Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with noise

I can't hear myself thinking while I drive. Help!

sciencemandan — Tue, 05 Jan 2010 20:59:55 -0800

How can I quiet the interior of my car on the cheap? Long story short, I bought a Honda Civic awhile back and the level of interior noise has been bugging me for some time now. It is to the point where I have to turn up the volume on my stereo to louder than I'd like while driving down the highway just to listen to talk radio.

I'm a student so I don't have a ton of cash to spare. I've heard good things about Dynamat, but I really don't have the resources for that. I also came across this, but I don't know about the quality.

Oh, as a side question, there's also a small hole in the firewall that has been letting in cold air. I'm not entirely sure how I should go about patching that up. I would imagine that getting that repaired might also reduce some of the noise.

So, auto-savvy MeFites, what's the best *cheap* way to insulate my vehicle's interior from outside noise?

Fix my squeaky water!

wongcorgi — Wed, 30 Dec 2009 15:00:20 -0800

I have a tub of water draining into a small hose - it's creating a horrible squeaking, help me fix it! I have an immersion circulator which pumps water into a small plastic bin. It drains through gravity when the water level gets high enough.

Problem is, I get a loud squeaking sound when the water level is at a certain height (which happens to be the equilibrium) and a vortex is created from the surface of the water.

Video is here (youtube). Might have to turn it up to hear the squeaking (taken with my phone). In actuality it's really loud, I can hear it from a room away even with the door closed.

Any ideas on how to fix this?

How do we get a message across to our neighbors, The Leadfoots?

Anonymous — Sat, 19 Dec 2009 07:44:01 -0800

Feeling abused by noisy upstairs neighbors. Looking for some strategies to let them know we are not doormats. We've lived in our charming, poorly soundproofed, hardwood-floored apartment for almost four years. From the beginning, our upstairs neighbors, The Leadfoots, have been noisy; the situation went into a freefall when they had a baby. Leadfoot Junior, now two and a half, hits the ground running at 6:30am, and pretty much continues at that pace as long as he's home. I work late and need to sleep another hour or two in the morning, but it's impossible, even on my day off. The incessant running at all hours is often coupled with the parents shouting at Junior, Junior falling, Junior throwing things.

We have gone the whole route trying to communicate with these people:

Polite conversation in passing: they changed the topic and continued on their way.

More insistent face-to-face requests, suggestions of slippers, carpets, etc.: they responded that it's their right to do what they want in their own home; Mrs. L is allergic to carpeting; and how dare we infringe on their liberty by suggesting what they should put on their feet.

Letter-writing: a printout of the permitted decibel levels and 'noise-allowed' hours was shoved under our door.

Complaining to the landlord: he replied that Mr. Leadfoot was a pain in the ass, but otherwise just shrugged and said we should work it out ourselves.

And, out of complete frustration, ceiling banging, yelling and some very loud electronic music/Chili Peppers: this actually seemed to work a bit, so we know it's possible for them to make less noise.

The last time I went up on a Sunday morning to (very calmly) tell them that Junior's running the length of the apartment and jumping directly over our heads in our bedroom was disturbing us, I was treated to some dripping sarcasm from Mr. Leadfoot (who was holding a shoe-clad Junior on his hip), and then Mrs. Leadfoot went nutty, screamed like a banshee and slammed the door in my face. The next day, she went to the police and filed a complaint against us for harassment. We filed a counter-complaint, but the whole thing is fairly meaningless.

We are looking for another apartment and hope to move out within the next two to three months. In the meantime, the Leadfoots, smug in the aftermath of their visit to the police station, have let all hell break loose and make as much noise as they want.

I think my SO and I are pretty reasonable people. Over the years we've been here, we've let a lot go unchallenged. We hate the fact that we could not work this out reasonably and maturely. We're moving. But we've probably got another 90 days of living under what sounds like a bowling alley. And it makes us furious to just sit here and take it.
Confronting them is out of the question now. What suggestions can you make for ways to let them know that we're down here, they're disturbing us, and it's not ok?

