What do you use for drum dampeners?

SomeBadDrummer

Platinum Member
I’ve found that for subduing the volume without disrupting the tone, some inexpensive foam weatherking weatherstripping works great. It can be removed easily and any residual adhesive wipes away with your fingers. Sort of like Dead Ringers I used in the 80’s. $10 will do a 5 piece set. And unlike Evans sound off there’s no difference in the feel. What do y’all use?
 
I use thick double sided mounting tape, which I’d say is similar to the weatherstripping. 3234BFCC-CB87-4D1F-9E03-5C683D9B208A.jpeg
 
do you mean as in stuff like moongel for overtones, or as in drum mutes to silence a kit?

if the first, i use the biult in felt rings of the bass drum heads and some aquarian tone-tabs for the rest (when needed).

if the latter, nothing as i when i do practice its with a band in a purpose biult room so theyre not needed.
 
The only drum I dampen for volume (at home) is my snare, and I use this drum head trick --->

 
do you mean as in stuff like moongel for overtones, or as in drum mutes to silence a kit?

if the first, i use the biult in felt rings of the bass drum heads and some aquarian tone-tabs for the rest (when needed).

if the latter, nothing as i when i do practice its with a band in a purpose biult room so theyre not needed.
Not a fan of anything that smears onto the heads. Really more to soften the blow rather than deaden the sound like mutes.
 
The only drum I dampen for volume (at home) is my snare, and I use this drum head trick --->

That’s really cool. I’ll give it a try thanks
 
light weight hankerchief on concert snares, other snare drums may use Remo O-rings or similar product.

Mutes for quiet practicing on the kit are the "sound-off' pads.
 
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Aside from a small pillow (made by Pearl) in my bass drum, I don't dampen anything as a rule. On rare occasion, I'll place a strip of blue painter's tape
on my snare drum for a drier sound, but I usually play it wide open. When I need to control volume, I rely on technique rather than materials.
 
I love using RootsEQ rings for muffling if I want that sound. Easy on, easy off. Perfect. I'm a pop/rock drummer, so bass drum muffling is standard. I use a travel pillow from Walmart ($4.97) in all my bass drums. They provide the perfect amount of overtone control while not stealing all the tone out of the bass drum.
 
I really like Drumtacs.

They aren't like a moon gel weather they collect dust and stick shavings. and they sound really good.


But I also use a leather Snareweight on my snare as well. Basically if its made of leather, Im a sucker for it
 
I’ve found that for subduing the volume without disrupting the tone, some inexpensive foam weatherking weatherstripping works great. It can be removed easily and any residual adhesive wipes away with your fingers. Sort of like Dead Ringers I used in the 80’s. $10 will do a 5 piece set. And unlike Evans sound off there’s no difference in the feel. What do y’all use?
Ah yes, the days of my youth! Dead Ringers were mounted underneath the head and against the inside of the shell near the bearing edges. Is that how you mount the weather stripping as well? I also used the Remo Muff'ls back in the late 80's and early 90's.
 
When it is required that i play at a lower volume (which is rarely because i play rock/metal), i switch to a lighter stick or hot rods.
When i played in a cover band and with did something more laidback, i switched to lighter sticks because that way the feel of the drum and drumhead isn't much different. It still opens up the same way, although more quietly. Found that using O-rings causes my writs to hurt after a while because there isn't too my 'flex' and 'give' in the head. More like hitting a solid surface then.
The only drum(s) i dampen are my 2 bassdrums with 2 small pillows and besides that everything is wide open.
 
I keep moon gel in the stick bag. As a rule of thumb barring a PS4 bass drum head and a felt strip on the bass drum reso everything else is played wide open.

Dampening only comes out as a last resort, if you've ever done stately homes/village halls/sports halls or castles you know! I'll use lighter and lighter sticks first and then out comes the moon gel/o-rings. Wallet works well on your snare provided your snare is flat.

With anything you add to a head you're adding mass so the sound will be change.
 
I just picked up a set of these for recording: acoustically they did just what putting cloth on each head would do but in a very clean package:


Plus they have neat little magnets on a tab that sticks to the rim and holds it in place.

I think I found a 5 pack somewhere online (maybe sweetwater?) for like $50 or $60.


Funnily enough the track I bought them for we ended up not using them haha - they didn't translate well on record like I'd hoped - but they were great in the room - especially the floor tom and snare.
 
Snareweight M80.
I only have a little muffling on my share and it's a snareweight M80.. love it. :)

I keep a Snareweight M80 on my snare drums, and I carry two with me for my rack tom and floor tom depending on the venue, miking situation, etc. I love how you can adjust these on the fly depending on the specific needs of the moment. I like my toms to be wide open, but if I'm just getting too much sympathetic ring and the sound person of the day doesn't use any sort of compression/gate, then I just throw an M80 on it for ease. I'll occasionally use gaff tape if needed, but very little.
 
I play a small jazz kit with an 18" kick so I need all the resonance I can get. As others have said I try to either change my playing or change to a lighter stick. If I still need to tone it down my go-to item is usually gaffers tape. Doesn't leave a residue and is heavier than painters tape.
 
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