Couple of beginner questions

Little Jerry

Junior Member
Hi

Hoping to get some input for some more experienced people here.

Are their drum heads available that partially reduce noise levels that still feel like playing a normal drum? A normal acoustic drum is borderline too loud for where I live, but if I could knock down the noise level a bit then I would be fine (I live in the woods, but its so quiet at night that sound would really travel).

If I get some sort of noise reducing heads, can I just get any cheap drum kit?

Appreciate any help

Regards

Adam
 
There are products you can use to muffle drums heads to an extent, but someone you tell you there are no loud drums, just loud drummers. OH. I guess I did. If you are playing at home in a practice mode, use smaller, lighter sticks, and just tune it down a notch.
 
Definitely Silentstrokes. They will reduce the volume to around that of speaking volume and feel great (though they tend to produce more rebound than normal heads so they're not perfect. You can get whatever kit you want since they don't make much sound at all but you still may want a non-trash kit so that you could put real heads on if you want to gig or anything.

You'll probably want quieter cymbals too, and Zildjian L80s are great for that. They aren't really giggable though. It might be a little bit more cost-efficient to buy normal pro cymbals (used, to save cost) and then buy muffles for them.
 
Will you ever play them full volume, or do you want quiet all the time? I use mute pads and low volume cymbals when I need to keep it down (most of the time), but then I can easily take off the mutes and swap cymbals to play full volume.

If you need it to be quiet all the time go for the silent stroke heads, so long as you don't need to change to normal heads often...that would be a pain.
 
Appreciate the input. I would like to play them full volume on weekend once I get decent (listening to someone practice rudiments will drive anyone nuts).

I bought a drum kit about 10 years ago when I lived in an apartment and had these mesh type heads that made it very quiet. Ultimately I sold it as playing muted all the time was not as enjoyable and when I occasionally touched a real kit, my technique was crap because from memory the mesh heads were bouncier than standard drum.

Now I live in the middle of nowhere with a massive shed and figured I could get a real drum kit. But I still have a neighbour within 50m of my shed and I’m conscious that sound travels because it’s so silent in the woods.

If I could get the noise level down to that of a loudish stereo system then there would be no problem. Was just curious if there were drum heads that could help with this.

On a side note….do these drums look like total shit (obviously the cymbals would be junk)? For someone just looking to have some fun in their shed a couple times a week. Normally I would get a brand name kit (may still go second hand) but I need to keep the wife happy.

http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/191723967614?_trksid=p2060353.m1438.l2649&ssPageName=STRK:MEBIDX:IT
 
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Yeah, you could do much better picking up a used set than buying those...
 
If you want to reduce the volume lots but maintain the drum feel then Silentstrokes are ideal, I use them in my house.

If you just need to knock a little volume off the kit then try studio rings, Aquarian do there own brand. They are cheap so If you dont like them its no big deal. You still get to keep the standard heads and feel but the drum is muffled a little as studio ring only covers the outside 1" of the head. It reduces the resonance of the head so the sound carries less.

You can play quieter and use lighter sticks but if its not your natural way of playing you will always feel inhibited when practicing, so it may be counter productive.
 
I used to use rubber pads that you just place on top of your normal heads and over the part of the cymbals that you tend to hit. Easy and quick to put on and take off, had a little less rebound than a normal head, but they did leave marks on the heads where they'd been.
 
I used to use rubber pads that you just place on top of your normal heads and over the part of the cymbals that you tend to hit. Easy and quick to put on and take off, had a little less rebound than a normal head, but they did leave marks on the heads where they'd been.

How did you get on with this method dear Madge? I tried them once on a mates kit and didn't get on with the feel of them at all. I thought the rubber pads on my old e-kit were just as good.
 
How did you get on with this method dear Madge? I tried them once on a mates kit and didn't get on with the feel of them at all. I thought the rubber pads on my old e-kit were just as good.

They were a bit deader than the pads on my old e-kit, Mike, but I found them definitely liveable-with. I still use one over my snare occasionally. Not a perfect solution by any means, but (for me) an acceptable compromise.
 
