ANy one got any idea what my rights are regarding noise from band practice

felim

My band has been rehearsing for weeks in my house, detached rented house with a seperate garage between my house and the nearest neighbour. Usually we confine it to a couple of hours on a Sunday afternoon but this week we practiced from 5 to 7:30 last night. The neighbours called and absolutely f**ked me out of it about the noise, totally uncalled for aggression. I was polite as could be and said there was no need for such abuse, if they had a problem they could talk to me about it civilly. They then proceed to complain about the four cars in my driveway!! It's my bloody driveway. There's no way of keeping the volume down as drums can't really be turned down and we only play to keep up with the drums.

Anybody any idea if there is anything I can do. I don't want to start a bad relationship with my neighbours but I'm very angry about the way in which they handled it.

Doctor J

To be honest, I'd have called the Gardai. I think you got away lightly.

Use your head, people have to live around you and they're entitled to live their lives without being disturbed by you.

Tell your drummer to use brushes or hot rods or else take your band to a rehearsal studio and stop ****ing your neighbours about.

Dord

Doctor J wrote: »

To be honest, I'd have called the Gardai. I think you got away lightly.

Use your head, people have to live around you and they're entitled to live their lives without being disturbed by you.

Take your band to a rehearsal studio and stop ****ing your neighbours about.

I agree.

Either that or he should soundproof the garage (properly!).

punchdrunk

yeah sorry mate,i'm with the lads on this one

Savman

felim wrote: »

Anybody any idea if there is anything I can do.

Turn down or rehearse elsewhere. They are your only 2 options, the law will not take your side in a million years.

felim

Doctor J wrote: »

To be honest, I'd have called the Gardai. I think you got away lightly.

Use your head, people have to live around you and they're entitled to live their lives without being disturbed by you.

Tell your drummer to use brushes or hot rods or else take your band to a rehearsal studio and stop ****ing your neighbours about.

Fair enough if there's nothing I can do, but you sound like you're worse than my neighbours. There's a lot to be said for asking someone to keep it down politely instead of ploughing into abuse. You think the Gardai would have come to my door f7cking and blinding at me? I don't think so. It's nice to be nice.

Rehearsal space is it then, if I can find one.

feylya

I would imagine that on a Monday evening after coming home from work, the last thing your neighbour wants to hear is some band playing. Maybe he was over the top but I couldn't really blame him.

fish-head

5-7.30 seems like a perfectly reasonable time to me.

Savman

Acoustic Drums in Residential areas do not work. Can't believe this needs explaining!

Doctor J

felim wrote: »

Fair enough if there's nothing I can do, but you sound like you're worse than my neighbours. There's a lot to be said for asking someone to keep it down politely instead of ploughing into abuse. You think the Gardai would have come to my door f7cking and blinding at me? I don't think so. It's nice to be nice.

Rehearsal space is it then, if I can find one.

It's nice to be nice? It's also nice not to ****ing torment people in their homes. Does your neighbour have small children by any chance? Either way, If I had to listen to over two hours of something I didn't want to hear some f**king and blinding would be the least of your worries.

I amazed you think the law could back you in any way on this one. It's called noise pollution and it's a bad thing. It's the kind of thing that can very easily get people who rent evicted.

You should call around to your neighbour and apologise and hope they don't take it any further.

Krsnik87

My neighbours called the gaurds on me and my mates for jammin around the same hours as yourselves and they said they couldn't do anything until past 9pm, until then we could play as loud as we liked...

If there was a law against making noise during the day how many drummers do you think would have a kit?

Play loud and enjoy yourself, your neighbours will learn to deal with it

Voodu Child

Savman wrote: »

Acoustic Drums in Residential areas do not work.

That's pretty much the long and short of it.

You don't know what's going on around you, maybe one neighbour has a sick kid, or another is studying for exams, or working nights and sleeping days, or what have you. Its just not on.

felim

Doctor J wrote: »

Does your neighbour have small children by any chance?

No, but I do, though he's rarely there when we practice and he does enjoy it when he is.

Doctor J wrote: »

Either way, If I had to listen to over two hours of something I didn't want to hear some f**king and blinding would be the least of your worries.

I rest my case re: you being worse than my neighbours. Cranky aren't you?

Doctor J wrote: »

I amazed you think the law could back you in any way on this one.

I'll refer you to Krsnik87s post above and what was told to him by the Gardai themselves. This isn't the first time I've heard this opinion, in fact I have an email in to the Environmental Protection Agency to see if there is in fact any truth to this. I'll also ask a relative who is a Garda as I'm not silly enough to take the word of some anonymous internet poster.

Doctor J wrote: »

You should call around to your neighbour and apologise and hope they don't take it any further

I'm afraid that simply made me laugh...for someone who insinuates you would use violence in a previous comment, you would be so quick to lay down like a submissive puppy to someone who was aggressive and abusive to you?

I'm beginning to think that maybe my neighbours aren't so bad after all...you prove there are worse out there.

felim

voodoo_child wrote: »

That's pretty much the long and short of it.

You don't know what's going on around you, maybe one neighbour has a sick kid, or another is studying for exams, or working nights and sleeping days, or what have you. Its just not on.

That's absolutely a fair point and exactly why I would like to come up with a compromise, which I proposed to them only to be verbally abused by them.

In fact there was a sick young man a few houses up the road who unfortunately passed away several weeks ago...the son of a friend of my father. Said bereaved father spoke with my Dad at the funeral and asked him to thank me for cancelling practice for several weeks and also said he had no problem with it and in fact enjoyed the music. See? Some neighbours can be nice.

