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GMC Forum _ PRACTICE ROOM _ Family Problems
Posted by: Oxac Oct 29 2008, 07:15 PM
Hi guys, I really have a proglem when it comes to practising guitar. I like to play quietly, so I can hear every mistake I make and so that I can focus on what I'm doing to 100%. The problem is that even with a closed door, playing through a line6 guitarport thingy with headphones, I can hear my father and his girlfriend talk, watch TV etc. Every now and then my father walks in on me playing and interrups etc.
I have a lot to do with school projects and regular school work which I need to do when I come home, I need to do them ASAP and NOT start to play guitar, because if I start to practise guitar... the other stuff I need to do won't be done.
That gives me about 1 hour of practising TOPS before they get home. If I want to practise then, I have to crank the volume on my headphones up so high that I can't hear them, but then it's hard for me to stay focused and to hear every mistake, because of the high volume.
I really need absolute silence from everything else when practising, and smallest interruption may demotivate me very much. Anyone know what to do?
This thing has made me practise from like 23:00 - 02:00 in some cases 03:00. That's not a healthy habit if school starts at 08:00...
Posted by: wrk Oct 29 2008, 07:27 PM
I would suggest you to get some closed headphones. Some are really well capsulated for outside noise. I have the AKG K271, i'm sure something similar is available for lesser money as well. But with them you can be "alone" whenever you want .. 
Posted by: Fran Oct 29 2008, 07:27 PM
How about getting some noise supressing headphones? That might help!
Posted by: Canis Oct 29 2008, 07:47 PM
I have noise supressed heaphones. It works great ^^
Only problem I have, is that if someone do need to get contact with me, they startle the living daylights out of me 
Posted by: kjutte Oct 29 2008, 08:11 PM
I have a lot to do with school projects and regular school work which I need to do when I come home, I need to do them ASAP and NOT start to play guitar, because if I start to practise guitar... the other stuff I need to do won't be done.
That gives me about 1 hour of practising TOPS before they get home. If I want to practise then, I have to crank the volume on my headphones up so high that I can't hear them, but then it's hard for me to stay focused and to hear every mistake, because of the high volume.
I really need absolute silence from everything else when practising, and smallest interruption may demotivate me very much. Anyone know what to do?
This thing has made me practise from like 23:00 - 02:00 in some cases 03:00. That's not a healthy habit if school starts at 08:00...
Honestly, if you can't concentrate even with headphones on, then something else is wrong... I don't have any advice, unfortunately.
Posted by: Bogdan Radovic Oct 29 2008, 08:35 PM
Well we all have different problems , mine is opposite - its often too loud playing a huge amp along side songs on the stereo and then I get interrupted to "lower the volume" But I would definitly suggest finding closed or noise suppressing headphones! That will help you with all your practicing problems!
Posted by: Oxac Oct 29 2008, 08:57 PM
I keep the volume so low that I can hear the sound produced by the guitar, that's the way I like to practise... When I can't do that, it's hard for me to spot my mistakes and I like to find my mistakes, if I can't... how should I know what to practise?
Also, the time when it's absolutely quiet and I can unplug and play without an amp, that's the times that I treasure the most. I mean, I love the sound of a plugged in guitar, but everytime I plug in, I just go on overdrive channel and YEAH! I'm eddie van halen who recently drank a bottle of coffee!! YAAY! etc...
Could be that I'm stressed out with school atm, I have way too much to do. I have to use all of my energy for that.
(Sorry for dumping my problems on you guys.)
Posted by: Marek Rojewski Oct 29 2008, 09:05 PM
There is almost no point in this way of practicing. Practice with a lot of gain, because than You will produce much unwanted noise if the strings aren't properly muted, or are touched accidentally, and on clean channel to train the clean playing. Noone beside You will hear the "natural" sound of the instrument... This is my humble point of view anyway;)
Posted by: Oxac Oct 29 2008, 09:08 PM
I dissagree about that. I can feel that unwanted noise when playing (if I play without an amp). I also get my attack and dynamics to be where I want them. Also, with amps I have to focus on finding the great tone as well. I don't have to do that when unplugged. At least, when playing unplugged there's no urge to play heavy rock chords... I can focus on my scales, intervals etc...
