Anyone have trouble with downstairs neighbors?

[PunkJr]

Last night, my friends & I were rocking out to "Mississippi Queen" when our timing was thrown off by a pounding coming from downstairs...

It turned out that the drums were causing a HUGE racket for my downstairs neighbor, who was trying to nap before work. :eek:

After a bit of brainstorming, we came upon a brilliant solution:

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2215/2052303754_f9d2af5f6f.jpg

We put down a futon mattress between the drums & the floor to dampen the pounding. It seemed to work. *laugh* We'll see this weekend.

Anyone else have complaints from the neighbors yet?

[Endryc]

I had complaints from my wife who was downstairs working while I was slacking off.

[HMXWhitestar19]

LOL! Nice solution! Love the pic!

[Eastwood]

I put cardboard down. When I muted to talk on the phone and hit it a coupla times after I hung up, I noticed the ominous thump that you get when you walk to hard upstairs. I tried playing softer to no avail. It was 10 at night and I live on the third floor. Didn't want to be an ass, so I layed down some cardboard. Kinda helped :rolleyes:

[skyehill]

Last night, my friends & I were rocking out to "Mississippi Queen" when our timing was thrown off by a pounding coming from downstairs...

It turned out that the drums were causing a HUGE racket for my downstairs neighbor, who was trying to nap before work. :eek:

After a bit of brainstorming, we came upon a brilliant solution:

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2215/2052303754_f9d2af5f6f.jpg

We put down a futon mattress between the drums & the floor to dampen the pounding. It seemed to work. *laugh* We'll see this weekend.

Anyone else have complaints from the neighbors yet?



You have a girl laying ass up on the floor and you two guys are playing games? Nerds.

[PunkJr]

You have a girl laying ass up on the floor and you two guys are playing games? Nerds.

She laughed out loud when I had her come read this. *laugh*

[ozzie18]

Sweet!! Thanks for the good solution. I was upset when I couldn't keep playing last night. Awesome picture!!! LOL

[EricRx]

Sweet drum chair.

[Crucia]

I noticed the noise myself, as well. Especially when my friends were hitting the foot pedal...it sounded like a freaking jackhammer. I'm a little worried about my downstairs neighbors, but not too worried. They party all the time, and frequently keep me up when I have class the next morning.

Now it's time for a little payback. *grin*

In all seriousness, I'm sure they'd come up and be like, "Hey, can you stop pounding on the floor? Why are you doing that, anyway?" Then they'd look past me, see Rock Band, and say, "Whoa! Can I play?"

And all would be fine.

[PunkJr]

Sweet drum chair.

I'm going to Goodwill today to pick up a stool that I can use instead. *laugh* Halfway through "Wanted Dead or Alive", the top kinda caved in and I almost lost it. :p


In all seriousness, I'm sure they'd come up and be like, "Hey, can you stop pounding on the floor? Why are you doing that, anyway?" Then they'd look past me, see Rock Band, and say, "Whoa! Can I play?"

When she started pounding, we paused the game & ran downstairs to apologize/find out how loud it was. She didn't pound after we put the cushion down, so we're assuming it worked. :cool:

[IbanezBassist_v2]

How unrock of you! Tell that hooker she better bow down! If she don't like it maybe she needs to trade you apartments.

[Rogue Marvel]

Yes we totally had this issue yesterday. When we first got the game we turned the music up and started banging away and totally didn't even hear our door bell ring. My neighboor was actually really really nice, he said it sounded like someone was using a tredmill and we explaned we just got a new game and he said he didn't mind as long as we weren't making noise late into the night.

We still decided to be consider and turned the music down and put towels under the drums to try to absorb the vibration. But we also relized that besides the drums is we all tend to tap are feet pretty hard to the beat when we really get into it.

I figure there has to be some kind of way to create a flat surfice that absorbs the sound so drummers don't have to play on cusions. Maybe having something in between plywood.