Enough with the honking, seriously.

banannafish — Tue, 15 Dec 2009 10:23:16 -0800

Why are all these trucks honking in downtown Los Angeles? FOR HOURS. So I live in Little Tokyo and for the second time in almost a month, huge semi trucks are all parking around Union Station and just laying on their horns. It is impossibly annoying and I cannot find any information online, other than a story about trucks on 11/16 in Long Beach protesting the new dock regulations.

Last time, it lasted for almost two hours, and it just started again and I'm pretty sure I'm going to go crazy if this lasts another two hours. Apparently since it's during the day, it isn't classified as noise pollution. What's the story? Actual protests or just jerky truckers?

How do I build a balcony enclosure to reduce wind and noise yet preserve my awesome view of NYC?

jacquilinala — Sat, 12 Dec 2009 08:37:41 -0800

Help me make my noisy, windy city balcony more enjoyable. I recently moved into an awesome apartment in Brooklyn. It's on the 6th floor and has a balcony... which has an unobstructed, amazing view of the Manhattan skyline. However! My apartment faces the BQE and it's noisy. It's also freaking cold out now, and being on the 6th floor, it's very windy on the balcony.

I thought it would be a fun project to try to build a balcony enclosure of some sort. While I don't want to obstruct my view of the city, I would love to be able to go out there and not feel like I was going to blow away. Noise insulation of some sort would be great too.

I googled around and found this, and while that's the same idea, it's not what I'm looking for. I'm thinking more like going to a lumber yard, buying some kind of wood (?), and DIYing it. Some sort of noise insulation stuff. Maybe plexiglass on one side to preserve the view?

Of course, this would have to work in the summer too...

Ideas? Here are the dimensions... and a picture of the balcony.

129" wide (approx 126" within the railings)

49" deep (approx 46" within)

43" height of railing.

pic 1 and pic 2

Thanks!

Loud, fast, noisy bands that sound like Lightning Bolt

iivix — Fri, 11 Dec 2009 04:41:23 -0800

I saw Lightning Bolt play live last night and they were stupidly awesome. Recommendations for similar bands would be greatly appreciated. So after being a fan of their stuff on CD for a few years now I finally got the chance to see Lightning Bolt play live, and what an experience it was. (See here for a little taster of what they sound like if you don't know them already).

So basically I'm looking for recommendations for similar bands, by which I mean: very fast, very noisy, very extreme bands, that have a live element to the sound (I don't mean they have to play gigs necessarily, just that it doesn't sound too sequenced or sampled).

For reference, I already dig breakcore like Kid 606, and extreme metal like The Berzerker, and although I'm always up for new recommendations in those genres, I guess I'm looking for things that aren't too obviously sampled (I know the Berzerker stuff is guitar based, but it's still my understanding that it's essentially sampled riffs).

I'm so tired.

peanut_mcgillicuty — Wed, 02 Dec 2009 10:11:19 -0800

Please help me sleep through the night again. I have read other questions on here, but they've dealt with what almost anyone would consider to be an irritating noise (barking dogs, yowling cats, aboveground subways outside the windows). I'm struggling with something a little different.

I have always been a very light sleeper—I need almost total darkness, quiet, constant temperature. I typically wake several times during the night for one reason or another, but in general I have no problem falling asleep or falling back asleep. I usually go to bed around 11:30 and get up at 7:30.

However. The steam pipe in the bedroom makes a dripping noise. It’s a quiet tink...tink...tink that starts when the heat in the building kicks on, anywhere between 3 and 5 a.m. It is driving me CRAZY.

