How to best play loud at home?

[cmedcoff]

Was in a band gigging small venues, parties, pubs that sort of thing before the pandemic. For various reasons between myself and the drummer I've been working with for the last few years (revolving door of bass players, singers, heath issues, the pandemic, etc.) I'm not jamming with anyone at the moment nor do I play loud at home. Got a family all still home.

I've read time and time again that playing loud is important for a myriad of reasons. 1. You just get a better sound that way, 2. You need to learn/practice controlling the beast as one would need to at a gig, etc. I know this to be true, there are both physical and psychological differences to playing loud.

OK, enough of the background, and justification. Right now all my gear is in my office, quite small. I'm looking for ieads to play loud. I have heads/cabs ( 2, 2x12 cabs - one head/cab normally at my drummers but its all home right now), also have wireless that works for short short distances. So, for example, maybe I buy a very long power/cab cable and put my cab in another room? in the basement?

What are the other options? What do other people doing in order to play loud and not annoy other people (in the house or neighbors) and not damage my own hearing which is already not great.

Thanks for suggestions.

 

[FracStrat]

Buy a Big House in the Country !!

 

[Mitchell Pearrow]

Buy a Big House in the Country !!

That could prove pricey .

 

[Mitchell Pearrow]

I play in my garage, I don’t get a lot of complaints.

Mitch

 

[MickeyS]

I'm in my basement, and I dont play quiet. As far as family goes, if the wife isnt feeling it or has a headache, she'll ask me to turn it down. Otherwise she just cranks the tv volume. I never play late at night. As far as the neighbors go, they know what my set list is before we play the gig, so....they do come out to see my band so they dont have an issue with it (not that I'm aware of).

 

[mAx___]

I built an isolation cab for my 4x12 in the garage. I can play at full volume at any hour of the day or night and the sound that comes out is not louder than a TV. I control the loudness inside the house with studio monitors connected to a Mac. Highly recommended if you have the space.

 

[Matthews Guitars]

Use earplugs, not cheap foam ones, but good modern ones that offer attenuation that is balanced across all frequencies, like my Etymotic high fidelity plugs. They do a pretty good job of preserving the tone I hear, but take the insane volume level down to something much more comfortable in my ears.

Hand the family some money and tell them to go amuse themselves for a few hours while you tame the savage Marshall beast at home.

 

[chocol8]

An isolation cab or cab in another room won't give you the playing loud experience. No feedback assisted sustain, or potentially out of control feedback for example.

The only way to actually play loud, with the guitar exposed to the moving air, and protect your ears at the same time is to wear hearing protection.

If you want to play loud and not disturb the rest of the house and neighbors, you need to build an isolation room. Think double walls, double ceiling, double door, weighted vinyl sound insulation. Not cheap, and a heck of a lot easier of you live in part of the country that has basements, or you have enough land to put up a small building. You can look up studio builds for tips on sound isolation construction techniques, but basically you need the space to be nearly air tight, and you need to keep the vibrations from passing through solid materials.

The cheapest and easiest solution is to decide you don't need to play loud. Its definitely not the same experience, but sometimes we need to compromise.

 

[ken361]

Loud in my basement, sometimes at lower volume also. They just sing when cranked to a certain level.

 

[79 2203]

I don’t gig or play out these days, but for the last approx 15 years I’ve played at home in a detached music room. Always in the day time and usually no more than 30-60 minutes 1-3 times a week. That said, most of my actual practicing is done unplugged and I only plug in to ‘blast away the clouds’ so to speak.

For the last 7 or so years, since I discovered vintage Marshalls(and clones), I’ve played pretty loud, probably reasonable band volumes. Imagine a LP, guitar vol up, into a 2203 halfstack with Pre 5 and MV 2, or a 1987 halfstack on 6 and attenuated -12db.

I’ve never had a single complaint from neighbours or family and while I have tinnitus,it’s not as bad these days as back when I gigged and jammed(bloody drummers ☺️)

 

[Tiboy]

I play as loud as I want. When I moved in I had all the new neighbors to the house to say hello. I made sure to show them my gun collection and mounted trophy kills including an artificial mock up of a human head. Of course they asked about the mounted head. I casually told them it was my last neighbor who constantly complained about my volume. The new neighbors are great. Not one complaint from them in years. Except for playing as loud as I want, the rest of the story is pure fiction for entertainment purposes only.

