Recommendation for "quiet" drums

kp950

Junior Member
I'm fairly new to drumming. I had a Pearl Export set, but moved out of my house and gave them away. I'd still like to drum, but I now live in a house without a basement and with neighbors beside and behind me. I'd rather not disturb them when I play. I've been looking into electronic drum kits such as this one https://amzn.com/B01BDMKH2Y and I like some of the features that make it easy to record, etc. However, I'm not sure if these are "silent". By silent, I mean you will be able to hear some muffled banging on stuff from the outside, but the real drum sounds will come through headphones. Does this even exist? What are my options? Thank you.
 
E-drums are not really a solution, they are loud in a different way. And you would have to build a podest in order to reduce the volume somewhow. Better look for a separate room somewhere else where you don not disturb anyone. Just my two cents.
 
Get an acoustic kit with Silent Strokes heads and Zildjian LV 80 cymbals. You'll appreciate this combo and save lots of money!!!!
 
Get an acoustic kit with Silent Strokes heads and Zildjian LV 80 cymbals. You'll appreciate this combo and save lots of money!!!!

I'm in Phoenix where the house don't have basements and are built right on top of each other.

I play the Silent Strokes and Low Volume cymbals and haven't got a complaint yet.
 
In general I've found that single-unit multipads are much quieter than kits with individual pads, probably because the cases have more stuff in them - circuit boards, cables etc. - which damps stick noise, rather than just being a transducer in a hollow box like a single pad. I use a KAT KTMP1 occasionally and you can't hear it from the next room if the door's closed, especially if you use two switch pedals (electric piano pedals are best) instead of a pad for the kick. It's an inexpensive unit, too, so you wouldn't be risking much in trying one, which would be my recommendation.
 
I'm in Phoenix where the house don't have basements and are built right on top of each other.

I play the Silent Strokes and Low Volume cymbals and haven't got a complaint yet.

+1.
This combo has proven to be a life saver for my practice regiment.
Although I changed out the bass drum batter for a deeply muted regular batter since the SS was a bit bouncy, but I would use it again if necessary.
The LV cymbals opened up a new world of practicing at all hours, keeping the normal cymbal feel, bounce and dynamics to a large degree (just quieter).
The LV Hi Hats are super - they resonate and react just like regular hats so you keep this dynamic intact.
 
We seem to be in agreement. Here are a couple of observations that might help.

The heads without the cymbals or cymbals without the heads are disappointing. But, put them together and it’s a beautiful thing. They are really nicely matched – volume wise.

The bass had NO volume, so I removed most of the dampening and put a kick pad on it and now get great low end.

I keep good, tuned reso heads on and get good tone. I tune the reso sides to a pitch with a Tune-bot. The tension of the mesh doesn’t change the drum’s tone so I just adjust it for play.

The attack is a little lacking and I have played around with kit pads on the toms. This brings back some of the attack, but also some volume.

After I got the volume lower, I discovered that my 40 year old Speed King had the Bonzo squeak. I was forced to go out and buy a new Ludwig-Atlas pro single pedal. After 40 years, I figured I was due and upgrade anyway.

When I put the regular heads on (once a month) I notice that I play better. I wonder what playing on the springy mesh heads does for my Chops. Is it sort of like playing on pillows to build up wrist and hand muscles?

Good luck. I think you’ll like them.
 
Not a fan of mesh I got the Aquarian Super-Pads. Feel way more like a real head and take seconds to take on and off.
 
Not a fan of mesh I got the Aquarian Super-Pads. Feel way more like a real head and take seconds to take on and off.

Hello Arne,

I was going to ask if there was anyone playing the Super-Pads. They sound pretty good in the demo video. Do you match them with the Low Volume cymbals? I have been thinking of trying them on my snare.
 
Hello Arne,
I was going to ask if there was anyone playing the Super-Pads. They sound pretty good in the demo video. Do you match them with the Low Volume cymbals? I have been thinking of trying them on my snare.


At the moment I only have one on a snare for practicing at home. Had it for about 4 months, I think. It works fine on it's own, it just sits better on a snare.

I have ordered a set of L80s that should be here in a couple of days and Super-Pads for my entire kit that will probably take a while longer. In my case right now I'll be using the rest of the pads by themselves as a full silent replacement for my full kit, 6-piece+12" aux, but they are offcourse dual purpose.

IMO nothing touches the Super-Pad, except for the traditional Remos offcourse that aren't any sort of real option because of volume, in regards to feling like a real head. Amount of rebound obviously varies depending on tuning and drum size, which they do not repliate, but it's the type of rebound that's the point for me, and that's where they shine. No pad hands! Think of a Remo if it was a tad softer and was quieter than a rubber pad. The sound you get on top of a snare is only the bottom head offcourse, so pretty much like putting any other pad on top of a snare, but the response you get is way better. It's truly dynamic. Turn the snares off and it's quiet.