Things I have tried but that aren’t working:

1. Earplugs. I have a phobia of having things in my ears, thanks to a doctor’s scope puncturing my eardrum when I was three years old. Nonetheless, I have been trying this for about a month, but even the slim-fit earplugs are painful and give me anxiety about having something in my ears. I can’t sleep all night with them in, so I’ve tried putting them in when the noise starts, but the coordination I need wakes me up fully and it’s hard to then get back to sleep with such discomfort. (I’ve also tried a pillow or blanket over my head but it either doesn’t drown out the noise enough or falls off and wakes me back up.)
2. Moving to another room. I’ve tried training myself to stay half asleep and go to the couch in the living room. It’s a little better—the couch is comfy. But the entrance to the apartment opens into the living room, and the apartment across the hall runs a daycare, so starting at 5:30 or 6 the squeals of arriving kids keep me up.
3. White noise. The speed a fan needs to be at to drown out the dripping noise is stress-inducing on its own—it’s something I can’t tolerate even while wide awake. My experience with white noise machines in a therapist’s office leaves me expecting the same outcome—we decided that I’d rather risk people overhearing private stuff than deal with the sound the machines made, if that tells you anything.

The problem is coming from a steam pipe, not a radiator, and it’s not going to go away until the heat shuts off for good—as late as May 31! The entire boiler system in the building was serviced within the last month, and the pipe is not “broken” so it’s not going to be “fixed”. Our radiators are all turned off, and I have no control over when the boiler comes on or over this pipe at all.

I have lived in many New York apartments, each with their own quirks, and have gotten used to all of them (one of them had crazy banging pipes that I got used to, and this isn’t nearly that bad!). But after two solid months of this, I’m despairing that I will ever just get used to this noise and be able to sleep more than a few hours at a stretch again. We’re six months into a one-year lease. If I can’t find a workaround, I will definitely consider moving when the lease is up but it’s not an option right now.

I feel like this is ridiculous. The noise is not that loud—I notice it during the day but it’s not aggravating then. My boyfriend can sleep right through it. I hate that I am such a light sleeper but I don’t know how to fix it. The lack of sleep is catching up to me, affecting me at work, causing me to be forgetful and cranky. People work midnight shifts or train themselves to sleep while travelling—this is something I should be able to overcome! How do I do it? Or if I can’t, what are other noise-masking options I’m overlooking?

Help me get my GIMP on

dchrssyr — Sat, 28 Nov 2009 14:02:17 -0800

Teach me how to download plugins for GIMP as if I were a person with no computer experience at all. I'm actually not a complete idiot but for some reason, I can't figure out how to install plugins for GIMP. I'm a new GIMP user and I've figured out the basics of using curves and I'm slowly figuring out how to use layers, but I'd like to find some plugins for better black and white conversions, as well noise reduction and a lomo script. Could you walk me though it, step by step, as if you were teaching a child? I'm using GIMP 2.6 on a machine with windows 7. Or, alternatively, you could point me toward some websites and videos that do so. I have found some tutorials but they just seem like gibberish to me, so obviously, the simpler the better. Thanks!

Dealing with a loud animal repellant

empath — Tue, 24 Nov 2009 12:27:15 -0800

Dealing with a neighbor's loud audio 'animal-repellent' that you can hear, even though you aren't supposed to be able to. I am posting this question for a friend:

This person lives in VA, and has an issue with an audio animal repellant that a neighboring townhome is using to keep cats from pooping in their yard. Essentially, an object moves in range of the sensor, and it produces a high-pitched noise that only the cats are supposed to be able to hear. Problem is, she can hear it, and says it drives her nuts, and that since none of her other neighbors can hear it, they pay no mind to her complaining. She's tried sneaking into their yard and turning it down to a volume that she can't hear, but the neighborhood cats begin to poop in the neighbor's yard so the neighbor turns it back up. There's also a 'no fence over 3' tall' rule for her community, so she can't put one up between the properties to block the sensor.

Question - if a cop comes out and does a decibel reading, will it show up if it's in an inaudible frequency range and would that count as violating a noise ordinance? Are there any other suggestions you have for dealing with it?

What's a good sub-$500 digital camera for general use and macro work?

hjo3 — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 19:43:22 -0800

What's a good digital camera for someone that wants to do long exposures, macro photography, and has roughly $500 to spend? Okay, so I want to get a new digital camera. Right now I have a Casio EX-Z50 and I hate it. Budget is ~$500. There are three things I especially want in a new camera:

The ability to do long exposures (>5 seconds).