It really kind of kills some of the excitement of the game when you don't feel like you can rock out like you really want to

[Apples]

That picture is hilarious on so many levels.

[PunkJr]

Yes we totally had this issue yesterday. When we first got the game we turned the music up and started banging away and totally didn't even hear our door bell ring. My neighboor was actually really really nice, he said it sounded like someone was using a tredmill and we explaned we just got a new game and he said he didn't mind as long as we weren't making noise late into the night.

We still decided to be consider and turned the music down and put towels under the drums to try to absorb the vibration. But we also relized that besides the drums is we all tend to tap are feet pretty hard to the beat when we really get into it.

I figure there has to be some kind of way to create a flat surfice that absorbs the sound so drummers don't have to play on cusions. Maybe having something in between plywood.

It really kind of kills some of the excitement of the game when you don't feel like you can rock out like you really want to

We tried putting a piece of plywood on the cushion first, but that just caused more noise. The drums were stable enough, it just took a little getting used to. :p

And I totally agree about the excitement level dropping... I was so paranoid the rest of the night that we were making too much noise. :(

[Smidget]

haha, awesome pic. First thing I thought when seeing your seating arrangement was "that cannot be comfy for the tushy" then the thought was "that is SO gonna cave in on him" haha. Funny to hear it happened :p

Im eventually going to work on finding some way to muffle the drum heads without losing responsiveness (maybe someone else will first). Was playing through BWT with 4 peeps last night and in close proximity, it was a bit overpowering, especially on crazy songs where its nonstop.

[KaYotiX]

Nice LOL!! I live on th second floor also and i kinda just stopped playing drums after 8pm. Our downstairs nieghbors are nice but i really dont want them coming to my door at 10pm saying im making too much noise.

[optimusdarko]

Hahaha that is one amazing picture. My downstairs neighbor hasn't complained yet, which is surprising considering the fact that she's about 70 years old. I was thinking of using a folded towel under the pedal to reduce the noise but it appears that a futon matress is the way to go.

[Jest684]

Two of my buddies and I were playin until midnight or so with no sound from the downstairs neighbors. One of my buds is a big guy too who loved playing the drums with his pounding foot. The other was singing at the top of his lungs...I was so paranoid that I was going to get a noise violation again like I did with GH2

[Pellakin]

Nice pic! Funny comments.

Thanks for the link from the thread I started after this one was well under way. (http://community.rockband.com/vbforum/showthread.php?t=9681)

Cross-linking to "consolidate", so to speak - I'll post in this exclusively with any feedback I have on stuff that works.

Its funny you mention the futon mattress, because the memory foam cover I mentioned in my thread is actually tossed over the futon in the living room, since those mattresses are just NOT very comfy at all. Maybe I'll use some combination of both of them, along with some rubber sticks and/or timpani mallets and ask the neighbors how things sound down there.

One place folks might look if you're really serious about soundproofing and have some extra cash to burn: http://www.auralex.com/

I called a local music store to get some ideas and this is where he steered me. Much of it is used for soundproofing walls of recording studios, etc., but there are some pads and kits used to isolate sound for floors too.

Keep the ideas coming!

[surferbill]

one thing that *may*work... if you have a large ottoman....preferably wide and rectangular...maybe put the drums on that....I got mine at target for like 80 bucks or so and it has about 2 ft of padding.

I haven't tried it out yet since it just dawned on me a second ago. Could be a feasible solution provided you can get the drum height to where you want it and that it sits securely on the ottoman.

Another way is to get your wife/girlfriend on all fours and strap it on her back. When she starts complaining convince her this will only bring the both of you closer together and that should buy you another 30 minutes or so. ;)

[FallenAce]

When I got home from work on Wednesday I found a note in front of my door from a neighbor saying we were way too loud and way too late (we stopped before midnight) and she hoped there would not be an encore. What she failed to realize was that she turns her freaking bedroom tv on at like 6AM and it's really loud and above my bedroom, so eff her.

