Is the DR loud?

YES, I think you better get used to it. Music played all night where we live

Over my years here as a member of the Experts Team I have come to the distinct realization that the concept of peace and quiet is something unique to Western, developed nations. It does not make up part of the culture of densely populated, developing nations globally.

One need only look at any of our forums for such developing nations and they are bound to find postings complaining about excessive noise. Without exception those complaints come from us Westerners, and mostly those who have no previous experience with developing nations.

Some cultures are, in fact, worse than others when it comes to making noise. It makes up part of the fabric of society and that's not something that we, as expats, are ever going to change, no matter how much we would like to. It is something that we simply must adjust to or take our own measures to minimize (i.e. soundproofing, double pane windows, heavy acoustic curtains, earplugs, etc.). We can't change them, so we have to change the way we deal with them... simple as that.

For those of us who come from cultures where we've been raised with the idea that our individual rights to enjoyment, partying, etc., do not outweigh the collective rights of other to peace and quiet this may sound like a completely alien concept; but that's clearly not the way it works in most developing nations by any means.

Let's use my own personal case for example.

I was born and raised in Canada (left at the age of 51) where the most useless laws on our books are centered around excessive noise, the right to peace and quiet. Useless in the sense that they are hardly ever used, we Canadians are too considerate of the rights of others to inflict our noise on them.

When I first came to Brazil 14 years ago, it was a hellish experience. My ears were constantly assaulted by the unending noise. Noise that was overwhelming and unlike that which I had ever experienced in my life even when I lived at the end of one of Vancouver International Airport's runways. It really is a matter of what you become accustomed to. Nowadays I only really notice when there is an ABSENCE of noise. It's like living at the end of that runway, or beside a set of train tracks and after a while you actually only notice it when the plane or train DOESN'T pass by.

That said, things can always get worse... like here in Brazil, even in exclusively residential neighborhoods you can almost guarantee that the moment your head hits the pillow at night, some young idiot is going to show up with one of these (photo below) and thousands of young people are going to spend the next 24 hours, or at least until the drugs and booze runs out participating in a Funk festival in the street below your window. The entire neighborhood experiences tremors registering 4.2 on the Richter Scale and nobody sleeps. These are really the only ones that bother me anymore, so yes... you will get numb to the noise after a while if you just tough it out.

Cheers,
James
expat.com Experts Team

Here in the DR loud is really a fact of life.  You need to always consider it when making decisions of where to live, where to put your business and even where to go for dinner.

Yes there are times of the year when it is worse and 1 day a year when all is quiet.  Yup 1 day - Good Friday of Easter week. That's it.....

Yes get used to it.  It will be constant. 

James now with that picture you have made every Dominican male under the age of 30 very jealous and given them something to aspire to

Bob K

Trust me Bob, you don't want them to even go there! Mind you, I'll take Reggaeton over Funk any old day. 

Yes RD is very NOISY..and people are used to it.

It is especially true in the popular barrios where anyone has loud speakers or CD player in the house. They don't have much but they have loud cheap speakers..that is trendy in RD.

However I have noticed that in residencial areas, it is much quiter and peaceful. It all depends where you live. The more you live in the center, the more you are likley to be exposed to different noises. Even at night there will be a loud motorcycle or cars with "musical horns"..I had rented a modern flat in a brand new building in the center of  Santiago last week and there are not double pane windows which makes the traffic very audible.

america is noisy also with all the boom boxes, Harleys,trucks trains. church advertising on loudspeakers, just depends on where you live. Manhattan is noisy  Westerners are not immune to noise but they have laws
I can sleep next to a train track. some of the bars in Houston  have DB sensors positioned in the neighborhood. if they go off the signal goes to the popo. they come out and depending on owners attitude my or may not shut them down for the day.

Give it a chance and you will not have any trouble

I have been to different towns and resorts and residential complex and no matter where, that loud music non stop but especially at night is a nightmare ! So even when you spend a fortune, you won't have any peace.

Why retire in hell ? It's such a shame... There is nothing one can do. They just love it that way ; foreigners won't find peace and quiet. Even a stupid mini market with 2 employees can turn a peaceful neighborhood into a discotheque. Just because of that and the lack of security, many expats won't come back here. Too bad for the nice Dominican.....that really want to make you feel welcome. Eventually, one may hope to become deaf, which would be the best outcome !

Sad to see you go. Some areas are too noisy. Call the noise patrol. Yes, there is one. A large city is noisy, where are you?  I am an old dude who has worked discos, clubs & concerts. I used ear protection, learned to read lips. Been here a long tim & I still hear well enough to be able to squirrel hunt. I am so sorry that you have had this terrible experience here.  Music & laughter are an integral part of the society & culture here. Your discomforture pains me. I have no solution except to move away from the things that bother you. May you discover peace and quite somewhere here on island, I grew uo 60 yards from the NYC Central RR tracks on the Hudson River, so am aware of the problem.

The worst is the kind of music they mostly play these days, that shit reggeton crap. If they would stick with real, traditional latin music, bachata, merengue, salsa, no problem.    But the curse of all latin america is reggeton, imitation hip hop music, just in spanish.

That is a fact of life here.  YOu have to understand well where you are moving to.  Before buying or renting - visit every day of the week.  Various times of day.  Then you get a sense of what goes on there.