The lowest noise I can afford.

Something that's good for, but not only for, macro photography.

Another cool feature would be the ability to take a picture every x minutes, but I don't even know if that exists. And an easy UI (like the one on Sony Cybershots) would be nice, but not critically important.

Can you recommend something for me? Or can you point me to a site or something that lets me compare lots of camera stats for various models at once?

Help me drown out this horrific noise so I can sleep, PLEASE!

Dormant Gorilla — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 12:14:49 -0800

How do I muffle or deal with an incredibly loud noise so I can sleep? A couple of months ago I moved to a fantastic new apartment- fantastic in all ways but one. The subway shuttle (an aboveground train) goes by every 20 minutes. Actually it goes in each direction so it's twice every 20 minutes. 24 hours a day. The tracks run alongside the building, about twenty feet from the edge of the building, directly under my bedroom window. Sometimes, when it's running slowly, it's only very loud. When it's running at full speed, like it usually does, I can't describe how loud it is. It is as loud as a train sounds when it goes by you at full speed while you're standing on the platform. Which is very, very loud.

I don't think I've slept through the night since I've been here. I don't wake up every time it goes by, I think, but at least four or five times every night I find myself all of a sudden wide awake and confused, wondering if the building's being bombed or what the hell is going on. I am exhausted.

It's so loud it makes no noticeable difference if the windows are open or closed. I tried a white noise machine- laughable. It's orders of magnitude louder than that. I've tried earplugs- no brand I find even begins to make a dent in the noise. Even in August, when I first moved here and the windows were shut and the air conditioning was on full blast, THAT didn't make a dent in the noise.

Does anyone have any suggestions? I'm subletting, so I can't do anything permanent or lasting to the house, but is there any kind of temporary soundproofing that I could do to the windows, maybe? Or any other ways to go with this? I am so freaking tired. I have no energy all day long because I don't think I've gotten more than two straight hours of sleep in months. Other people in the building say they just adjusted after a while, but that doesn't seem to be happening to me, and I need to find a way to live with this before I go nuts.

Thanks in advance...

We are trying as hard as possible not to be noisy

marble — Sun, 08 Nov 2009 13:53:11 -0800

How best to handle noise complaints against us, when I feel we are being reasonable? Since the first complaints we have been dialing down the noise in every way we can think of, but apparently it's not enough and we don't even know which neighbor is complaining, so we can't speak to them directly. Several months ago, we got a formal written noise complaint from the landlord. We couldn't figure out what we were doing to cause it, and there were no specifics. It made a reference to stuff being done after 10:00 pm. I can't tell from the wording if it's *just* whatever they heard after 10:00 pm, or if we were being admonished for stuff prior to that hour or not.

We do not have parties or anything like that, we don't play loud music, and we live on the ground floor. We play videogames and watch tv and movies, and at a volume such that no one has complained until recently. (I have lived here for four years now).

Then a couple months ago we're playing SingStar, and a knock at the door reveals a policeman. They called the cops on us. For singing. Sigh. Really? The police? Anyway, I was pleasant and polite to the cop but I felt rather bewildered by the whole situation. I admit we do tend to turn up the sound on the tv when we play that game, because neither one of us likes how our voice sounds so we can drown it out with the actual artists singing. Okay, well, I guess it was too loud even though we never had trouble with it before. We haven't even touched that game since that encounter with the cop. It saddens me greatly, we used to have a great time playing it, but I can't figure out if the problem was that it was after 10 or just that we were playing it at all.

Overall we made an effort to make sure things were quieter, especially after 10. I'm talking things like headphones used for playing games and music, a quieter volume on the tv, and just plain going to bed earlier.

But then we got *another* formal written noise complaint from the landlord, on Wednesday.