What made it better was that another neighbor left us a note saying that she had read the first note and thought it hilarious. She went on to say that she loved our revisit to Nirvana and thought we sounded great. I'll post the notes later I think.

[Granteezy]

Last night, my friends & I were rocking out to "Mississippi Queen" when our timing was thrown off by a pounding coming from downstairs...

It turned out that the drums were causing a HUGE racket for my downstairs neighbor, who was trying to nap before work. :eek:

After a bit of brainstorming, we came upon a brilliant solution:

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2215/2052303754_f9d2af5f6f.jpg

We put down a futon mattress between the drums & the floor to dampen the pounding. It seemed to work. *laugh* We'll see this weekend.

Anyone else have complaints from the neighbors yet?

Yea my neighbors below were up twice last night to compliment me on my drumming skills! haha I'm going to have to put something down beneath them. I was thinking that thick carpet underlay would do the trick.

Good call on the futon mattress though!!

[MdubMedia]

Well, lucky for me, I'm on the first floor. The guy above us is retired, but he stays up late anyway. We played loud up until 8:30 or so, then we tried just tapping on the drums and turned the tv down. Since Tuesday we've been rocking hard and he hasn't said anything since. I'm actually more worried about the noise of the drum sticks right now.

It's funny because anytime I hear a noise or my cat does I pause the game real quick and freak out. Then I become paranoid and play quieter.

Oh wellz.

[surferbill]

update on my situation...I went to target and bought a twin size foam mattress pad ($10)...cut a bunch of squares out of it, and stacked them about 4 layers high..wrapped them in masking tape and placed them under the four feet corners.

I played for about 30 minutes, wailed on And Justice for All and a few other songs to test it out.

i then went downstairs and asked the lady if i was being loud and she said last night (before i used the mattress pads..was using tshirts) and she said it was insane haha. Then I told her I was just playing for 30 minutes and asked if she could hear me...she said she heard nothing.

So it looks like cutting up mattress pads could be a good solution for those with people living under you.

[JoshuaNeff]

Im a bit nervous about this too... but so far no problem. My downstairs neighbor (duplex) is an ER doctor, so a lot of nights he sleeps at the hospital. Good news is when he does, he calls me to let me know he won't come home and if I can let his dog out.

I get a heads up when I can be super annoying and loud all night, but on the flip side if he does come home to sleep after working 30 hours straight, I don't really want to smash the floor with him trying to sleep under it.

My solution? Tell him to come up and play =)

[Pellakin]

I'm heading over to a friend's house to jam a bit tonight, but as for my own setup, I found an Auralex GRAMMA (Gig and Recording, Amp and Monitor, Modulation Attenuator) for $39 at Guitar Center and I'll be trying that out later.

It's basically made for amps/speakers/etc. to isolate the sound and prevent as much sound as possible from going DOWNWARD. It has a hard top but has padding as it's base as well as acoustic foam/sound deadener in the center underneath - kind of like egg-crate foam.

Pictures/description: http://www.auralex.com/sound_isolation_gramma/sound_isolation_gramma.asp

The drum base fits fine with about 2 inches of each leg sticking off the edges. There's also a larger (Great GRAMMA) one that should fit the entire stand no problem.

I'll probably still end up combining this with my memory foam in just a single layer as a base and see how it affects the noise downstairs. I'll post with some results.

The other ideas are great too!

[surferbill]

I'm heading over to a friend's house to jam a bit tonight, but as for my own setup, I found an Auralex GRAMMA (Gig and Recording, Amp and Monitor, Modulation Attenuator) for $39 at Guitar Center and I'll be trying that out later.

It's basically made for amps/speakers/etc. to isolate the sound and prevent as much sound as possible from going DOWNWARD. It has a hard top but has padding as it's base as well as acoustic foam/sound deadener in the center underneath - kind of like egg-crate foam.

