Quote:
Originally Posted by Reggie Dunlop
I'm going to with the premise that the original poster is being less than forthright in presenting the details. In fact, it's likely the situation has escalated to the point where a bylaw officer investigated the complaint and deemed it warranted.
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Wow, this thread really brought out the troops.
I honestly have brought out all the details. The reason why this one is a bit of a grey area for me is because this is the "Corrective Action Required":
Ensure any noise - namely drums which are being played in the garage - is mitigated in order to contain the noise within your property." More on the noise bylaw can be found under the Community Standards bylaw 5M2004 Sections 27-33.
So from this paragraph the one word I'm stuck on is "mitigated". I have no clue how much mitigating I need to do. Is it a certain level I need to get it down to? What will be considered an appropriate level? I've put in a call to the by-law officer to get some more clarification on the issue, so that'll be a start.
I appreciate everyone's comments on the topic; obviously there are a number of opinions. With regards to playing in the house, the reason I moved them out is because being 20ft away in a house with the drums vs. 100 ft in the garage I figured it wouldn't bother the people in my house or the neighbours. I apparently got that one wrong. I will be putting in blankets in the bass drum and I'll probably grab some insulation to put up on the walls to help the situation. The thing is though, I don't know if that will be enough to "mitigate" the problem.
I'll also go talk to the neighbours as well, see if it's a time thing, a loudness thing, etc. I just don't want to get a fine; and Reggie is right in that I also want to avoid having to spend $160 to make sure my drums are quiet enough at 5pm, even once I put in the effort to get them quieter. I am struggling with having to go to those lengths to please a neighbour at 5pm...that part does frustrate me. But I'll mitigate what I can...I just want to know its enough.
I can also appreciate a few of the comments about not being a good drummer; trust me I've thought about that. I'm learning and I think I'm not too bad now; I can at least vary the beats up but I am also practicing some repetitive drills which I suspect get a bit annoying.
As for whether it's against the law or not, I read up on the sections and 27 (2) states that we can't make a noise which disturbs or annoys a person. I was honestly pretty surprised by the vagueness of that statement because it realistically could apply to anything.
Anyways, thanks for all the responses...I plan on halting the drumming for a few days until I get the place "mitigated", whatever the hell that means.
EDIT: There is no way I'm buying electronic drums to appease people. They aren't cheap and if a lady next door with a baby is fine with the drumming that goes on, I suspect I can work something out with the neighbour who is having issues with it.