Which is louder...

Cmdr. Ross

Cmdr. Ross

Platinum Member
Drums or cymbals?
I have a set of the Sabian QuietTone (hats/2 crashes/ride), and I really like them. The feel of those are really good and the lack of noise keeps the neighbors happy.

My drums however are unmuffled. I tried using the the SoundOff pads with the RTOM bass mesh mute and the feel was horrible. I feel any lack of feedback from your drums can cause issues with practice and progress over how your cymbals feel.

The neighbors didn’t really seem to care which lead me to realize that cymbals made the kind of noise that bothered people the most.

Do others out there have the same issue? Or do you silence the drums and leave the cymbals ring free?
 
I think you'd need a db meter to know for sure. It's a difficult comparison, cymbals are far higher pitched than most drums, that tend's to hit your ear pretty hard. But a bass drum on the other hand can shake your tummy. The sound pressure might actually be higher as more energy is being imparted via sound waves.

Also, higher pitched things like cymbals don't carry as well through walls, but drums and bass guitars seem to go right through.
 
the bass drum is the most annoying/present to neighbors ears.
 
cymbals/snare are usually the loudest things in the room but yea, bass drum and low freq travels better.
 
If you are in the same room, it's the cymbals and the snare (depending on the pitch of the snare).

If you are outside of the room, it's anything with lower frequencies, in particular, the kick and the floor tom (especially if miked).
 
Cowbell, travels/cuts surprisingly effectively. I remember walking away from a large drum circle with bass drums, and I distinctly remember hearing the cowbell the furthest. I think it's a function of the relatively pure yet intense tone with decent sustain that just carries. I think log drums have a similar carrying ability. I don't know how that works with walls, but I suspect the cowbell wins.
 
My Paiste 2002s are impressively loud. I'm still figuring out how to tame them.

That said, kick drums and snare hits really travel. Anytime I've walked by a house while somebody is playing drums inside, it's the kick and snare that I hear.
 
I think you should be friendlier with your neighbors, maybe invite them over for a bbq. They may be more receptive to you just playing (which is what I do).
When we moved into our newest community, I met all my neighbors and told them what I did and surprisingly they were all for it. I did install acoustic foam on the walls to keep the sound from bouncing around too much in my head, but my neighbors seem to like when I practice. Weird, huh?
 
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