Posted by: opeth.db Oct 29 2008, 09:24 PM
Easy... Move out!
Really though..Sorry to hear about your problems.
Posted by: Mark. Oct 29 2008, 09:25 PM
True, I used to play with a very clean tone but if I cranked up to volume and the distortion I couldnt keep things clean then you even get noise by moving your hands across the strings. Luckily I can get it sound pretty clean now even with distortion on max
So I'm doing the reverse thing if I want to get something clean I practice it with lots of distortion. Playing fast is a different story because with distortion you can just play faster somehow, so for practicing speed I play with a rather clean tone.
Posted by: seagull Oct 29 2008, 09:30 PM
Well, if your problem is that you keep losing focus, then maybe it's because your schoolwork is distressing you too much.
I graduated this summer, so now it's just work from 07:00-15:30 and practice from 17:00 to ?.....
I don't have problems focusing on the things I know I need to practice, because if you are comfortable with the things you KNOW you need to work on, you will also easily be able to focus on them. Just keep focusing on what you're doing instead of what the other people in your house are doing.
I know it may be hard, as it seems you're very observant (Onagi, lol), but being able to focus more concentrated on things is also something that develops with growing older.
So my advice is, play some power chords with gain and loudness when you just feel like fooling around. When you feel like you need to practice scales and such, put on your headphones (or just continue with the amp), turn up the volume so that you won't be disturbed too much by your folks in the house. Because I don't believe that practicing with very low volume develops that much more that with gain and overdrive. Try to stay in between too much and too little - both with gain and volume. One day when you're standing at a gig, you won't be able to control the volume that much yourself, so you need to be able to play loud as well.
It's all about being prepared for the things that you're less comfortable with and still be able to pull off the things that you're most comfortable with.
Good luck, and try to stay motivated - preserve the fun in playing guitar.
Posted by: berko Oct 29 2008, 09:39 PM
Also, the time when it's absolutely quiet and I can unplug and play without an amp, that's the times that I treasure the most. I mean, I love the sound of a plugged in guitar, but everytime I plug in, I just go on overdrive channel and YEAH! I'm eddie van halen who recently drank a bottle of coffee!! YAAY! etc...
Could be that I'm stressed out with school atm, I have way too much to do. I have to use all of my energy for that.
(Sorry for dumping my problems on you guys.)
It's a wise approach to focus on precision and the best way to do this is to practice a lot on little volume. However, I don't suggest you to play completely without your guitar plugged in, because it's alright that you feel when other strings are vibrating too with an unplugged guitar, but it's a totally different business to handle a cranked up volume...
It's still better to be precise with a silent guitar than becoming deaf of electric sound-turmoil 
On your problem - I would suggest some advanced earphones too.
If you have a song or a GMC lesson you are confident with, or just some licks, you should turn that volume knob a little and show your neighbours what you've got right there...
Posted by: Oxac Oct 29 2008, 10:52 PM
I dunno, what I mean is pure exercises ex. Going triads up the major scale in each position.
G B D, A C E, B D F# etc. I really enjoy doing that when I'm unplugged. Playing deafening solos like technical difficulties, Norwegian Cowbell, Eruption etc. I like to do loud. Practising theory however, I like it silent and full focus on what I'm doing.
I'm not going to state everything I do in school atm, I'm on a 1 week vacation atm and I don't want to start to think about it, but it's much. My total studying time, including time at school is probably 55h a week. + I sometimes have the worrying about tests feeling. But they've been to be for an hour and a half, I've been having 100 % focus since, and now is my first 15 minute break. Thanks for all of the great replies so far, I'll look up on noise supressed earphones, that might work pretty good. That's the kind that Paul Gilbert uses on stage, right?
Thanks guys.
Posted by: Muris Varajic Oct 29 2008, 10:55 PM
Noise suppressing headphones might be solution indeed,
you can still playing quite without hearing noise around that much.
Bose has some cool models,http://cgi.ebay.com/Bose-QuietComfort-2-QC2-QC-2-Headphones-Quiet-Comfort_W0QQitemZ300264368364QQcmdZViewItem?hash=item300264368364&_trkparms=72%3A1205|39%3A1|66%3A2|65%3A12|240%3A1318&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14 is probably most popular one.