What the hell? I am really frustrated with this. I don't know what to do. I don't know how many complaints before they try to evict us. I feel really powerless and upset. I honestly don't want to offend anyone with noise, but I think this person is being hypersensitive and at this point they may just be making bogus complaints to fuck with us (maybe they want us to be evicted so they can have the ground floor apartment? my mind is reeling). It's not like they have to provide proof. The landlord doesn't even have anyone on the property to corroborate a noise complaint past like 3pm, and we are at work til 5. So they can complain as much as they want, and they will be believed even if we are in bed at the time.

Our apartment is in a small block of eight. We have no idea which neighbor lodged the complaints, so we can't try to talk to them about exactly what they heard and when, and try to work with them to make sure we don't bother them. We are not assholes, we just want to be able to enjoy our entertainment.

This whole thing is making us paranoid. We watched Desperado last night, the last 40 minutes of which were after 10. I thought we shouldn't because I don't want any chance of them hearing anything, even on a weekend night. But we watched it so quietly that we could barely hear the dialogue, and turned it way down for every gunfight.

This is crazy. I hate living in fear like this, feeling so uncomfortable in my own home. If this person really is out to get us evicted, then there's nothing I can do anyway.

I thought about maybe writing a formal letter to the landlord explaining that we are surprised that our noise level has bothered anyone, but we are genuinely making a sincere effort not to offend (since the very first complaint), and would appreciate it if they could tell us when they actually hear noise so that we could figure out which thing it is that is causing the problem.

I'd like to talk to the neighbor directly, but I have this fear that the person is going to construe me even talking to them as harassment or something, and I'm rather pissed off at this point and am not sure if I could keep a lid on my obvious resentment coming through in tone of voice and facial expression. Also, I hate confrontation. I'd much rather write a letter if I could. But this is all moot since I don't even know which neighbor it is and the landlord likely won't tell me.

The landlord's latest note referenced paragraph 20 of my lease, and I think the part they refer to is (excerpted): "You and your occupants or guests may not engage in the following activities: [...] behaving in a loud or obnoxious manner; disturbing or threatening the rights, comfort, health, safety, or convenience of others (including our agents and employees) in or near the apartment community [...]". This is a standard Texas Apartment Association lease, and I live in Austin.

I'd really like to communicate in writing as calmly and reasonably as I can, but I'm scared even that will blow up in my face somehow. I'm supposed to sign my new lease soon but I haven't talked to the landlord since the last complaint so I'm not sure how pissed off they might be at me right now, or if they consider the complaints minor. I'm scared to even bring up the lease with them. New lease would be starting January 1st.

Anyway, I'm looking for advice as to how to approach this. I'd like to be able to enjoy my usual activities at home without feeling like I'm going to be evicted for it. And we have already gotten two levels quieter and it hasn't helped. Argh!

Speaker noise when metal USB plug touches my computer case and other electrical problems.

archagon — Sun, 01 Nov 2009 16:21:09 -0800

Speaker noise when metal USB plug touches my computer case and other electrical problems. I have an aluminum PC case. Whenever the metal USB plug from my external drive contacts the front, I get crackling from my speakers, which are connected to an external USB soundcard. (This crackling happens even if they're not connected to the actual output jack.) A few possibly related problems: my audio occasionally starts popping once every few minutes, and my USB devices sometimes play the "connected" sound in Windows even though they're already connected, as if they're briefly disconnecting.

My guess is that this has to do with the grounding, but I'm not sure exactly what to do. My case has a round grounding wire, but I don't know where to attach it, and fiddling with it didn't seem to have any effect. Suggestions?

cubicle farm noise

neworder7 — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 18:04:30 -0800

There is a laud/noisy colleague in the cubicle farm office. Any suggestions how to deal with the situation? I work in a big company - this person is very laud especially when she is on the phone. She works for another department within the company and I don't know her personally so I don't really feel comfortable having a discussion with her at all.

I contacted HR to ask their advice regarding how to deal with her. They said they will speak to her manager. I also suggested maybe they can start cubicle etiquette initiative to make people more aware that they work in shared office environment and be considerate of other people.