I believe there are ways to improve on these things in the future(maybe just the right combination of a Super-Pad and typical HQ type damper pad, available both as slip-ons and "normal-head-type" w/various dampening-degree options), but right now these are as good as it gets. You don't get a rim, but you also get the ease of not having to change the heads for gigging.

When teaching I've usually outfitted the schools with RealFeel pads and a couple of RP-5s, but next time I'm certainly just using real snares w/Super-Pads on top.

Putting them on a kit, you are offcourse dampening the top head, so you won't get tone like with mesh heads. They just feel good and there will be a difference in sound of each drum.
 
Thanks. I'm going to try a Super-Pad on my snare.

The one thing about the mesh heads that turns me off is the time it takes to swap the heads. Because of this, I only go live about once a month.
 
I'd suggest the Prologix Bluelightning pad over your snare personally.

It is quieter and has less rebound than the others. Working for the double strokes has done wonders for me when I get behind a real kit. the larger model actually sits right inside a 14 inch snare drum.

I wouldn't recommend mesh heads. It feels great at the start, but when you go to play on a real kit your playing will suffer after you get used to the rebound. The blue lightning does the opposite.


As an owner of a TD-11 and a Previous TDW-20 with all mesh, I can agree that an Ekit will annoy the people in your house still. Not next door, but I wouldn't use one in an apartment building or shared living space.

For the amount you shell out on a good ekit think of how many months/years you could rent a jamspot or rehearsal space if you split it with a few other drummers/musicians. Plus you get to hit REAL drums.

I do agree having a kit at home makes me play it more.. The ekit is quieter compared to my acoustic kits, but its not silent.
 
I'd suggest the Prologix Bluelightning pad over your snare personally.

It is quieter and has less rebound than the others. Working for the double strokes has done wonders for me when I get behind a real kit. the larger model actually sits right inside a 14 inch snare drum.

I wouldn't recommend mesh heads. It feels great at the start, but when you go to play on a real kit your playing will suffer after you get used to the rebound. The blue lightning does the opposite.


As an owner of a TD-11 and a Previous TDW-20 with all mesh, I can agree that an Ekit will annoy the people in your house still. Not next door, but I wouldn't use one in an apartment building or shared living space.

For the amount you shell out on a good ekit think of how many months/years you could rent a jamspot or rehearsal space if you split it with a few other drummers/musicians. Plus you get to hit REAL drums.

I do agree having a kit at home makes me play it more.. The ekit is quieter compared to my acoustic kits, but its not silent.

Hmmmm, ever join a gym and not use it?
My wife tried that more than a few times, even once got me a trial membership I didn't use.
I love my ekit and probably would not go two blocks away to a rental studio to play acoustics.
Just sayin!
 
If you can isolate transference with a platform, taking care of the rest of the noise should be a pretty easy fix.
 
Things arrived quicker than I thought they would. Got all the stuff now. Missing some stands, but...



I think this is fabulous. Just the hi-hat and ride along with a snare and BD pads make this a fully viable realistic practice option.

Strange for it to take this long.

The Ahead pads are pretty much based on the old Remo design really. They just modified the concept to make the quiet and added a gasket.

The L80s are offcourse just an offspring of the Gen16 stuff. I'm sure they just saw people using Gen16s acoustically for low volume practice and thought of a lower pitched less expensive option that was propose made.

This something I've wished to able to do for a long time.
 
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Here's a platform I designed and built that might work for you. I've made the plans freely available and quite a few folks have built one with glowing reports. It's cheap too.

www.tinyurl.com/jacksonpad

Cheers,
Brian Jackson

That looks great. I think I'm gonna try the lazy way first though and see it works good enough. Just gonna put my carpet on top of a piece of plywood and some of those interlocking wrestling mats underneath.
 
Hmmmm, ever join a gym and not use it?
My wife tried that more than a few times, even once got me a trial membership I didn't use.
I love my ekit and probably would not go two blocks away to a rental studio to play acoustics.
Just sayin!


This is very true... It wasn't until I bought a HOME GYM that I actually started using it. My band used to have a jam spot when we all lived in apartments but I was also meeting 4 guys weekly.. going to play solo is another story.


I was more or less just saying a "silent" drumkit doesn't exist. OP should go to a music store and bang away on a few without wearing the headphones.. It gives you a good idea how loud they are. Just don't be shy about laying into them as once you get hitting they get a bit louder. I find the tapping will resonate in the house.

If your worried about neighbors a Ekit is fine.. they won't hear it outside. Just don't want to piss off the wife.
 
This is very true... It wasn't until I bought a HOME GYM that I actually started using it. My band used to have a jam spot when we all lived in apartments but I was also meeting 4 guys weekly.. going to play solo is another story.


I was more or less just saying a "silent" drumkit doesn't exist. OP should go to a music store and bang away on a few without wearing the headphones.. It gives you a good idea how loud they are. Just don't be shy about laying into them as once you get hitting they get a bit louder. I find the tapping will resonate in the house.

If your worried about neighbors a Ekit is fine.. they won't hear it outside. Just don't want to piss off the wife.

Agreed.
"They are drums, not fuzzy bunnies" LOL
 
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