Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with loud

How to quiet my creaking loft bed?

raygan — Thu, 13 Aug 2009 00:30:48 -0800

How can I minimize creaking/cracking noises from my new IKEA STORÅ Loft Bed? So, it's my first real New York apartment, and my room is pretty small. Not a closet, but pretty small. I knew I still wanted a full size bed (I'm a tall guy) and that a bed that size would take up most of the room, so I opted for a loft bed, so I'd still have room for a desk.

I picked this bed, the Stora bed from IKEA.

Three days later, I have the loft bed built, and it's my maiden voyage up the ladder. Ceiling height checks out; so far so good, and then...

Every motion I make, going up the ladder, getting under the covers, rolling over, is met by a loud cracking noise. We're talking about more than a simple creak; it's a series of loud, sharp cracks, with every motion of the bed.

So this is why they don't let you go up the ladder of the one in the store! I expected the bed to make some amount of noise, but this is rather more than I can deal with. I'm afraid my housemates are going to be woken up by it.

Is there any way to lessen the noise? I've tightened the bolts to no avail. Should I lubricate the joints somehow? Put carpeting under the legs? Cover it in duct tape and foam baffling? Please help, before I have to take a saw to this thing and turn it into a regular bed!

Counting Out Loud

l33tpolicywonk — Tue, 21 Jul 2009 22:15:29 -0800

What word(s) do non-US English speakers use to count out loud? Okay, so, in the USA, school kids and many adults keep count out loud by using the word "Mississippi" each second (as in "One-Mississippi, Two-Mississippi, Three-Mississippi, etc). I assume this is because the word takes about a second to say. Does a similar tradition exist in other English speaking countries? Since I imagine they don't use the name of a US state / river, what words are used for this purpose?

Noise canceling technology for a whole apartment?

gilsonal — Mon, 25 May 2009 11:29:39 -0800

Any good solutions for canceling out my neighbor's bass from their stereo without headphones? Headphones aren't an option all the time if I need to sleep. Are their nose canceling stereos? How well do they work? What else could I try? Just moved into a new place and my next door neighbors have about 20 people coming and going during the day, mostly right outside my patio door, and also have a huge bass hooked up to their tv and stereo. I'm a quiet person, and its starting to drive me nuts that I can't spend a day without hours trying to ignore it. I know this is the kind of situation that ends up in people being annoyed, and I'd like to get along with these guys. I'm prone to headaches and sleep day hours, and I don't want this to turn into a brawl. Its to the point I can't even spend time in my living room and I've taken to leaving my apartment altogether to escape the noise.

I see plenty of noise canceling headphones, and speakers for CB's but what I'd like is an audio player (kind of like a white noise machine) that would send opposing sound wave out. Using an old laptop with speakers to accomplish this as well would be doable.

Are there systems out there? How well do they work? Any other non-confrontational, non-passive aggressive ways to deal with this?

What's the best way to deal with my annoying neighbors?

gchucky — Wed, 15 Apr 2009 19:41:36 -0800

My upstairs neighbors and I have had small battles throughout the course of the year, but it's been getting worse as of late. Recently they've taken to stomping around at odd hours of the night, and it's driving us crazy. What's the best way to defuse the situation with them? Here's the story. I live on the second floor of a four story apartment building in Queens, NY. There are between 8 and 15 people living in the apartment above me, three of whom are little kids. I've had to talk to the head of the household several times, and he's been nothing but cold, brusque and nasty.

We've had our spats with them over the past year or two. In the second half of last year, someone upstairs was routinely pouring a liquid out the window at 1 AM that was urine occasionally mixed with lemon soap detergent. Only after I repeatedly talked to my sup and showed him both pictures and physical evidence outside of the window did he actually go up and talk to them - and even then, they denied pouring anything out the window, though it stopped after that.

But recently it's been worse. Their kids run around the house from around 4 PM to as late as 11:30 PM. My girlfriend and I have to be up fairly early for work, so it's really awful - not to mention that most of the light fixtures start to rattle around, which will probably not end well. We've taken to banging the ceiling with a pole when it's particularly bad, but they just started stomping around in response.

So things are getting worse, and I don't know how to deal with it. I should probably talk to my sup again, but he sort of likes the people upstairs and tends to be protective of them. I don't do well with confrontations, and I don't want to have to go up there and talk to them.

What should I do? What are the most constructive ways of dealing with this?