There has been no change and a month later I contacted HR for the second time. They said they will again speak to her manager also suggested I should speak to her myself in person.

Another person from my team also spoke to her manager and he seemed reluctant to deal with it, I am afraid nobody has spoken to her yet.

What are my options here?
1. What is the best way to deal with her without having to speak to her?
2. Is it feasible to pursue HR for the third time?
or
3. If you think as a last resort I should make the move and speak to her myself, what's the best way to do it?

I was wondering is it OK for HR to put me in a position to somewhat confronting her? I was wondering shouldn't the company have policies to provide reasonable working environment for its employees?

I work for an big international company in Australia if that matters.

Thanks.

How does noise affect the autistic mind?

bonsai forest — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 06:20:34 -0800

I understand that noise can become overwhelming rapidly to those in the autism spectrum or with ADD/ADHD syndromes due to increased sensitivities of all the sense perceptions, but I have also heard of research that suggests a certain measure of white noise and some kinds of music can help both ADD and autism spectrum young people focus their brains. I am trying to get a sense of how these two seemingly opposing responses can coexist, and whether the noise helps mask internal brain noise, to stimulate understimulated, low activity regions of the brain, or other explanations for this response.

How can I tell which apartment buildings block neighbor noise best?

sunflower16 — Tue, 13 Oct 2009 20:55:59 -0800

I'm looking to buy a Manhattan apartment (most likely co-op, not condo). What should I be looking for (or avoiding) to minimize my chances of hearing a lot of noise from my neighbors?

Too many condo noise rules = no condo for us?

bibbit — Tue, 13 Oct 2009 13:56:03 -0800

My fiance and I are in the midst of buying a condo. Offer accepted, inspection went great, still collecting all the documents related to the condo association. Yesterday, we got a three page document that is the "noise abatement policy." We are not happy. But should we suck it up and still buy the place? The condo is in a 3 floor, 7 unit building. Built in the 1920's, gut rehabbed less than 10 years ago. According to meeting minutes, there have been issues with noise because not enough soundproofing was used. In the four times we've been in the place, we've never heard anyone in other units, but we were making enough racket ourselves and we never saw anyone either.

The noise abatement policy requires area rugs covering almost the entire floor in all major rooms (bedrooms, living room, dining area, hallway). It requires padding on the washer/dryer. It requires "major activities" such as "house cleaning, minor repairs in the unit, etc." to be done between 9am and 7pm.

This went into effect last year. The owners of the unit we have the offer in on put their place on the market in January. They are not in complete compliance with the rules, though they do have wall-to-wall carpeting in the bedrooms.

The issue is: my fiance likes his music. And his movies. And he's not a night owl, but he'll have music on until 10:30-11pm sometimes. Movies might go later on the weekends. His dream is a gorgeous surround sound system. He considers himself an audiophile. Is this compatible with such a noise policy?

We also have two rather large cats, both of whom like to run around occasionally and one of whom is a bit of a talker at night (loud enough to wake us). I can hear our current upstairs-neighbor-cat all the time when its running about. Are we in trouble with our cats?

There is a unit below us, a unit above us, a unit next to us. How do we find out if this is an association that will complain if they hear a pin drop? How do we determine if we're being unreasonable? How do we know if we're going to get nasty notes and fines if we have 6 people over for dinner and they don't leave until near midnight on a weekend? Any experiences with this?

My heaters groan with the cold

Eicats — Tue, 06 Oct 2009 07:06:16 -0800

Why are electric baseboard heaters so noisy only in the dead of winter? In my apartment building, we have just the little baseboard heaters, the metal kind that are attached to the base of the wall-- the kind that work by using hot water, I believe. Now, as it's starting to get cold, the heat has been turned on- but you would never know it by sound. Not a single creak, click, or peep from the heaters. However, I know from living almost a decade in this apartment that even though the heaters are nice a quiet at the start of the cold season, by the middle of winter, every time the heat comes on, it makes incredibly loud groaning and creaking noises. And it almost sounds like little popping noises, that seem like the water bubbling in the pipes (?)