One thing you could look into is insulating/soundproofing the room that your drums are in.

If I'm reading your post correctly, it sounds like you are in the woods, but worried about sound travelling. You're not in an apartment or crowded area.

1. You don't really need your drum set to do rudiments, just get a practice pad for most of your stick work. Obviously there are merits to using the full kit, but try a pad at first to get the technique down.

2. If you don't have a basement, then maybe hang some heavy curtains in the room you are practicing in. Drums aren't so loud that they will really carry outside of a house, especially if you insulate the room.
 
Make friends with your neighbors if you haven't already. Explain that you would like to play all out loud on Saturday or Sunday or whatever. Give them a specific time to expect that it may be loud. And offer to do a task for them - cut the lawn, yard work, something...in exchange for their understanding.
 
I think you're better off sound-proofing the shed.

Quieting your drums is like putting a speed-limiter on a Ferrari.

Drumming is about dynamics, and loud is one of the dynamics.
 
I would take Silentstrokes any day over those rubber pads though.

I live in a housing tract and sometimes I'll play soft with the garage door open. I play good enough, so nobody really gives a crap. Just be super-cool with the neighbors, and hopefully they are super-cool with you.
 
Appreciate the input. I would like to play them full volume on weekend once I get decent (listening to someone practice rudiments will drive anyone nuts).

I bought a drum kit about 10 years ago when I lived in an apartment and had these mesh type heads that made it very quiet. Ultimately I sold it as playing muted all the time was not as enjoyable and when I occasionally touched a real kit, my technique was crap because from memory the mesh heads were bouncier than standard drum.

Now I live in the middle of nowhere with a massive shed and figured I could get a real drum kit. But I still have a neighbour within 50m of my shed and I’m conscious that sound travels because it’s so silent in the woods.

If I could get the noise level down to that of a loudish stereo system then there would be no problem. Was just curious if there were drum heads that could help with this.

On a side note….do these drums look like total shit (obviously the cymbals would be junk)? For someone just looking to have some fun in their shed a couple times a week. Normally I would get a brand name kit (may still go second hand) but I need to keep the wife happy.

http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/191723967614?_trksid=p2060353.m1438.l2649&ssPageName=STRK:MEBIDX:IT

50 meters away?

Personally I think you're being a little too considerate. If a neighbor that far away is going to complain about hearing drums, that's seems a little extreme. I play my loud, ring-y, drums in my neighborhood and nobody complains. My neighbor's master bedroom is basically 8-feet away from my drum room. My house backs up to an open park. I usually keep my playing from 10am-8pm (if I'm home that long), and so far my neighbors don't seem to mind.

You've chosen drums, but you choose to execute them as if you live in a monastery - what is that all about? Why don't you talk to your neighbor and ask him if he'd mind the occasional drumming going on? I'm willing to bet if you were proactive about asking him, he'd say he was OK with it.

There's no way around practicing real drums without making a sound. I think if anyone is thinking they like drumming, they need to make the people around them like it too.
 
Thanks for all the help.

I am being overly considerate because at the end of the day, there won't be an issue. My neighbours are cool and our attitude has always been that we all live out in the middle of nowhere so we can do whatever we like. It's not like they are sitting outside in freezing whether by our fence line enjoying the silence.

It will be in an insulated room in a shed, so I'm probably imagining the drums being louder than they are.

I'm probably a little self conscious too because I am going to suck at the drums, so the less people hearing me the better.
 
I'm probably a little self conscious too because I am going to suck at the drums, so the less people hearing me the better.

That kind of attitude keeps you from getting better.

It would be an interesting discussion, but when you're kid, you're not thinking of others and you happily play away in your bedroom, but as you get older, sudden;y you get self-conscious of making any kind of noise, especially if you're not very good at it.

I admit to having a bit of an ego, so when I play, I'm the best guy in the house at the moment ;) I think it's the only way you can truly get better - you have to believe you were meant for this and there's nothing stopping you from doing it. Otherwise, why are you doing it?
 
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