I live in California where a lot of the housing is either literally connected or very close to your neighbor(s) (i.e. close enough to piss them off with loud music).
I almost literally never practice and it is mostly due to not being able to turn it loud enough for me to hear it properly (either because of neighbors or because of disturbing my wife at night).
I looked up some “rehearsal studios” in my area and the majority of them are set up for live bands. They are too big and too expensive for my needs.
So I was thinking that there arent many places that cater to DJs (at least that I know of and at least not here in the States). which is a shame because one should be able to be loud and not have to worry about having the cops called on them like they were criminals. I think this is especially true for high school kids too. Some of our communities over here have gotten the point and started building skate parks. They ought to start doing the same for “the arts” too and have community studios for kids to use. Im sure it would help with keeping kids busy with creative outlets and keep them off the streets doing other stuff. (end rant)
Anyway…how do you guys deal with this? Im seriously frustrated with this and wish I had an alternative that was close and cheap tailored for the DJ.
I know how u feel man. In NZ we have real strict noise control rules where basically if a neighbour complains about the noise, even if its acceptable levels, the noise nazis give you a 72 hour notice. At home the only time i get to have a proper practise is like two nights a week for two hours. A dodgy old warehouse or something would be perfect!
I highly recommend getting as used to headphone monitoring as possible. Ideally, you want to get to the point where you never take them off. I’ve played in so many clubs with crappy monitors that can’t even come close to cutting it for quality mixing. Add in a large room where it can take a few fractions of a second for the sound to hit you in the booth and you have a bad situation. You can’t use the sound from the room to mix (well, maybe if you are using sync and quantization), you can’t use the monitors to mix… phew, so glad I’m used to just using my headphones all the time anyway.
Plus, my headphones have better sound quality than most of the monitors I’ve ever used in clubs.
but i get sometimes i have the urge to just pump the speakers and fill the entire room with the thump. you just can’t get that feeling with headphones.
I’d disagree personally… My main love of DJing stems from the interaction with the ravers. I’ve always felt that having the cans on the whole time creates a barrier between you and the crowd. To be honest, DJing can be (while you’re up there) the most anti-social place to be in the venue (apart from the 15 year old girls chundering in the street). I dunno what you guys think, but having both cans on isn’t my bag.
Although I can definitely dig the whole headphone monitoring to avoid an ASBO thing… A reheasal room, as long as its cheap, seems a really nifty plan! perhaps for 2 hours a week or something, just to finalise your prep work? Give it a go bruv!
hahaha! nice, if only man. I live in the burbs so nothing really around like that.
I remember my friend who lived up in north Hollywood had a band who had a “rehearsal studio” (aka some shit hole that looked like a storage room in a warehouse district…definitely not part of the Better Business Bureau if you know what I mean. I loved it! )
Another vote for just mixing in your headphones. True, I do love DJing at home with my speakers but in the club I just give up and resort to mixing in my headphones, because a club’s sound could never be as clear and easy to work with compared to the sound at home.
there must be something around, just way easier to find in the tron cos it’s a tiny city and everyone knows everyone else. wasn’t long after beggining the search that we found one. but yea having a studio is the tits
Which city lol 