Help with loud practices...

[[Animals2]]

Were too loud for the neighbors so I'm looking for suggestions/equipment for headphone practices. We have guitar bass keys and drums and all use effect pedals (we have access to Vdrums.) How do we set it up so that our practices are silent to the outside world and we control headphone volume (dont need complete mixes for each person). I have a firepod and a 5 track behringer mixer.

 

Would something like this work:

 

Each of us goes from our instruments through our pedals and into one of the channels on the mixer. The out of the mixer goes to a headphone amp/splitter like a Presonus HP4. We each plug headphones into the HP4 and control volume from there. Obiviously tone would be seriously lacking, but is there a way around that while keeping things virtually silent?

 

Would the firepod handle this better?

 

 

Thanks for the help

 

Mac

 

edit: this looks interesting

 

JamHub TourBus

http://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/JHTourBus/

[Jersey Jack]

Yes, I think JamHub is your answer. I've never used it, so I can't vouch for it, but it's made for situations like yours.

 

Then you can always approach the neightbors to work out an arrangement. Here in Jersey we usually send a few big guys with crowbars to their houses; they almost always stop complaining and learn to appreciate our music.

[Johnny-Boy]

Times have changed. We (the Vestells: http://www.garagehangover.com/?q=Vestells ) used to practice in our basement/garage. Our neighbors would ask us to open the garage door when we're practicing so they could hear us better. They'd bring out their lawn chairs and party. This was in the 60's. Yes, times have changed.

 

John

[Phil O'Keefe]

Yes, times have changed, but I think it just depends on who your neighbors are. When we practiced in the 70s, some neighbors would still come over and watch / listen, and others would call the police on us. It certainly makes sense to try to discuss band rehearsals with the nearby neighbors IN ADVANCE so that you can get a "feel" for how they will react. You should (IMHO) also make it very clear to them that if you're ever disturbing them, all they have to do is ask and you'll turn down or reschedule the practice for a time when it will be less of an issue for them. That's something to take into consideration when scheduling the practice times - don't practice later at night - you're sure to tick someone off. During the day when people are at work or school is a good time, as are weekend days when people are making noise mowing the lawn, etc.

 

I had a fairly close look at the JamHub at NAMM, and I think that it would be a very good practice solution for anyone who wanted to stick to headphones.

[nice keetee]

Yes, diplomacy, distance and headphones.

[Phil O'Keefe]

Diplomacy - that's a good word for it. Be nice. Be polite. Be considerate of their POV. It doesn't always work, but it's still the best approach I've found.

 

This applies to home recording too. If you live in an apartment and want to record drums in your living room, you'd better be a master at diplomacy.

 

 

 

 

 

 

PS nice keetee: I just noticed your avatar. Sorry about your keetee. Mojo sent.

[Phil O'Keefe]

You can route the line out of the keyboard(s) and V-Drums into individual JamHub sections. You can do the same thing with guitars and bass, but you might want to use an external "amp sim" of some sort. A Pod, or a SansAmp would probably sound better than just plugging in directly.

[Flogger59]

Jam Hub is a great piece, but I've managed for decades with a single mix for everyone. Hear me out. An acquaintance did sound for the Cirque during a time when each member of the band had an O1V on which they did their own monitor mix. Things weren't working out, and the band wasn't tight. He figured out that it was because everyone was mixing "more me" and not listening to the whole picture. So, he called a band meeting and announced that due to budgetary constraints, the individual mixers would go, and everyone has to live with the same mix. He said that the band tightened up immediately.

[JamHubSteve]

Jam Hub is a great piece, but I've managed for decades with a single mix for everyone. Hear me out. An acquaintance did sound for the Cirque during a time when each member of the band had an O1V on which they did their own monitor mix. Things weren't working out, and the band wasn't tight. He figured out that it was because everyone was mixing "more me" and not listening to the whole picture. So, he called a band meeting and announced that due to budgetary constraints, the individual mixers would go, and everyone has to live with the same mix. He said that the band tightened up immediately.

 

I agree (mostly) with Flogger 59 that dramatically different mixes is a bad thing. One night I looked at my bass players mix and noticed he had really turned me down. I said to him, "Alan, I'm not feeling the love." and he said he was working on something with the keyboard player's line (Alan is an amazing musician) and the very next song turned me back up in the mix. As I looked across the JamHub I noticed that we all has pretty similar mixes but each guy had a slightly different mix based on our roles in the band. They tended to mimic what you'd do on stage, a little extra of me (like standing closer to my amp) and then the right balance of everyone else.

 

JamHubs are a tool and can be used for good, or evil. Like a hammer, they can be used to build or tear things apart.

 

Oh, one more thing. I don't know why JamHubs are so often put in the "this or that" category with now middle ground. You can use them when you can't be loud, and set them aside when you can get loud. It's sort of like a recording studio. When you're in recording mode, you don't expect it to be like when your in jamming mode. JamHubs simply give musicians more options to play more often.

 

I hope that helps,

Steve