 

[Sustainium]

I live in country with a basement, I can play as loud as I like and neighbors do whatever they like also. Sounds just like freedom.

 

[mark123]

I like the Tim Pierce solution. He has an isolated room in his basement with his speaker cabinet miced up in it. I plan to isolate one of my cabs the same way.

 

[MonstersOfTheMidway]

Sound-proof your playing area. It might be expensive (maybe you can do some of it yourself), but it could give you good results if the situation is right.

 

[solarburn]

Was in a band gigging small venues, parties, pubs that sort of thing before the pandemic. For various reasons between myself and the drummer I've been working with for the last few years (revolving door of bass players, singers, heath issues, the pandemic, etc.) I'm not jamming with anyone at the moment nor do I play loud at home. Got a family all still home.

I've read time and time again that playing loud is important for a myriad of reasons. 1. You just get a better sound that way, 2. You need to learn/practice controlling the beast as one would need to at a gig, etc. I know this to be true, there are both physical and psychological differences to playing loud.

OK, enough of the background, and justification. Right now all my gear is in my office, quite small. I'm looking for ieads to play loud. I have heads/cabs ( 2, 2x12 cabs - one head/cab normally at my drummers but its all home right now), also have wireless that works for short short distances. So, for example, maybe I buy a very long power/cab cable and put my cab in another room? in the basement?

What are the other options? What do other people doing in order to play loud and not annoy other people (in the house or neighbors) and not damage my own hearing which is already not great.

Thanks for suggestions.

If I'm practicing to get stuff down I don't play loud. That becomes tedious for everyone's ears. Should be common sense.

if I'm playing for my enjoyment or to tune volume and amp settings? I don't do it for long. Short time blocks throughout the day.

if I'm cutting loose no longer than an hour at a time a few times throughout the week. I'm quite satisfied with that. If I do it daily no longer than 15 to 30 minute sessions a handful of times. Watch your ears. Fuck ear plugs they muffle tone period. You ok with that use em. I don't want to hear what others say anyways. Rather read it on a forum.

In conclusion? I never play quietly. That being said I stop knowing full well when I need to consider others and not to bother them. I still get plenty of sessions in at volume. Sooner or later, there comes a time.

Sometimes it's a working compromise that lasts 15 minutes of me getting my gun off. I don't require hours of jerking off any more. My neighbors don't complain. I'm very fortunate in that respect.

I have a very happy and blessed playing environment. Grateful to play and grateful when I'm not playing. There's always going to be a time for me to play at volume. And when there isnt? Means I must've passed away. Time for other experiences.

 

[JeffMcLeod]

Find a place to practice, even if you have to rent something.

 

[Old Punker]

Use earplugs, not cheap foam ones, but good modern ones that offer attenuation that is balanced across all frequencies, like my Etymotic high fidelity plugs. They do a pretty good job of preserving the tone I hear, but take the insane volume level down to something much more comfortable in my ears.

Hand the family some money and tell them to go amuse themselves for a few hours while you tame the savage Marshall beast at home.

That's what I was thinking, nobody around to complain, but could get expensive if your wife likes to shop.

 

[Old Punker]

An isolation cab or cab in another room won't give you the playing loud experience. No feedback assisted sustain, or potentially out of control feedback for example.

The only way to actually play loud, with the guitar exposed to the moving air, and protect your ears at the same time is to wear hearing protection.

If you want to play loud and not disturb the rest of the house and neighbors, you need to build an isolation room. Think double walls, double ceiling, double door, weighted vinyl sound insulation. Not cheap, and a heck of a lot easier of you live in part of the country that has basements, or you have enough land to put up a small building. You can look up studio builds for tips on sound isolation construction techniques, but basically you need the space to be nearly air tight, and you need to keep the vibrations from passing through solid materials.

The cheapest and easiest solution is to decide you don't need to play loud. Its definitely not the same experience, but sometimes we need to compromise.

I used to have some really old neighbors adjacent to the side of the house where I play. They were nice people and almost totally deaf. I miss them!

 

[dro]

At 17 I stopped playing at home. Moved into the rehearsal studio. Didn't bring amps back to my house till I was 55.
But When I was at home I would plug into my Big Muff. Plug headphones into the output, and melt my brain.

 

[Dogs of Doom]

loud is in the ear of the beholder...

what is loud?

Man, I feel like a philosopher now. ...