Roland Noise Eater alternative

[toddmc]

Recently moved into a townhouse where my drums are up on the 2nd floor and you guessed it- the noise and vibrations are travelling nice and loud into the downstairs lounge room (and possibly across to the neighbours but no complaints from them as yet).

This sent me down the rabbit hole of tennis ball risers, rubber mats and of course, the hideously expensive Roland Noise Eater, of which there were several videos on how to build your own for a few bucks:

Or just plain hot-gluing tennis ball halves to the underside of the pedal baseplate:

Wasn't exactly into the idea of permanently gluing tennis balls to my pedals (might actually want to sell them one day) so my big idea was to stick a bunch of these rubber stoppers underneath the baseplates:

https://www.bunnings.com.au/surface-gard-16mm-black-round-rubber-bumper-9-pack_p0262229

The dome shape should minimise contact (and therefore vibration) between the pedal and the floor (which is why I suspect Roland went for this design in the first place) plus I can remove them easily if/ when it's time to sell.

These stoppers at least LOOK like the underside of the noise eaters (maybe not as much grip) and at $4.00 per pack as opposed to $220 for ONE noise eater (I have 2 x bass drum pads so I'd have to shell out for 2) I know what I'm going to try first.

So, does this sound like a viable option or is it all too simple to work? If anyone else out there has tried this (or has any other bright ideas) I'd love to hear about it!

 

[electrodrummer]

Usual:

Beaterless kick. KT10, KT9, KU100, FatKat, or a Triggera Krigg with your acoustic pedal.

 

[beatdat]

Have you seen these? They're also not cheap, but appear to be based on the same design as the baseplates in your photo.

Iso-Base Sound Reduction Pads | no_model_practice_tools | PRACTICE TOOLS | PRODUCTS | TAMA Drums

Find a great collection of 「Iso-Base Sound Reduction Pads」 at TAMA Drums. Designed for quiet practice at home, the Iso-Base Sound Reduction Pads offer superb floor vibration isolation. For use with cymbal stands, bass drum pedals, hi-hat stands, and even bass drum spurs, the Iso-Base pads are...

www.tama.com

 

[toddmc]

Have you seen these? They're also not cheap, but appear to be based on the same design as the baseplates in your photo.

Iso-Base Sound Reduction Pads | no_model_practice_tools | PRACTICE TOOLS | PRODUCTS | TAMA Drums

Find a great collection of 「Iso-Base Sound Reduction Pads」 at TAMA Drums. Designed for quiet practice at home, the Iso-Base Sound Reduction Pads offer superb floor vibration isolation. For use with cymbal stands, bass drum pedals, hi-hat stands, and even bass drum spurs, the Iso-Base pads are...

www.tama.com

Looks good- any idea on price?

 

[toddmc]

Usual:

Beaterless kick. KT10, KT9, KU100, FatKat, or a Triggera Krigg with your acoustic pedal.

It's the beaterless part that gets me unfortunately.

Tried 2 x Krigg Triggera's, one stopped working after 6 months and I could never get used to the feel with no pad rebound...

 

[toddmc]

Update for those of you following at home (which is nobody)

So, the home-made noise eater was an epic fail (definitely SOME noise reduction but nothing to write home about). After reading about the magical sound-reducing properties of cork I basically sandwiched the door bumpers between 2 x cork tiles to produce this monstrosity:





After that was a bust (plus an ill-fated attempt with a plastic pallet), it was back to the good old tennis ball riser.

Sadly, not nearly as "sound-proof" as I was led to believe, but it definitely took the lower frequencies out so it's a more high-pitched thump now and not quite as annoying







Maybe this combined with the noise eaters/ Tama Iso-base pads will be enough to do the trick

 

[beatdat]

Looks good- any idea on price?

Here's a set from Sweetwater, which has one pedal pad and three leg pads. The price is $US.

Tama Iso-Base Sound Reduction Pad Set

Rubber Sound Reduction Set for Drums with 1 Pedal Pad and 3 Leg Pads

www.sweetwater.com

I'm curious to know, what are those rubber stopper baseplates you posted in your first post used for? I tried looking them up on the website you posted, but I got a security warning. I tried searching "rubber stopper base plate", but all I got was some sewing product that looks like a Level 1 b*tt plug.

