I did not claim it was the worst, in fact I conceded beginner Bagpipes at the start of my post. I would rate saxophone around the same as clarinet and I did try both myself as a kid.
dnooman, also include Sax with clarinet. I believe we were the only ones to mention clarinet.
Jim
And in the Netherlands and most of Nevada, that’s a perfectly legal way to get rid of that debt. :D:D:D
Classical guitar rules in this regard. You can practice all you want without disturbing anyone.
*Usually that is; right now we have my SIL living with us, and she wakes up if a butterfly lands on a blade of grass a block away…
So, my boss is going to let me store his drums at my house. I’ve been playing since 1967, although without ever having owned my own kit. I’m recording-quality and I have some pretty tasty chops. I’m not a basher. There is no one in the house to our right, to which the drums would be closest, and the man in the house on the left is deaf. If I play along to records for a reasonably short period of time, and not at night, do you think other neighbors will want to kill me? I know they aren’t too fond of the kid a few doors down and across the street, who is more like the other wannabe drummers described above. Opinions?
At least one neighbor will complain, that is the rule of thumb for any neighborhood, isn’t it? So unless the police or a large posse of neighbors knock on your door, go for it.
Jim
If you are willing to be that considerate, “F%@# 'em”, I say. I’ve been playing for over thirty years in a large variety of different living situations, so I know whereof I speak. If you are playing in a closed-up house (doors and windows closed) then there is NO WAY that your practicing is more disturbing than the dipstick who mows his lawn every Sunday morning at nine a.m. What do you think the reaction will be if you call the police to complain about him?
It’s also been my experience that more of my neighbors have been happy about hearing good, free music than have complained about the noise. (Although there’s seemingly always one PITA in every neighborhood, most of the other neighbors are just as :rolleyes: as you are at his behavior.)
Similarly, I’m sure once saw I saw some old B-movie about some explorers in an African forest, and there were native drums in the background, and one of the characters starts to freak out with, “those DRUMS!! I can’t take those drums!”
Our SCA household camps in W-10, right next to Orluk Oasis … they do drumming much of the night, and during the day they have drumming classes.
There is nothing like 2 weeks of dum teka teka dum teka tek for about 18 hours a day… 
Every other year the is some kind of national drum and bugle corp competiton here in Madison – I don’t know how we became a semi-permanent host. But there are dozens of bands in town for a week, marching around and playing on just about every open patch of ground in town.
If you’re unfortunate enough to be in the wrong place in the wrong time (which means anywhere in the city at anytime before about 9 PM) you might hear 3 or 4 bands playing AT ONCE.
Uggghhh.
Hey! I live in Santa Cruz. Drumming is a rite of passage. No, not “drumming” but bang on shit in a cathartic way. FTLOG, please stop.
Please…
A college acquaintance was a bagpiper, and he was actually quite good; he was also very courteous with his practice sessions. Except for the time he let someone else try the bagpipes. Dear God, I hope I never hear a noise like that again.
Beginning violin is also exceedingly painful. I assume I made those hideous noises when I was learning, except of course I thought I sounded wonderful. But I remember when my daughter took up the violin, after a few weeks I went to her teacher when she wasn’t listening and asked, “Does everyone sound this awful when they start out?” I was even more horrified when the teacher assured me that my daughter was doing much better than most beginners.
I’m a bad drummer! The louder I get, the drunker I play! Start the evening with 7A’s and finish with 5B/nylon tips!
I have no friends or neighbors.
Just wanted to point that out…
I lived in the apartment over my younger brother when he took up playing the electric guitar. When we’d ask him to turn down the amp, he’d insist you can’t learn that way, you gotta master that feedback. My roommate and I would stay upstairs praying he would break a string, and do a little happy dance when he did. (Beginners are always messing with the tuning, dontcha know.) On the upside when a string would break he’s switch back to the acoustic guitar, which was lovely.
I lived near a guy who would practise his bagpipe out in the park as a consideration to his neighbours in the apartment complex he lived in. It was an impressive amount of sound, to be sure, but he was no beginner.
But the worst, was my musically gifted college roommate. She could pick up any instrument it seemed and just fly with it. We both bought mouth organs once and a month later I sounded like some dying creature while she was all Stevie Wonder. She was a foreign student who was amazed to learn you could rent instruments in Canada, we ran through a lot in short order including the bongo drums. Then one day she came home with a violin. Lord help me, it was truly horrible. I was very understanding initially but by the end I was begging her to quit.
There’s a reason that the practice room / recording studio in my dream house is called the “music bunker”. 
Here, the OP needs this shirt.
Seriously, I feel for you. Practice time might be a good time for a long walk.
I thought I’d pop back into this thread to say that I’ve been playing drums along with music on my stereo for a week. No one has complained! I’ve been about as considerate a neighbor as I can. I truly don’t want to aggravate anybody. The music isn’t blasting, but it has to be as loud as the kit with the heads muffled. No one seems to mind so far.
I guess I don’t suck too badly. It’ll take awhile for me to get comfortable on the kit. I haven’t played in ten years, so I’m getting reacquainted with it. I just went out and bought another drum throne. The one that came with the kit was missing the extension rod, and was stuck in its lowest position. I had no leverage and couldn’t play with any authority, hitting at chest level. The new seat makes all kinds of difference.
My favorites to play along with so far are:
Aretha Franklin - Until You Come Back To Me (Bernard Purdie is god.)
The Raiders - Indian Reservation (is that Hal Blaine?)
Orleans - Still The One
Climax Blues Band - Couldn’t Get It Right
The Spinners - Could It Be I’m Falling In Love
The Brothers Johnson - I’ll Be Good To You
Ocean - Put Your Hand In The Hand (crappy song, astonishingly brilliant, difficult drum part to keep up with)
Atlanta Rhythm Section - So Into You
Hey, this is fun! I’ll get my chops back and learn some new ones, too!
Since nobody else is using this thread I guess it’s okay if we take it over a little?
fishbicycle, glad to hear you’re not having any trouble with the neighbors. I’m hoping for the same response from mine. I had some people over today to jam. While not an everyday occurence, it has been known to happen on occasion. The difference today, though, was the new people moving in next door last night. I really hope we weren’t too annoying on their very first day.
Also, I don’t know if this is good advice or not, but I’ve found if I use headphones (not too heavy, but not completely open-air, either), I don’t have to turn the stereo up as loud to hear over the drums. Be careful, of course, to PROTECT YOUR HEARING. While it may take a little getting used to, it will help to be acclimated to playing with them if you ever want to do any recording. (Feel free to pay no attention if you are already doing this. )
fishbicycle, lemme know when you can play 50 Ways by Paul Simon. Steve Gadd is an amazing drummer.
I had money thrown at me the other day at a gig (sadly it was a guy), so I guess drummers aren’t hated universally.
OK, I just played it. I was missing his some of his subtlety, but I got all the rhythms right. If I was going to play that song a lot of times, I’d get it just like he played it. For having only played it twice, just now, I was pretty accurate. And you’re right, he is an amazing drummer.
I don’t think I will ever progress to the point where I can play the midsection of King Crimson’s “21st Century Schizoid Man” though. Or any Crimson, really. You have to go to school to learn those chops. I couldn’t hope to follow Bill Bruford on his worst day. I like to listen to some drummers because what they play is so far beyond my ken, I can only be a spectator and appreciate them from afar.