Drums in a terraced house

TBagpuss

I think what is reasonable will vary, but I think that drumming or other loud music would definitely have the potential to be unreasonable.

I think the suggestions to sound-proof as much as possible, and to let your neighbours know when and for how long you are likely to be drumming are very sensible. I think that any more than half an hour at one time would start to be unreasonable, if the sound can be heard.

I'd also consider *what* exactly, the noise is that you'll be making - if you think of other types of instrument, listening to someone practising scales or fingering can get much more irritating than if they are playing an actual piece of music, so it may be considerate to think about the sound you make when deciding which things to practice on the 'real' drums and when to use alternatives.

stator

As long as you don't have any night shift neighbours go ahead and do whatever you like.

carefullycautious

If all else fails could you get a well insulated outdoor shed?


After what I went through drums would be like birdsong

vqmismatch

I work a rota that is all over the place but would be delighted to have a neighbour who came round to chat about good times to play. I'd not sell yourself short, say you won't practice for over 45 minutes, 20 doesn't seem enough to really get into it. If you only play for 20 thats fine but you aren't forced to stop so soon to keep to the arrangement.

In my case drumming for an hour at times I am at work or awake would be far better than leaving the only fools and horses theme song on repeat every night from 2300 to 0200 then often from 0500 onwards also… The quietest time to sleep for me here is between about 0800 and 1300 with this neighbour. If he came round to say 'sorry it must be annoying but I can't get to sleep without it' it wouldn't grate so much, making the effort to at least pretend be civil is important.


On a side note it may be worth chatting to neighbours further away, at my parents place (detached) there is a house five away you can easily hear the chap playing the drums when he goes for it.

Money_maker

I would love to hear a good drummer practise next door (but my DS2 is an electric guitarist and my neighbour is psycho). Wouldn't be too happy if I was trying to get a little one off to sleep, though.

aileth

Definitely talk to the neighbours.

They may have little ones, or shift workers, night workers etc, so whilst 6-8 p.m. for you may sound like a considerate time to practice, for others it'd be the worst. Ask what the best time would be and adjust to suit them, rather than them adjusting to suit you, as it's them that you'd be inconveniencing with noise

Ivana_Tinkle

Absolutely agree with what the others have said. You sound extremely reasonable, so just go over and communicate that to them. The worst things about neighbour noise are a) not knowing how long it's going to last b) not knowing when it's going to start up again and c) imagining your neighbour is an evil unthinking git who might even be doing it on purpose to annoy you. I'm ridiculously over-sensitive about noise, but if I knew that you were putting up with the electronic pads and trying your hardest not to annoy me even I would forgive you!

Mgman1965

stator wrote: »

As long as you don't have any night shift neighbours go ahead and do whatever you like.

Bet that attitude would change if it was someone doing it next door to you.

vuvuzela

Herbalus wrote: »

I've read all the threads about neighbours from hell making a load of noise, and I appreciate how degrading it must be to your quality of life, but;

I'm a drummer. I've also just moved into a terraced house. Before anyone starts going on about how inconsiderate I am, I don't intend to set up the drums because it would royally p*** off the neighbours. I also have electronic pad drums, which are acoustically audible but not loud, so I can survive without the big drums, although forcing a drummer to use electronic drums is like forcing somebody who likes music to use tinny laptop speakers, or forcing Delia Smith to eat cold McDonalds. Not great.

My question is, what is reasonable in terms of noise for a terraced house? Occupants can't live in fear that neighbours will hear them, and are permitted to use the house for normal activities within reasonable hours. Does drumming come into this? It's a 'normal' (for a musician) use of a house for maybe 20 minutes per day between 6-8pm.

Oh and I can't afford a detached house. Next time maybe

I wish the !!!! who lived in the back-to-back terrace behind me had !!!!ing asked when he moved in. Would have been better than hearing him playing that evening, me going round and him telling me 'I have the right to play until 11PM'. I gave him a piece of my mind and let him know exactly how incorrect that statement was. What a !!!!ing inconsiderate !!!!!!. Wish I'd had you as a neighbour

I_have_spoken

Oddly enough, the times a neighbour practised drumming in their conservatory always coincided with the times I needed to adjust the carbs on my 500cc Suzuki, which required repeated revving to the redline