Cheap Drumstick Dampeners

[HypodermicMD]

Head over to your local beauty supply (like Sally beauty), Target, Walgreens, or anywhere that sells hair rollers. Find the rollers that are all foam. Purchase. Take roller out of wrapper and remove the clip thingy. Slip the roller over the head of your stick, et voila, for around $2 your drums are way quieter. You can cover a lot of the stick (use more than one!), so if you hit the rims of the drums farther down the stick, it's quieter too.

I passed up the really gigantic ones in favor of the ones that are about the diameter of a penny. They work pretty well. Not 100% silent but nothing you try will be. If anyone tries the big fat ones, let me know how they work.

[Lord Yod]

Does it affect the sensitivity of the drums at all? Have you noticed any missed hits or anything?

[HypodermicMD]

It doesn't seem to make any difference in the sensitivity. You will still be hitting with plenty of force, it just sort of changes the kind of sound you get. It is much quieter and is much more like a thud than a sharp clack. Now if you were to use the big fattie rollers (around 1" in diameter), then MAYBE it would make a difference.

[xlr8shun]

i got a set of the T1's

http://www.vicfirth.com/products/americancustomtimpani.html

was the softest i could find, and they cut down on sound A LOT, but still hard enough to actually knock the crap out of the pad if you wanted to.

very nice mallets

if you can find the T2's i might consider those, however i am extremly pleased with my T1 purchase, its not as cheap as the hair rollers but does the trick.

also, before i got the mallets, i found an old foam noodle in the garage, the kind you would use in a swimming pool. and cut about 2" off the end, cut a slit in it starting from the center out to the edge, then placed my drumstick in the slit i just created. now take some duct tape and wrap it around there TIGHTLY,

this gives me a slightly quieter sound then the mallets, however after a few hours, it loosened up a bit and you have to constantly push the pads back onto the sticks, mostly during the middle of a song :(

[HypodermicMD]

I would love a pair of the T1s but honestly, I just dropped $140 on the game, I'd like to stay somewhat fiscally responsible, which is why I went with the curlers. :D