So I thought I'd finally ask: why does this happen?! It gets so loud and annoying! Is there some problem like water lines or pipes freezing and that's why it makes so much noise heating up when it's so cold outside?

If there's something that could be done to mitigate this, I would love to know so I can request service from the landlord.

Thanks, all!

Low threshold for noise

neworder7 — Mon, 28 Sep 2009 18:33:43 -0800

I have very low threshold for certain sounds. I can't handle noise, especially I find high pitch female or children voice unbearable. I also have trouble with neighbors walking around, the high bass thuds etc. I am 35, male.I have always had this problem even as a kid or teenager. I cannot stand people eating or chewing noisy. I have left restaurants for that reason.

I can't stand hearing chatter coming from the distance.

I can't seem to focus at work (cubicle farm) or never feel relaxed at home.

However I don't have any problem listening to music loud, or traffic, or animals, or nature.

I have a history of OCD / depression/ anxiety, tendency to get obsessed. I know you are not my doctor, but where do you think I should seek for the solution?

Is this a psychological problem or is it there a physiological condition in which a persons senses are just too acute/sensitive? I am asking this because under fluorescent light my face and eyes turn red too.

Either She's The Neighbour From Hell, Or I Am

turgid dahlia — Sun, 27 Sep 2009 15:34:16 -0800

Quick, Easy, Cheap (or Free!) DIY Soundproofing? So my housemate has moved out and I’ve taken his room upstairs in our two-storey townhouse. It’s a good room, very spacious, and with plenty of power outlets (a rarity on the Brisbane rental market), so I said to myself “Huh, might as well put my home theatre setup in here” (TV, 5.1 sound, Xbox, etc.). So I did and I was listening to some Beatles whilst I pottered about, and it was at what I thought was a very reasonable level (as in, I could hear it from the lounge room adjoining the bedroom but not really from anywhere else in the house), but within a few minutes my next door neighbour was banging on the door demanding I turn it down. I complied, even though it was only about 5 o’clock in the afternoon, but I was pretty pissed off about it because she has a crap car and doesn’t know how to drive so her brakes are squealing for about 45 minutes every morning and evening as she figures out how to use the driveway.

Anyway, I understand how annoying noise can be and I appreciate that it probably upset her (she’s entitled to quiet enjoyment of her home, after all). This is a block of five townhouses, only a few years old, but it appears no consideration was given by the builders to the fact that noise travels and that two plaster walls and wooden floorboards are basically only conduits for sound. I don’t want to be kicking back and have her bashing on the door again, since we’ve all got to get along. And my guess is it’s the subwoofer (which sits directly on the floor) that is the chief point of concern.

So, what are some cheap and easy ways to stop people from complaining about noise? Should I put the subwoofer on a stand of some kind? A big bookshelf is going against the wall most directly attached to her, which should suck up some of the sound, but it probably won’t be enough. I can't drill holes in the wall or pump foam anywhere - I basically have to use what I've got, or what can be gotten cheaply, and I have to do it myself without doing anything to the house.

I'm also going to go around tonight with a bottle of wine to apologise, and give her my mobile number so she can just text me if it gets too much for her again (I'm think she's in the middle of some kind of nervous breakdown - I can sometimes hear her sobbing and sort of scratching at something, and she also drops a lot of plates - which is relevant because when you're already mad, even tiny things are going to make you madder).

Please note that I don’t play my music above what I would call a very reasonable level. Honestly, I hate having it up loud, and one could very easily have a normal conversation if one was sitting directly in front of my setup. What do?

It's the buzz buzz buzz in the drum of the ear, or, making my amplifier a tinfoil hat to stop GSM noises from my phone.

