Quiet drums, quick and easy.

[blueruckus]

Someone had already made mention about this but I can't locate the thread suggesting the idea, but thank you whoever you are.

Anywho, I decided to pick up some plastic hair curlers and place the foam over my drumstick tips. The result, very very impressive. The sound is dampened greatly with VERY minimal sacrifice to responsiveness. I tested them immediately on The Hand that Feeds (Hard) and ended up getting a 98% so its all good.

I was going to go the route of cutting out mousepads and such but I really didn't feel like having tape all over my drumset and make it look more cheesy.

The pack of 18 large hair curlers was about 4 bucks at Walmart, unfortunately they only had pink ones =(. Oh well, they'll match with my wife's leopard print drum throne so whatever.

So if you're looking for a quick and easy way to lower the sound of your drum kit, I highly recommend this setup.

Pics available here in my Picasa Web Album http://picasaweb.google.com/bdlvega/RockBand

[peachpunker63]

thanks. i have been lookin for ideas and this might work for me.

[MegaGoo]

cool idea. but i would be worry about the response of the drum pads. as in the bounce-back

[Micker]

Seems like they wouldn't be very responsive or bounce of the pads like they should, but if you must have it quiet, it sounds like a decent idea. Luckily I own a single family house and downstairs I can shut the door in our living room and no one can hear anything upstairs :).

[blueruckus]

They do bounce fairly well regardless of the foam. Sure it's not as great as playing without it but for those stuck in apartments like myself this is a great solution.

[HypodermicMD]

Yeah I posted this solution earlier. It works pretty well, but after playing for an hour or so, I've decided my bright idea isn't so bright. I know I am not the best drummer, but I DO get hits that aren't registered. I think I am gonna get T1 mallets one day. My next experiment is going to be either felting my own tips (felting is pretty easy) or trying yarn.

[CigDangle]

Give this idea a shot. The materials will cost you less than $8, and the circle cutter is a around $10-$15.

Works really well, and I've used it for more hours than I care to think about. :D

http://generationgamerz.com/v2/insight/time-for-rock-band-arts-crafts.php

[seafisch]

Give this idea a shot. The materials will cost you less than $8, and the circle cutter is a around $10-$15.

I'd be concerned that the adhesive is not quite as easy to remove as is claimed. I'd hate to have something like that void the warranty if I had to return the drums.

[GeoBrau]

Michaels huh? Do you have the product names of the stuff you bought or what section it was in? I have a big Michael's store by me and would love to try to do this tonight. I hate the sound of the pads and actually find it distracting to the game...Unless the volume is turned up REALLY high :-)

[vtjustinb]

http://www.vicfirth.com/products/images/new/T1.jpg

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

[TheWabbit]

You do realize those are mallets right? They are not drumsticks. They are for orchestras/marching bands.

[geo2n2]

Give this idea a shot. The materials will cost you less than $8, and the circle cutter is a around $10-$15.

Works really well, and I've used it for more hours than I care to think about. :D

http://generationgamerz.com/v2/insight/time-for-rock-band-arts-crafts.php

Are you sure the adhesive causes no harm to the drum heads if removed?

[TekPunk182]

Well, my plan was to get 6" tom-tom silencer pads, and just tape them to the center, but I really like this idea a lot better. I'm leaning a little more towards not actually using the adhesive though, and simply resting it in the pad, or possibly using masking or some other no-residue tape to hold it to the pad.

I really don't want to mess up my drums, especially considering I'm going to send them in for missing notes as soon as I find out if the replacements are up to snuff.

[CigDangle]

If you do not use the adhesive foam, the pads tend to fall off quite a bit. My suggestion if you are concerned about damage would be to cut a small piece of the foam from the corner of the sheet, and stick it to the pad. The adhesive isn't as strong as you think. I had to replace one of my pads I made before I had the circle cutter, and it didn't leave a mark.

As for what I used, they are just 9" x 12" sheets of foam and felt. They are usually near kids' crafts in Michael's stores.

Trust me though; buy some sort of circle cutter.

[vtjustinb]

You do realize those are mallets right? They are not drumsticks. They are for orchestras/marching bands.