Complex, loud, intense music please

MetaMonkey — Mon, 09 Mar 2009 12:28:24 -0800

I like complex, loud, intense, intricate music with unusual structure e.g. Venetian Snares, Meshuggah. Who else should I be listening to?

she's takin' a piss!

goethean — Thu, 19 Feb 2009 04:42:07 -0800

Would a cat pee on our stuff because the music is too loud? In previous 'accidents', it was always that her litterbox was dirty, or some other obvious thing she was unhappy with. But now, I'm stumped. Except that I was playing music pretty loud when it happened. Maybe she doesn't like the Deadstring Brothers. Does this sound right? Also, she's at least 15 years old, so it could just be an eternal enigma.

"Hey, what time is it?" "What?" I SAID, WHAT TIME IS IT?" "HUUUUH???"

sixcolors — Mon, 24 Nov 2008 21:28:41 -0800

What's the psychology behind EXTREMELY loud music in nightclubs, concerts, and even some stores? I think everyone likes music loud enough to hear it, but what's the reasoning behind places turning up music so loud that you feel vibrations in your chest?

It's something I've noticed forever (obviously), but I am really starting to wonder why is it necessary. When you're at nightclubs, it's really frustrating when you try to talk to your friends, or meet new people, but you can't hear ANYTHING because the music is so loud. It makes even less sense for stores to play extremely loud music, because customers and clerks need to interact with each other in order to make purchases.

It makes me wonder if it is something similar to the reason why nightclubs like to dim their lights...it's to cover up all the dirt and trash. But, what would loud music cover up? Is it a tactic to distract people from something?

Anyone who works at these sort of places or have a background in marketing, would you care to share the reasons why it is desirable to turn the volume way up?

* Partial credit: "the guy in B7"

BaxterG4 — Sat, 09 Aug 2008 18:26:17 -0800

Does loud, distinctly heard cheering (not general crowd roar) "work"? Is it at least benign? I understand that a loud energetic (adoring) crowd gets you more pumped up and assume that's subjectively and objectively established. But does a single person yelling a particularly loud phrase help? Or does it maybe hurt?

Yelling during golf is verboten, but athletes in nearly every other sport praise concentration and focus just like golfers.

Most of my prided work is done with an Undo button nearby. And no cheering. But have you ever been performing and had your name yelled (or even just a general "go!" that was directed toward you) and felt a surge? Or distraction?

Low-Riders and My Sanity - Am Losing My MIND!

watercarrier — Tue, 01 Jul 2008 09:40:22 -0800

Would you go crazy if you were living in the boonies and every couple of minutes some dude comes careening around your corner on an ATV or motorcycle revving up slowly and maliciously? Just wondering if it's only me that's reacting like hot coals are being poured down my brain neurons. What would you do? What are my options? I live in the wild-wild-wild east and there's no *law* that anyone will be upholding soon. They're kids with wheels and noise and they've found that it's better than drugs. I've got music - loud to drown it out - got ear plugs - what else am I missing here? Is there anything I can do to deter these freaks?

I have no idea what I just saw

0xFCAF — Sat, 14 Jun 2008 06:29:31 -0800

What was this guy on the street doing with a black iron pot on a spit that produced a gunshot-like sound? I was walking around Shanghai and I saw a man turning an urn-shaped black iron(?) object on a spit, with a small fire burning underneath / around it. It was all set up on a fairly busy sidewalk. He then pulled out what looked like a mesh laundry bag, and a small child nearby put his hands over his ears and started running like he knew what was about to happen next. I didn't actually see what followed (I kept walking), but a few seconds later it all made a sound about as loud as a gunshot.

So, uh, what the heck was this guy doing?

The sound! It sounds like farting!

gergtreble — Tue, 10 Apr 2007 14:59:38 -0800

Help me find a good microphone for recording LOUD band practices. I have a sony minidisc recorder and wish to record my band practices. Last time I tried with a small stereo electret type microphone and the sound was horribly distorted. I'm guessing the room volume was way louder than the microphone was rated for. So I'm looking for a mic that will do the job. The smaller the better.

Any ideas what I'm looking for?

Its not my biggest fan, so why it screaming at me?

gergtreble — Mon, 19 Mar 2007 22:50:34 -0800

My graphics card is too noisy! Can i just disconnect the fan? Will that make it catch fire? I recently acquired a ATI Radeon 9600 pro AGP graphics card. And its noisy. The fan makes a hell of a racket.

So as I don't really use this particular computer for gaming. I was wondering If it would be ok if I disconnected the fan?

Or would I be better underclocking it so it doesn't run so hot.

Any ideas? If i was sure it wouldn't go pop I'd unplug it right now.

How do you tell a coworker that she talks too loud?

fellion — Fri, 16 Feb 2007 06:45:23 -0800

How do you tell a coworker that she talks too loud? I work in IT, in fact, everyone on the floor I work on is in IT. We need to be able to concentrate. Noise makes that diificult. That being said, I have a coworker whose voice carries to the point that she can be heard anywhere on the floor, that coupled with the fact that she's always talking has made working here extremely difficult. Just asking her to quiet down hasn't worked. (She must think we are kidding her.) Her boss works in a different city, so he's no help.