Halle — Wed, 23 Sep 2009 06:22:38 -0800

It's the buzz buzz buzz in the drum of the ear, or, making my amplifier a tinfoil hat to stop GSM noises from my phone. Like many others, I have GSM buzz in my speakers. But, I frequently don't have the option of setting my phone to silent while I'm working, because I'm working on the phone. That leaves the options as a) not getting to listen to music while working, or b) letting hideous noises that come out of my speakers every hour at a much higher volume than the music make me aggro. So, I've done some research (and read the old and inconclusive GSM noise questions here in AskMe) and I've concluded that it's most likely my amplifier lacking shielding. I'm going to put ferrite chokes on my speaker and audio cables just in case, but the main plan of attack is to put a faraday cage around the amp since it's out of sight. What is a good way to construct the cage with the following specs:

1) blocks interference really well,
2) isn't terribly expensive,
3) will last/can be moved (i.e. alternatives to tinfoil),
4) has some possibility of heat dispersal so it doesn't kill the amp.
5) no negative electrical safety implications (I can't imagine what these could be but I thought I'd throw it in there in case there is anything I'm overlooking in this department).

Thank you!

Is there another name for the TIE fighter noise?

bartleby — Tue, 22 Sep 2009 16:29:49 -0800

Having learned that there's a name for the Wilhelm Scream, now I have to know if there's a name for another sound effect; most commonly known as the TIE fighter sound. Name? I've recognized that the same sound effects get used over and over, even for things unrelated to the original noise.

Someone just clued me in to the fact that the Wilhelm Scream is often used as sort of an in-joke as well as a stock sound effect.

This made me start thinking and asking about two more sounds.

There's a jaguar growl or other big-cat noise - "rr-ROWL-rowl"- that often gets used to "sweeten" explosion sound effects; I bet that's just "panther sound #5" and I'm not that concerned about it.

But I hear and recognize the "yeeeeaaaargh!" or TIE-fighter noise much more often than I pick up on the Wilhelm scream, and now I just HAVE to know what/where it comes from and if it has a name, official or unofficial.

Any SFX folks in the hive able to help?

Silence me

kestrel251 — Fri, 18 Sep 2009 21:02:16 -0800

Makeshift earplugs??? I'm traveling for work and find myself in a loud hotel. Well, not the hotel itself, but outside. Think: college campus on a Friday night. I'm not a prig, and remember college, and am not going to call Public Safety. But I forgot to bring earplugs.... Can I do better than a twist of TP in my ears, or a pillow over my head? Any techniques????

How do I soundproof a ceiling without ripping it up?

zembla3 — Tue, 08 Sep 2009 10:00:19 -0800

I live in a rental apartment and would like to block out noise from the apartment above me. I have a ceiling fan, ear plugs, etc., but would prefer not to have to use those things. Is there some kind of insulation or paneling that I can glue or tack on without having to rip up the ceiling? (Please don't respond with suggestions about talking to my neighbors. I'm specifically looking for information about soundproofing the ceiling.)

The noise level coming from the church across the street is driving us crazy. Help!

Anonymous — Thu, 03 Sep 2009 19:21:08 -0800

The noise level coming from the church across the street is driving us crazy. Help! We live right across the street from a very loud church in the Hayes Valley neighborhood of San Francisco. At first we thought it was kind of nice being near a place of worship, but now we're kind of fed up. There are very loud services with singing and all sorts of instruments that are probably amplified, as well as random drumming practices. It goes on for hours (they've been playing for at least 4 hours just today), and it's on weekdays and weekends. The services seem to be kind of irregular; it's not like we know it's going to be bad 6-8pm every Wednesday. I work from home, and it's nice to work in cafes, but I hate the feeling like I can't enjoy my own home. Plus, not being able to relax in our living room on Sunday evenings can be kind of a bummer.

What is the best way to approach this? We called in a noise complaint once - it was 10pm on a Sunday and they had been going at it for 3 hours (plus they had a van idling outside for 40 minutes). But, the cops weren't that helpful - they said they weren't going to disrupt the church service (but that's when it's noisy!) and they were trying to stay on good terms with the churches. It's also a gentrifying neighborhood, which may make things more complicated...