I once rented a great little apartment - it was perfect in many ways.  BUT, Wednesday night, two streets over but below me,  was  church. The screaming screaming screaming into the microphone kind of church! 

So  I adapted and went out every Wednesday night so I did not have to listen to it.

I am with you Colonel, they can skip the reggaeton CRAP, it is not even music to me.

I agree, that type of music is a slur on the real music world.

We Dominicans are loud by nature, we speak loud, we listen to music lout and our entire demeanor is loud. Of course I am generalizing since most of my family is very soft spoken and very low key about most things. But the culture over the years has changed to meet what once where stereotypes. But overall the culture is very fun loving and louder than most. LOL. Love my people.

With its computer-generated mechanical beat, Reggaeton removes one of the quintessential traditionally most engaging and enticing elements of Latin music: varied multi-faceted organic rhythms!

In one fell swoop, an entire percussion team has now replaced by the boong-ka-choon-ka--boong-ka-choon-ka--boong... pattern of the drum machine rhythm of Reggaeton. Every song begins to sound the same.

Thank hip-hop culture, the preponderance and pervasiveness of bland non-innovative corporate radio programming and formatting, and the eroding tastes of music listeners and consumers as a result.

Reggaeton is just the Latinized version of what has ruined pop music in the Anglo-American world. The monotoned prefab celebrity product "music" of Kanye West, Jay-Z,  Kendrick Lamar, and Justin Bieber have been allowed to replace the widely diverse, organically-created music of the Eagles, James Taylor, Carole King, R.E.M., Oasis, Foo Fighters, No Doubt, Stone Temple Pilots, Suzanne Vega, and Counting Crows.   

Good, quality has a way of lasting and rising above the chaff.

Yes, hip-hop in spanish, that's all....shit music.    Copied 100% from americans as usual. Pity when they have their own really nice music.

Exactly!

No Pinche Reggaeton

Have patience. Shit breaks down to its' elements & becomes fertilizer for the next crop.  All of music consists of the same few basic notes. Let us hope the present shit suffers an early death on the vine. No further propagation is desired. It sure as hell ain't the "B" mans'   "Tocatta & Fugue in D- minor",   Or The WHO'S   "Tommy" !!

I love my Salsa, bachata and classic merengue here!!!

But that other stuff I do not enjoy. I can tolerate a bit of it only.

You guys are killing me here   It seems as if you were never young? The comments you are making about the music, is the same comments your parents probably made about what you were listening to when you were a teenager. You do not have to like the music, but at the same time you do not have to insult it.  Each generation will have their music and artists which we might not enjoy or approve of and that is ok. 

        Music is an art form and subject to open interpretation, and as much as I enjoy some of the artist which have been mentioned, many might feel that music is shit music as well.  I'm an audiophile and keep an open mind to all music, since what might considered sweet sounds to one person's ear, could be just plain noise to others.  If you want to reach the younger generation, we cannot dismiss the things they hold dear.  We should always aim to reduce to generational gap, not widen it.  How can we introduce them to the music of yesterday, if we are not even willing to embrace theirs. 

       I have a 20 year old who listens to rap, pop, reggae, regueton, as well as the classic bands of the 70s and 80s, Frank Sinatra, Elvis, Beatles, etc. I was able to open her up to those artists by being respectful of what she was listening to.  Let us remember folks, once upon a time we were young and listened to music which our parents probably considered to be crappy music, and how did it make you feel? Art is art and simply just that.

I agree, I listen to a lot of what my nieces and nephews listen to and enjoy it, I would much rather listen to what they're into then being subjected to this depressing country music here in Southwest Florida. I know a lot of people like country but for some reason I've always hated it's depressing to me (except the old stuff like Johnny Cash etc), but that being said I don't really get into conversations of how I hate it when it's playing, I just go somewhere else. :-))). But I understand that maybe hard to do if its cranking on the street :-/

Ummmm ok. And yes its always loud, the music is always loud.

No issue for me showing my age. I am pre reggaeton crap! I can listen to a little bit of anything. But i go where the music is what i love.

LOL! I guess I should have that attitude also being almost 55, but it could be I never had kids of my own subjecting me to thier music day in day out....so now when I see the younger crowd having fun....I think cool they're having fun!

I love they have a good time. If you listen to some of the lyrics for.me its pretty disgusting. What are we teaching  our kids?

I also just dont enjoy the rhythem of some of it. And i love most music but not all.....

i agree, the lyrics are quite vulgar and graphic. I am not one to blush about much but lets just say its not something i would listen to in the company of my parents and I am 45 years old. I mean graphic, with vivid description of explicit sexual acts.
I can respect what the previous poster said about embracing and bridging generational gaps, but i am having a hard time getting passed the graphic nature of the lyrics. IMHO

I don't think some of the lyrics are appropriate for kids ears either, hopefully they are young adults cranking their music and being young as we once were. But its also disgusting what's going on at some church's with priests and children and even what kids will see on local TV shows and even the 6 O'Clock news every night….its a crazy world. Not having kids, I really admire a parent that can raise a good kid now a days. But this Post is about “Is the DR loud?” not the lyrics of music or what kids should or shouldn't be subjected to.