Some of us have started working from home in order to keep sane, others have resorted to headphones. Some of us who work on the phone all day don't have that option.

Is there anything we can do, short of a muzzle, in order to get her to quiet down?

Loud-mouthed coworker shares TMI...

Anonymous — Thu, 28 Dec 2006 23:43:57 -0800

How to deal with a loud-mouthed coworker? So how can I deal with and/or block out a work colleague sitting on the other side of a cube who talks incessantly, making mainly personal calls for upwards of 2-3 hours per day? In her non-phone conversation she is also quite loud. I'm not in her department (thankfully...) but based on my physical position, when she's not around I hear her dept. colleagues talk about how she also gets on their nerves consistently and how they have to pick up the slack for the work she doesn't get finished due to her lolly-gagging.

Is this just a question of learning how to effectively block out the behavior of another person, or do I have the right to politely go to her supervisor, explain my position with the possibility that he/she may intervene? Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Can I reduce the noise coming from my Pocket Rocket vibe?

lorimer — Tue, 07 Nov 2006 06:52:37 -0800

Is every Doc Johnson Pocket Rocket REALLY FREAKING LOUD, or do I have a defective one? Any simple mods to lower the noise level? Or do I just need to buy a different (but still cheap, mini & battery-powered) vibe that's not a POS? And if so, which one? (My previous Doc Johnson vibe was quiet & great -- for the six weeks before it died.)

Can I hear you now?

ZenMasterThis — Mon, 03 Apr 2006 07:27:50 -0800

Need a better, louder wired headset for my cell phone. I get my hearing checked regularly, so I know I'm not going deaf, but the one I have now just does not get loud enough under normal use conditions. Any similar experiences, recommendations?

I wanna rock.

ikkyu2 — Tue, 17 Jan 2006 15:13:26 -0800

Help me rock out. I'm in San Francisco, and I own several guitars and a couple of nice (but loud) amplifiers too. My apartment building's walls may as well be cardboard; by the time the tubes are hot enough to play through, the volume is rattling the windows in the entire building.

I don't want a hotplate-type or headphones-type solution. I want to go somewhere else and rock out at a reasonable volume without disturbing anyone and without incurring studio costs.

I have no reason to want to record my wankerish chops; I'm not a very good player. For the same reason, busking doesn't appeal; I don't want tomatoes thrown at me.

Is there some brilliant solution that I'm missing? A deserted mesa with a power outlet and a highway leading up to the top would be about right.

I do have a car.

How can I stop speaking too loudly?

komilnefopa — Wed, 09 Nov 2005 22:05:17 -0800

How can I stop speaking too loudly? I'm normally a quiet person, but on occasion (particularly when I'm excited or nervous) I have been known to raise my voice to higher levels than necessary. Usually I don't even notice it until someone points it out to me. I have discovered that this has led to one embarassing situation, and I'm concerned that there may be more that I don't know about. Has anyone else had this problem? What did you do to become less oblivious to your loudness? I don't think I have a vocal disorder.

Stuck with loud car alarms -- help me get sleep!

Vidiot — Wed, 02 Nov 2005 03:41:30 -0800

Do I have any real options in dealing with loud car alarms? (Short of taking a brick to the windshield, which is what I really want to do.) I live in NYC on a usually-quiet residential street, but often at night a car alarm will go off for maybe 20 minutes straight, or a truck will rumble by and set off alarms on five or ten different cars simultaneously.

I'm planning to identify the offending cars and leave polite notes under the windshield wipers...which I'm sure will be ignored. The City Council speaker has specifically ruled out banning loud car alarms, and I doubt I could get the NYPD to enforce the noise ordinance. (Will calling 311 actually do anything?) Am I doomed to waking up several times a night?

Also: has a car alarm ever stopped a thief?

Voice Care

jeremias — Thu, 10 Feb 2005 04:32:06 -0800

I'm in a profession where I am often speaking loudly *all* day, are there any good remedies for taking care of my throat/voice? I've found lots of tips on the web but am having a hard time distinguishing the worthwhile from the useless.

Loud exhausts and motorcycles

eas98 — Thu, 16 Dec 2004 07:58:42 -0800

Why are motorcycles with EXTREMELY loud exhausts allowed to be built and used in this country (US)? I'm talking about those Harley types that can be heard for a mile, and are so loud that they literally hurt your ears. I can be in my house with the windows closed and when one goes by, I can't hear anything but the noise of the exhaust. And forget about driving and having one next to you -- it's simply deafening.

Aren't there any noise laws to prevent this??