Right... and I teach two indoor marching ensembles (one scholastic one independent) and I play in a local symphony, chamber orchestra, and brass band. I know what they're for, but that doesn't change the fact that they work great for drumming on the pads without creating a whole lot of noise. :P

[Hanover]

Wow...after seeing all this, I have NO regrets buying my townhouse last year. :)

[Sterling84]

If the problem is just that you yourself don't like hearing the sound of the sticks on the pads. I can't tell you how much headphones help, I crank up the receiver volume and don't hear any sound other than the music pouring into my ears. Perfect fix if you have a surround setup and don't have to worry about neighbors.

[Electric_Zen]

http://www.vicfirth.com/products/images/new/T1.jpg

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

Do you think this would be better or worse?

http://www.musiciansfriend.com/product/Zildjian-John-Riley-Double-StickMallet?sku=446648

[Aggressive_Perfector]

Do you think this would be better or worse?

http://www.musiciansfriend.com/product/Zildjian-John-Riley-Double-StickMallet?sku=446648

I don't think you'll get the response you're looking for with those. If you're set on sticks, I might try these.

http://www.musiciansfriend.com/product/Vic-Firth-Corpsmaster-Signature-Snare-ScoJo-Scott-Johnson-Practice-Drumstick?sku=444838

Personally, I will be heading to the arts and crafts store. I will follow the instructions in the earlier post. Sounds like a surefire way to beat the noise. I just need to check out the foam board. How is the responsiveness with that setup to anyone that's done it yet? Do the sticks bounce well?

[vtjustinb]

Do you think this would be better or worse?

http://www.musiciansfriend.com/product/Zildjian-John-Riley-Double-StickMallet?sku=446648

It's a little tighter-packed felt than some of the timpani mallets (it's like the T4 staccato), but it'd still cut down the sound quite a bit.

That type of a stick's called a "swizzle" and it'd have the benefit of flipping it over and rocking with the sticks when sound's not a concern. Also, the felt ends give you a little bit of an extra grip since the ball rests behind your palm.

I'd say go for it.

[GeoBrau]

FYI, I performed this mod last night. The cheapest circle cutter I could find was like $15. But, the rest of the materials were pretty cheap. I went into the kids craft section and was able to get a 12 pack of self-adhesive foam paper for about $5 (so find 2 other friends who want to do it and share!) and 4 sheets of colored self adhesive felt for $1 each. It was really fast and easy to do once I got home.

Overall I'm pretty happy. This did a pretty decent job of deadening the "whacking" sound and now it's more of a dull thud. Responsiveness is still very good I think. Obviously the stick doesn't quite snap back like when hitting a hard suface, but you get a pretty good solid bounce back. I actually experienced fewer missed notes because now I'm more comfortable hiting the pads a little harder too..

[mrloofer]

For those of you that are interested here's a video of the mod in action (from a poster on a different forum): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7oj2vSU7oF4

[nhuey69]

Has anyone tried electric tape or even duct tape?

[cuddie]

I'd be concerned that the adhesive is not quite as easy to remove as is claimed. I'd hate to have something like that void the warranty if I had to return the drums.
Oh don't worry they come off easily and leave no residue. I had to take it off if i wanted a serious shot at RttH on expert lol. Now im looking into the gum rubber mod.

[Killbasa]

The best material I've found for dampening the pads is non-adhesive kitchen cabinet liner available from Home Depot. It's a 1/8" or so thick, dense spongy material with one side having a little grip to it. Double thickness is dead silent when I play without losing too much bounce. I did find I was missing a few red and green notes and cut back to a single thickness on the outside. The stuff grips the pad heads pretty well. I used a small amount of tape to the plastic rim but didn't need very much.

I don't have the receipt but the stuff was pretty cheap and looks killer... almost like black leather.

[short_circus]

If you want to dampen the "plastic clicking" sound your sticks make on the drum pads and improve the stick recoil to make it more like real drums then try modding your sticks this way:

Buy a pack of cheap pencil erasers, the kind that fit on the end of a pencil. Scuff the tip of your stick just a little, then apply a little rubber cement. Insert the tip into an eraser. After an hour, take an emery board (or just rub the eraser on a piece of paper) to knock down any unwanted angles in the eraser and make it smooth. Stick response is greatly improved, it feels much more like playing an actual drum set. And the erasers wont hurt the pads at all and will last a pretty long time. If one comes off, just stick it back on. If one wears out (they do, but it takes awhile, and I'm a pretty vigorous drummer and play on expert), just glue on a new one. Won't hurt the sticks either. The rubber cement is easy to remove from surfaces you don't want it on, just rub it off after it dries. Quiet, better responsive drumming for 4 or 5 dollars (glue and erasers +tax). :D