I need your advice regarding noise of training pad in appartments.

Hi guys!

I have started drumming lessons with teacher recently. And I bought a training pad. See picture below of a pad.

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Also I'm renting an apartment. Please see how it looks below.

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I have a problem that when I hear my neighbor's speech (yet without concrete words). And I hear when they're walking through their apartment. It means they will hear me tapping on pad with drum sticks. I tried to get a stand for pad and put pillows under it. But sound of tapping is pretty loud - I hear it outside of a flat in corridor near elevator (!). However I didn't ask them if they're hearing me. And i don't know what to do. I don't want neighbor's to hate me. I remember having a neighbor with bass guitar. He practiced at day time, but almost all people from 3 upper and lower floors were asking him to practice in other place.

I'm considering like
- maybe other pad will help?
- maybe going on rehearsal will help (doing it twice a week will cost 25$ and i will practice on real drums).

What can you suggest me.
 
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Definetly ask you neightbour. It might not be a problem.

Somethinn under the pad and under stand too will definetly help reduce vibrations. Light sounds don't travel very far on their own.

For silent pads, more absorbant materials like the Reflexx and Moongel pads are definetly more quiet.

You can also put a t-short or towel over your pad.

Though you can get a lot out of pad practice if done the right way, you definetly want to spend some time on your real kit anyway,
 
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I used to practice like this, also snare reading lessons...100% effective, plus cost CERO!

 
Put the pad on a snare stand and the stand on a carpet. Should be OK unless your pad is unreasonably loud. I have an Evans RealFeel which is pretty quiet.
That said, I play my actual drumset in my apartment - no problem, but I play really softly.
 
Thanks guys for so fast replies. Actually I checked it in the following configuration

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Just scary if my neighbors won't be happy
 
Get to know them. They might be really nice, understanding people.

If you turn the TV on while you practice, it may drown out the tapping.
 
Thanks. I will watch some films or youtube without headphones. Hope that will solve issue. Currently I was always in the headphones
 
You could always move or my first apartment my room mates and I scared off all the non-hip people within a few months. The lady running the complex was a dingbat-she gave us her car keys to go check out an apartment-though we drove up??? One of my room mates looked a bit like Frankenstein (as big) so he'd scare people away coming to the door to complain-literally one big dude all puffed up banged on our door (the boy friend of the nurse underneath us) Rick answered and he was running down the stairs yelling to be quiet-she moved about a month later. We became friends with police-they were hip too. There was a short spell of turnover (come and go) till by attrition only hip people ended up filling the whole complex. We were all deviants-it was awesome. Epic times in early 70s. I wouldn't suggest that nowadays though. You could hang some sound retarding blankets or try to make a small sound reducing chamber you could sit in.
 
Watch the parking lot and practice when neighbors are gone.

You have a nice looking apartment.
 
Get a girlfriend with a house.
 
Yea,

Jeremy Bender
Having a girlfriend with a house a time-saver, he-he.

No Way Jose
Thank you. I really like it.
Well, I'm changing a work at the moment. So when i get a new job, i will get to home late in the evening. So it's like will be a time when they are at home as well. But I suppose i will just watch a video without headphones along with playing.

GetAgrippa
Hehe. Nice to hear about that way! Thanks for your tip about the blanket. Seems like if i put it on a stand lamp, and move it to the stand - it can reduce sound of a stand with pad. Hehe. Shameful practicing!
 
I find the snare stand has the vibrations transfer into the floor. It's not the sound from the PAD as much as the vibrations throughout the house. Similar to how EKITS are SO loud an aparment over unless you make a suspended base for them.

Put the stand on tennis balls or just set the practice pad on a couch coushin to dampen the vibrations.

Also, Get a softer pad. The Evans pads are loud. the prologix blue lighting is quiet. the moonget workout pad is even more quiet..


A combo of the moongel pad on a softer surfice will be your friend.
 
beyondbetrayal

Thank you for your PAD suggestions. It would be nice if i could practice without shame or neighbour scarcity. I checked reviews on Amazon - all are awesome - and ordered there... As for the couch coushin, i checked here for vibrations - and I saw no differences in that sound.
 
Glad someone mentioned another pad. I use a vater pad that's very rubbery and makes significantly less noise than all my other ones with a harder material. The moongel pad is even more quiet, however it's also too soft to feel like a "real" drumhead. It's great for a workout or practice, but you mentioned buzz rolls and moongel ain't great for that kind of press stuff. Frankly buzz-rolls is a buzz-word and they aren't very important in actual playing. I digress (often).

Anyway, go to the store and try some pads they have in stock if they'll let ya. My shops will.
 
Glad someone mentioned another pad. I use a vater pad that's very rubbery and makes significantly less noise than all my other ones with a harder material. The moongel pad is even more quiet, however it's also too soft to feel like a "real" drumhead. It's great for a workout or practice, but you mentioned buzz rolls and moongel ain't great for that kind of press stuff. Frankly buzz-rolls is a buzz-word and they aren't very important in actual playing. I digress (often).

Anyway, go to the store and try some pads they have in stock if they'll let ya. My shops will.

I think the "BUZZ" technique has a time and place, but I don't do it often. Maybe a guy playing jazz would more often than a metal guy though.

The prologix blue one I show in the video is pretty darn quiet. If you crack it hard you can hear it, but it's really good.. It just shows how loud the billy hyde, evans real feel are.
 
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Hi

While I'm waiting for silent pad. I ended up having the setup like this. I put pillows under the pad. And I put a towel above it. And I turn on some Youtube videos without headphones while practice.

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While this setup does not allow practice bounces and individual taps. Its better than nothing and noise level is low enough.
 
...I turn on some Youtube videos without headphones while practice.

If people hear tippy tappy accompanying music, that's less annoying than just hearing the tippy tappy.

I figure if I'm playing music at a reasonable volume, and my drumming is quieter than that, I'm okay. But if I'm drumming with no music playing, that gets annoying quickly.
 
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