Base Plate Rubber Stopper, Brother #XA9387050

Guaranteed to fit Babylock sewing machine models: BLL Ellageo, BLL2 Ellageo Plus, BLG Ellegante, BLG2 Ellegante 2, BLG2-NZ Ellegante 2 Signature, BLN Esante, BLSR Espire, BLSR-EB, BLSY Symphony, ESG Ellageo, ESG2 Ellageo, ESG3 Ellageo Guaranteed to fit Brother sewing machine models: NV1500...

www.sewingpartsonline.com

 

[toddmc]

Here's a set from Sweetwater, which has one pedal pad and three leg pads. The price is $US.

Tama Iso-Base Sound Reduction Pad Set

Rubber Sound Reduction Set for Drums with 1 Pedal Pad and 3 Leg Pads

www.sweetwater.com

I'm curious to know, what are those rubber stopper baseplates you posted in your first post used for? I tried looking them up on the website you posted, but I got a security warning. I tried searching "rubber stopper base plate", but all I got was some sewing product that looks like a Level 1 b*tt plug.

Base Plate Rubber Stopper, Brother #XA9387050

Guaranteed to fit Babylock sewing machine models: BLL Ellageo, BLL2 Ellageo Plus, BLG Ellegante, BLG2 Ellegante 2, BLG2-NZ Ellegante 2 Signature, BLN Esante, BLSR Espire, BLSR-EB, BLSY Symphony, ESG Ellageo, ESG2 Ellageo, ESG3 Ellageo Guaranteed to fit Brother sewing machine models: NV1500...

www.sewingpartsonline.com

Cheers for that, so at $180 AUD the Tama one is a bit cheaper than the ridiculous Roland price.

Not sure what happened with the "butt-plug" link It was just a link to Bunnings (hardware chain in Oz) and this is what I was trying to show (self-adhesive "bumpers" for furniture):

 

[beatdat]

Cheers for that, so at $180 AUD the Tama one is a bit cheaper than the ridiculous Roland price.

Not sure what happened with the "butt-plug" link It was just a link to Bunnings (hardware chain in Oz) and this is what I was trying to show (self-adhesive "bumpers" for furniture):
View attachment 132715

Looking at the pic of the baseplate in your last post, it seems that, although TAMA Iso-Base Pads are based on a similar design, the TAMA pads appear to be someone sturdier looking. I wish there was more info on the TAMA pads, but alas there is very little on the net.

However, I notice that you have quite an electric setup, and, based on that, I assume you play some intense music.

I recall, a couple of years ago, there was someone who posted on here his design for a vibration isolation platform. I remember the poster being an engineer, and what he made provided great vibration reduction (he and his wife lived the floor above his or her parents) and he tested the platform using some kind of "sound-meter". His design was very impressive and inexpensive. I think he paid around $100 for all of the materials needed (which mostly consisted of inner-tube for wheelbarrows and decking planks). I would have built one myself, but the riser is tall (over a foot high if I recall) and I don't have that kind of clearance in the room where my drums are stored.

Anyway, I can't find that post, but I remember that @Andy contributed to it. Maybe he can dig it up and post the blueprint for it (which the original poster generously shared). If he does, give it a good thought, because I think it may be what you need.

 

[beatdat]

@toddmc, check out this thread. Took me awhile to find it, but I think it may be useful for you.

 

[toddmc]

@toddmc, check out this thread. Took me awhile to find it, but I think it may be useful for you.

Ah yes, "The Jackson Pad". I did come across this in my search (he posted this on the V-Drums forum too).

It looks like a lot of work (although drilling all the holes for the tennis balls wasn't exactly easy either).
I always wondered if the rubber inner tube is meant to be blown up and if so wouldn't you have to constantly keep it inflated?

 

[beatdat]

I always wondered if the rubber inner tube is meant to be blown up and if so wouldn't you have to constantly keep it inflated?

He addresses this in the thread I linked to. Do check it out. It may be a bit of work to build, but could be exactly what you need.

 

[dkouts]

My approach - wanted as small a footprint as possible. No bigger than it has to be.

900mm X 600mm MDF board, a rubber /carpet mat on top and these 'vibration reducing' pads and hard floor sliders underneath...

Easy to slide to move around, nudge away/toward the throne for different player sizes.

What you want is minimal contact surface with the floor. The air gap is what breaks up the transmission of vibrations. Even a slab of rubber will transmit vibrations if it makes contact.

All those parts are from Bunnings AUS too, OP. Cost me $66 AU.