still quite lucky...
To my understanding, the cut off time is 11pm. from town council.

 

[echoist]

the other way is to get practice pads that can be placed on top of the individual toms, snare, hi-hat and cymbals. so u will actually be hitting onto these pads. and once its 'safe' to play them normally, u just need to take them off. no adjustment or retuning of the skins need to be done.

i know Sabian have a complete set for Standard and Fusion sizes. price wise i'm not too sure tho. i know Swee Lee carries them.

 

[MadWerewolfBoy]

i thought cut of time was 9pm?

 

[yuen]

sorry correction..1030pm to control noise level, according to town council correct me if i am wrong....
cheers artyman:

 

[doublestrokesg]

yea, Yuen's right... HDB's cut off time is 10.30pm. :wink: Shall we all keep a lookout on the papers these few days to see if HDB does respond?

 

[drummar-buah]

sux man.. we should be compensated a LITTLE bit to say.. buy carpets and soft cushions to mute up the room.. feel that drummers sometimes abit discrimated.

 

[Vio]

i bet Mike Portnoy never lived in an apartment when he was starting out.

 

[ixora05]

People who live in private housing don't have it easy either. Only people who live in bungalows man. I live in a semi-detached and the problem of sound-proofing so my next door neighbour won't murder me is a headache for me too. and I have to tackle unsupportive family members too :S

 

[Frummer]

trust me ixora...almost all of us have been there...hahaha

*cept the fact u liv in semi-d...slightly better rite?

still hard thou to lead a drummers life... :lol:

 

[nitrovo]

My brother cant play drums after 9pm and cant play before school. He has pads anyway.

When my parents are out, I crank my amp and just play along to whatever. Not sure if my neighbours are annoyed, i mean they dont mention it when we meet in the lifts, just a smile and hello so i guess its ok.

 

[Nefianz]

my drummer lives in semi-d too.. the other day we went to his house to jam.. nx few days he got a letter from his neighbour, requesting he stop playing for awhile since it's the "A" n "O" lvls period..

mayb we'll go back after these exams are over.. haa..

 

[bryanlim]

hm.. what would happen even if we ask politely but the neighbour insisit on his way.. hmm i really look forward to hdb's reply.

 

[redjackal]

i think both parties have to be responsible.
a nice little request is always easier than a forced demand right?

no doubt, drums are noisy.
we should try to minimise the noise level as much as possible because what is nice to us may not be to them....

imagine if u're into metal....crashing away and double pedaling away.
:lol:

likewise, when others blast techno which u fucking hate, u find it shitty while the nutcase find u "a little bit only what...board day light leh kao bei simi!"

hmmmm.....my neighbour, although not drumming, not blasting, she jumps and practise indian dances, and worst....drag that fucking chair all day long. it's ok once in a while but everyday seems to start getting on my nerves. every now and then i will hear irritating noises.

 

[vx02]

i own a set and to be honest, the only time i play them at full volume is when i take them for jams. quite sad really. and its just the snare summore. but yeah i did get the sabian practice pads but the relative tuning runs and boy the cymbal mufflers make your cymbals sound like you're whacking an army mess tin man. haha.

but yeah. we drummers face a two faced (no pun intended) world la. if we play like shit we get like shit from everyone else, lack of support etc. but if like you get real famous everyone'll go like "whoa he was my neighbour.", "i supported him from day one". you know that 6yr old kid who plays at orchard (family friend).. he gets a whole load of shit from his neighbours... until he got famous. sad yeah.

 

[Nefianz]

but yeah. we drummers face a two faced (no pun intended) world la.:

i dun tink tt only applys to drummers.. this is how the world works..