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Noise cancellation never works on scales larger than the sound's wavelength, so it's only useful for headphones. Modifying the hall physically is the only real solution to this problem. Short of that, the first thing to try is indeed to bring the sound as directly to the audience as possible, by using a suitable PA arrangement. Big, single speakers located ...

Your guitar is picking up mains hum. This is very common, and as you correctly surmised is due to how the components are grounded and shielded. Usually this is simple to fix. The first items to check are: your guitar lead and amp - does the noise go away if you use different ones? all solder joints. Are they all solid? all components are grounded, with ...

I know that sometimes for concerts there will be "shells" around the ensemble, curving down and around the group. This will help reduce any noise escaping backwards. Not knowing the venue, this may not be part of the problem. It also depends on whether or not the ensemble is acoustic or electric. With electric you could point the speakers in different ...

Obviously, headphones are the very first thing to recommend if you aren't already using them. A good pair of noise-cancelling headphones works both ways; you can be thumpin' it at 95dB and nobody but you will hear it. The sound produced by you hitting a rubber pad with a drumstick is a dull thunk, typically quieter than an ordinary conversation. If you have ...

Sand. The Grateful Dead lined their space in sand, Moby encased his NY apartment in sand. If you are on the second floor, put your set on a sandbox. Line the walls with sand bags. It's cheap, portable, labor intensive, works great. You'd probably get a kick out of this article, sums up the plight of the modern drummer well: ...

Mesh should certainly be quieter, but to help save the sanity of your neighbours below, you will need to look at an isolated drum riser. Tennis balls could work, but more commonly you see neoprene pads as these do a very good job reducing transmission of vibrations. Underneath that you could also use a square of carpet cut to the size of the riser as this ...

If you can't treat the room, you can try optimizing using the sound system and the band. Control sound radiation so it beams as much as possible towards the audience and absorptive surfaces and away from any reflective surfaces. Monitor wedges are the worst. They beam up and back directly at backwall and ceiling. Wedges have their place on large stages but ...

You don't have to modify the room to add physical damping to it. Velvet drapes absorb a lot of sound, even when they don't actually cover any surface, and would be very sympathetic to the decor. A few loose rugs covering unused floor areas, where the audience isn't directly looking at them, would also help a lot. The drapes and rugs could be put in place ...