But honestly,if you want to work more on your dynamic
that you should really try with more volume,not gain/drive,just volume.
Everything that is louder shows us our mistakes more clearly,
now, maybe you were talking about gain and that has sense,
more gain hides mistakes and kills dynamic.
Posted by: Ivan Milenkovic Oct 30 2008, 12:20 AM
Muris is right, more gain kills dynamics, it is good to practice clean and loud. I would recommend some Shure in-ear monitor earphones. This will keep you in quiet and enable you to hear your sound very precise. Shure SCL4 E4 should be enough, but there are other cheaper ones.
Posted by: Kapto Oct 30 2008, 09:33 AM
Show your father this thread it might help
Posted by: OrganisedConfusion Oct 30 2008, 10:02 AM
Like others have said get some noise suppressing headphones. Basically in a simple explanation they cut down exterior noise and you can listen to your headphones at lower levels and hear a lot less atmospheric noise. These should do the trick. They are fairly expensive but it'd mean you can practice easily whenever you want This will probably lower your stress as it means you can do your school work knowing you can have some good practice time afterwards.
Here is a fairly cheap set.
http://www.digitalreviews.net/reviews/200507/akg-k-28-nc-headphones.html
Posted by: Oxac Oct 30 2008, 11:08 AM
I'm thinking about these http://www.thomann.de/se/extreme_isolation_ex29.htm as well. They seem really good, and they're quite cheap in comparison to the other brands and their models. Paul Gilbert uses them and he really recommends them.
What do you guys think?
Posted by: OrganisedConfusion Oct 30 2008, 11:20 AM
They aren't as good as some but I think you'll notice the difference. The English isn't great on there so I find it hard to understand what they are saying but I think I get it and I'd say they are well worth getting.
Remember with headphones though you AREN'T (Are Not) allowed to take headphones back due to health issues.
Posted by: Oxac Oct 30 2008, 11:41 AM
what do you mean by take them back?
Posted by: OrganisedConfusion Oct 30 2008, 11:45 AM
If you weren't happy with the product you couldn't send them back to the company to get your money back. Unless rules are different in your country but headphones can't be sent back in the UK as it's bad health and safety using headphones somebody else has worn due to ear infections.
Posted by: Ivan Milenkovic Oct 30 2008, 12:36 PM
I think it is best to just get in ear phones, they really cut the outside sound, these are probably good, but IMO not as good as in ear.
Posted by: OrganisedConfusion Oct 30 2008, 12:52 PM
in ear ones are good as well but I prefer headphones personally for guitar playing and recording.
Posted by: FenderBeater Nov 2 2008, 04:54 AM
I have a lot to do with school projects and regular school work which I need to do when I come home, I need to do them ASAP and NOT start to play guitar, because if I start to practise guitar... the other stuff I need to do won't be done.
That gives me about 1 hour of practising TOPS before they get home. If I want to practise then, I have to crank the volume on my headphones up so high that I can't hear them, but then it's hard for me to stay focused and to hear every mistake, because of the high volume.
I really need absolute silence from everything else when practising, and smallest interruption may demotivate me very much. Anyone know what to do?
This thing has made me practise from like 23:00 - 02:00 in some cases 03:00. That's not a healthy habit if school starts at 08:00...
I'm the same way, I need quiet even with tube amps. The only thing I could suggest is get old quick because for example when that happens here at home, gf or birds getting loud, or tv. I just start slapping people around until the message gets thru. Can you take on your old man?
I have played in the bathroom before when I wanted no external noise, some of us are weirdos like that. I like to concentrate on my tasks. As some have already adviced great headphones will do wonders but don't crank them. Try these but you're not going to hear anything so if the house is burning down..I hope you don't mind being crispy.
http://www.etymotic.com/ephp/er4.aspx
they're strange at first but man, they really work and you seriously won't hear anything else even with nothing on, they're noise cancelling. They have cheaper ones but you can always get a part time job (like I used to) just to get what you need and then flip the boss off and quit.
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