Hi,
This is a simple question....
I'm talking about house sharing and you producing music, how do the housemates react to your noise levels etc?
What's the best option rent a flat on your own, without no interreption....
I'm just looking for thoughts experiences...

I'm always dreaming of living in a house together with other musicians. Should be a similar music style, because if the violin player is getting excited about your techno music production, that's not so stimulating.

OTOH if everyone is playing music at the same time, it would sound awfully...maybe one lonesome house in the forest would be better...

That's probably a utopian vision!

How do you manage now with noise, esp if neighbours live close?

The only thing to manage with noise is to wear headphones... But the problem is that if you've composed and mixed a song with headphones and you listen to it with monitors, you have to mix it again...

I haven't actually done this yet, but when the fall semester starts up I will be sharing a 3-bedroom apartment with 2 other people, neither of whom produce but one is a DJ. Noise level isn't something I've really thought about, but I can't imagine it being much of an issue. You really don't need to monitor at very high levels when you're producing. If you were living with 3 drummers or something I could understand but with producing I don't think volume will be much of an issue, and if it is I can always arrange on headphones and bust out the monitors for mixing sessions.

Not necessarily so. What you need to do is spend enough time with both your headphones and monitors so you know what's different and can compensate. I've been mixing using headphones for years; it's very rare that I have to correct anything because of differences between headphones and monitors.

ew

+1. Using headphones in combo with a good spectrum analyser is all I need. I tried using emulation plugins like Tonebooster's Isone, but, interestingly, they threw my mix off totally.

Well-known headphone drawback: when in the throes of creative ecstasy, caution about volume levels usually goes out the window.

In Germany, if you keep it to certain hours during the day, you're "allowed" to make noise. Some neighbours don't agree with this, of course, but there's nothing much they can do (except maybe litigate or set fire to your car in retaliation).

I do most of my work with headphones, since my wife, our roommate, and I all have different work schedules. I tend to record vocals when they're not here. I do try to do rough mixes through the speakers when I'm alone in the house, but I still take my stuff to a local studio for final mixing.

I agree, but, headphones get fatiguing for long periods. I built up a room simulator in Reaktor and it made a world of difference. I suggest that you buy one of those little room simulator boxes that cost about $100, or, get one of the focusrite interfaces that have it built in.

Thanks for the thoughts...

Then take a break, no? I don't work for more than an hour and a half/two hours max without taking a break; my ears thank me at the end of the day.

When I think the mix is done, I'll burn a CD, but also make an iPod version. I'll take both the CD and the iPod and go for a drive- if the mix sounds good with the imaging I was looking for with both versions in a car, it's done.

ew

Buy a house up in the mountains, thick insulation, double glazing, an acre and a half between you and the nearest neighbour. Nothing but goats and bunny rabbits to frighten. Works for me...


...and when you get real lonely, there's always them goats...

Never say never. No point in ruling that out until you tried it - it's limiting to not try a collaboration because you *think* the end result would not be good.

this is probably some the best advice one could get, ear fatigue is real and important to be aware of. You need to know when to take a break otherwise you start chasing your tail.

I would find that even more stimulating, I think.