Pictures/description: http://www.auralex.com/sound_isolation_gramma/sound_isolation_gramma.asp

The drum base fits fine with about 2 inches of each leg sticking off the edges. There's also a larger (Great GRAMMA) one that should fit the entire stand no problem.

I'll probably still end up combining this with my memory foam in just a single layer as a base and see how it affects the noise downstairs. I'll post with some results.

The other ideas are great too!

Oh man that sounds sweet. I'd pay that money for peace of mind. Even though the lady downstairs said she couldn't hear it with the mattress pad, im still paranoid as all heck and haven't touched my drums for 3 hours...and it's killing me! Let me/us know how it works as soon as ya can...I may run and grab one tomorrow if it works for ya!

[surferbill]

quick bump for more ideas

[CrimsonFury]

quick bump for more ideas

Buy a house! No neighbors to bug you!
l rock out any time, and as loud as I want! :D :D :D

Seriously though, it must be a real buzz kill to have people at your door harshing your gig.
At least nobody has stories of the po po showing up. ;)

[surferbill]

Buy a house! No neighbors to bug you!
l rock out any time, and as loud as I want! :D :D :D

Seriously though, it must be a real buzz kill to have people at your door harshing your gig.
At least nobody has stories of the po po showing up. ;)

well i kinda did, just bought this condo (dont want the maintenance of a house at this point in my life)...but yeah, still having to deal with people sucks.

[grifta67]

I'm nervous about this myself. Right now I live above a bunch of douchebag kids that play horrible music incredibly loud, so I don't haveta worry about making noise myself. In a few weeks however, I'm moving into a new apartment on a 1st floor of a house. I haven't heard any "field reports" about upstairs neighbors, just downstairs. Hopefully that's because an upstairs neighbor can't hear it too much!

I plan on giving the neighbors our phone numbers so they can let us know when we're too loud, and I'll definitely abide by good neighbor policy and not play after 9 or 10pm.

[Anteraan]

Tonight I had my first ever "neighbor visit". I felt horrible, even though the guy was really cool about it. I'm in an apt. now, but am in the home buying process. This may accelerate my search. :p In the meantime, I'll be trying some of the ideas found in this thread, along with others. Thanks to all who have posted their solutions so far.

[brokentoothpic]

Well, I own a home but our only 'neighbor' experience was yesterday when we opened our patio door (which is in the living room) and cranked up the sound system while we played RB.


Next thing I know, the doorbell rings. Its our neighbors, and they brought THEIR guitars over!


They thought we were playing GH3 and wanted to come jam out, hehe.


I introduced them to RB.


They ran to Wally World and bought their own set as well :)

[Anteraan]

Well, I own a home but our only 'neighbor' experience was yesterday when we opened our patio door (which is in the living room) and cranked up the sound system while we played RB.


Next thing I know, the doorbell rings. Its our neighbors, and they brought THEIR guitars over!


They thought we were playing GH3 and wanted to come jam out, hehe.


I introduced them to RB.


They ran to Wally World and bought their own set as well :)
Now THAT is killer! Well done! :)

[espher]

One of the reasons I am so glad I am no longer in an apartment haha.

That and laundry. -_-

[Granteezy]

Well, I own a home but our only 'neighbor' experience was yesterday when we opened our patio door (which is in the living room) and cranked up the sound system while we played RB.


Next thing I know, the doorbell rings. Its our neighbors, and they brought THEIR guitars over!


They thought we were playing GH3 and wanted to come jam out, hehe.


I introduced them to RB.


They ran to Wally World and bought their own set as well :)

Awesome story, and I truly hope that all of your peripherals aren't defective!

[brokentoothpic]

Awesome story, and I truly hope that all of your peripherals aren't defective!

Nah, I was one of the lucky ones that all my stuff works.

I did, however, f-up my mic by cowbelling alot, but I really can't blame RB/EA for that...I really was going overboard. :)