John

Just because it's not against the law to blast out noise during the day doesn't mean it's OK to do it. Maybe only one neighbour has complained but I'm sure not everyone around you is enjoying it. I can hear a drummer who lives around the corner when he practices, it's not just adjacent neighbours who are able to hear it.

I've done a lot of home practices and we try and do it earlier in the day (when I can see that my neighbours are out) and we make sure we're not playing at loud volumes. Your drummer can play softer, you can turn down the amp or play acoustic and still practice properly.

Doctor J

This isn't the first time I've heard this opinion, in fact I have an email in to the Environmental Protection Agency to see if there is in fact any truth to this. I'll also ask a relative who is a Garda as I'm not silly enough to take the word of some anonymous internet poster.

Grow up, seriously. I'm just stunned someone could be so ignorant. Maybe you're the next Led Zeppelin, who cares, the people you live near have a right not to listen to you practice. You shouldn't need to be told that. Have a read of your lease or rental agreement, chances are you'll find a clause in there regarding excessive noise and being a nuisance.

That fact that your neighbour a few houses up the road can hear you too should give you an idea of how loud you are. Your next door neighbour has it a lot louder.

That you're more concerned with seeing if your in keeping with the EPA regulations than the wishes of the people who live around says it all to be honest.

Doctor J

felim wrote: »

for someone who insinuates you would use violence in a previous comment

Really? Where?

Krsnik87

Theres no need to get so serious about this... He asked for advise, it was given, its in his own hands now. Theres no need to go mad over it!

Can't we all just get along :P

feylya

I'll be interested to see felim backing up his statements that Doc J has raised.

Felim, attacking posters that try to help you is a sure way of loosing access to this forum.

Einstein

Savman wrote: »

Acoustic Drums in Residential areas do not work. Can't believe this needs explaining!

Doctor J wrote: »

It's nice to be nice? It's also nice not to ****ing torment people in their homes. Does your neighbour have small children by any chance? Either way, If I had to listen to over two hours of something I didn't want to hear some f**king and blinding would be the least of your worries.

I amazed you think the law could back you in any way on this one. It's called noise pollution and it's a bad thing. It's the kind of thing that can very easily get people who rent evicted.

You should call around to your neighbour and apologise and hope they don't take it any further.

rubbish!!

I've Been playing acoustic drums for 16 years, residentially and have had zero complaints. Legally, up until 10pm the law is on ur side. If it's annoying someone you simply come to an agreement. Can't believe how b!tchy everyone is this thread is being.

I'm not saying that your band couldn't afford to turn it down a touch, but jaysus people!!!!!!!!

felim

Doctor J wrote: »

Really? Where?

Originally Posted by Doctor J
Either way, If I had to listen to over two hours of something I didn't want to hear some f**king and blinding would be the least of your worries.

felim

This is getting out of hand. I am of the opinion that a two hour practice once a week is not out of order. I am also of the opinion that if someone has a problem with me, they should behave in a civil manner and not be abusive.

I made every attempt to be polite and ask if there was any way of working out a compromise with my neighbours....only to be verbally abused.

Now, I will see what the law states and behave accordingly. End of the matter.

Doctor J

felim wrote: »

Originally Posted by Doctor J
Either way, If I had to listen to over two hours of something I didn't want to hear some f**king and blinding would be the least of your worries.

Heh heh heh, violence is the way of the dullard.

I'd be much more of a prick about it, I'd be on the phone to your landlord every minute you played, making sure they fully understood how annoying it was

I wouldn't want to live beside that kind of racket and I'd take steps to resolve it.

felim

feylya wrote: »

I'll be interested to see felim backing up his statements that Doc J has raised.

Felim, attacking posters that try to help you is a sure way of loosing access to this forum.

Feylya, I attacked no-one. Doctor J's comments about F'ing and blinding being the least of my worries if it was him in the situation insinuate a certain thing to me, I'm sure I'm not the only one who read it that way.

Einstein

feylya wrote: »

I'll be interested to see felim backing up his statements that Doc J has raised.

Felim, attacking posters that try to help you is a sure way of loosing access to this forum.

What about the rule of attack the post and not the poster...

DoctorJ wrote:

Grow up, seriously. I'm just stunned someone could be so ignorant

not really on either....

the op came on with a valid question and got hammered out of it.
I lurk on the music board 24/7 and theres zero need for the attitude thats been presented here.

Doctor J

felim wrote: »

I made every attempt to be polite

I think the gist of what everyone is saying is that it is polite not to sonically assault the people you live near, regardless of how reasonable you think it may be. Your neighbours have put up with it for weeks, they finally snapped and gave you some verbal. I think they were quite reasonable.

A residential area is not a suitable place for a band rehearsal. That's all there is to it.

Patricide

Ok from my experiance on this one your legaly able to blast away till 8 at night and the only thing the gardai can actually do is ask you to turn down, they cant actually force you.

Now obviously its never nice to **** with your neighbours, but it all depends on how reasonable the sound levels are and what type of residential area your in.

Before in an old band we would practice in the guitarists house because it was the only place we could. He lived in an area where the houses are pretty close together and he had absolutly no soundproofing done on his shed, the noise was crazy for his neighbours and they called the gardai but they couldnt do feck all about it, and as we were all young and immature we happily played on making enemys of the neighbours in te process.

Luckily these days i can practice away in my semi soundproofed garage with no complaints from my neighbours because we came to the agreement, no music after 8 or before 12 in the morning. So if you want me advice, soundproof the ****e out of the shed and ask what times suit your neighbours the best. Either that or get a v drum kit.