Good way to make the Drum Set quieter

[Jixzer]

I don't know if anybody thought of this, but I went to a local music store and bought a set of soft tympani mallets. They work just as well as the drumsticks; I can hit hard or softly and the noise form the drums themselves are much quieter. Ok, yea, it doesn't look as cool, but I don't have to raise my TV volume to crazy levels either to drown out my drums.

[LZ_Reborn]

I don't know if anybody thought of this, but I went to a local music store and bought a set of soft tympani mallets. They work just as well as the drumsticks; I can hit hard or softly and the noise form the drums themselves are much quieter. Ok, yea, it doesn't look as cool, but I don't have to raise my TV volume to crazy levels either to drown out my drums.

Good tip, thanks!! do you a pic so I know what to look for?

[admanimal]

Good tip, thanks!! do you a pic so I know what to look for?

Put a large marshmallow on the end of your drum sticks and that's pretty much what they look like.

[Eman311]

I'm more concerned with lessenign the noise for the people living below me

[Feigned]

Put a large marshmallow on the end of your drum sticks and that's pretty much what they look like.

It should be noted that under no circumstances should you actually try playing the game with marshmallows stuck to the end of your sticks. There will come a time when you are rocking out when either you, or one of your bandmates suddenly realizes that there is a blob of sugary goodness right there for the taking. What follows won't be pretty, and you can guarantee you'll fail the song you're playing.

Remember, friends don't let friends rock with marshmallows. :cool:

[Tomahawk214]

You're not a true rocker if you think something is too loud.

[DivaMom]

You're not a true rocker if you think something is too loud.

Perhaps not, but some of us are enjoying Rock Band while our kids are asleep.
(If we play while they're awake, they wanna take over! :eek: )

[bricot]

No doubt, i can't hear the drums in the songs over the ridiculous flatulent sound of the drum stick stricking the drum pad.

I picked up a pair of the Promark practice sticks (larger rubber ends) and a pair of the Tama Silent Tips to put on the sticks that came with the game. I'll try them out and see how they do, if that doesnt work then it will have to be something like Moongel workout pads or neoprene....

[KaYotiX]

Yeah i need to grab some sticks with soft tips also, i love the drums but the noise is confusing sometimes.

[Dangerguy]

Put a large marshmallow on the end of your drum sticks and that's pretty much what they look like.

LOL! very good.

[Loozinit]

the pads are pretty sensitive, so i'm guessing something like rubber tips would be the way to go w/o sacrificing the true drumstick design and feel.

[ShesCake]

Not a bad idea at all.

Let us know when someone tries this.

[IbanezBassist_v2]

I like your work Divamom.

[Khamikazi]

I'm more concerned with lessenign the noise for the people living below me


I assume you mean the kick pedal as that was my main concern after hearing how much my roommate went all out on that thing where I try to be more conservative with it noise wise. We ended up putting a folded up cover underneath the drum set which, from what we can tell, has lessened the noise that it seems to be making for the floor for those underneath us. We rocked out from 10pm to 4am this morning and noone said anything. Then again, the neighbors overall dont say much of anything. Hopefully I'll see them soon so I can ask about it. I want to rock out, but I wanna be respective as much as possible.....even if we rarely make noise other than this game.

[BodhiWolff]

I actually bought a pair of spare drumsticks and coated them with some mold-making rubber to make a customized rubber tip on the end. The ends wound up being fairly large, thick, hefty, and they *looked* perfect! They are fairly springly and pliable, yet resiliant. They mask the sound somewhat, and give the drumsticks some extra bounce, but I wouldn't say it is a "fix". It is better, but not "good" yet.

I'm still working on a better solution.

There are the "silent tips" you can purchase, as well as "deadbeats" drumsticks you can purchase, but I'm still looking for my free solution. I figured that since both of these were essentially rubber tips on a drumstick, I could coat some drumsticks with rubber tips and it should work out the same. Close, but I'm not completely satisfied yet.

[Badosh]

You're not a true rocker if you think something is too loud.

agree fully!

[imagine]

Me goes to grab marshmallows from the kitchen - they probably work too:)

[admanimal]

Remember, friends don't let friends rock with marshmallows. :cool:

Marshmallows on drumsticks + chocolate + graham crackers + overheating XBox = delicious!

[k_luva]

I dropped the tips of mine into plasti dip....basically a rubber spray that rubberizes the tips...

[ShesCake]

I dropped the tips of mine into plasti dip....basically a rubber spray that rubberizes the tips...

And what was the outcome?

[turnthree]

http://domain1164266.sites.fasthosts.com/uploads/images_products/206.jpg

[wonderflex]

You're not a true rocker if you think something is too loud.

Actually, I think a true rocker would want it quieter, then we can hear the actual drum sounds from the game. I find the annoying metronome tone that the drums have drowns out the really nice drum sounds that the game produces.

[NattyLight]

I don't know if anybody thought of this, but I went to a local music store and bought a set of soft tympani mallets. They work just as well as the drumsticks; I can hit hard or softly and the noise form the drums themselves are much quieter. Ok, yea, it doesn't look as cool, but I don't have to raise my TV volume to crazy levels either to drown out my drums.

I'm curious to your skill level with the drums? By working just as well, are you talking about with drum rolls and faster beats or are you playing on medium or lower? I'd hate to get these and realize that I can't play fast because there is no bounce.

[DivaMom]

I like your work Divamom.

Thank you:D

I'd be worried about tympani mallets, too. If I had remembered to bring my stupid stick bag on vacation I could try 'em out, but I forgot it. *sigh*

[ShesCake]

I'm curious to your skill level with the drums? By working just as well, are you talking about with drum rolls and faster beats or are you playing on medium or lower? I'd hate to get these and realize that I can't play fast because there is no bounce.

That's the only thing I could see being a problem with this fix. I would opt for rubber-tips to dampen the cacophony (what may be) a negligible amount.

[Smidget]

I'm curious to your skill level with the drums? By working just as well, are you talking about with drum rolls and faster beats or are you playing on medium or lower? I'd hate to get these and realize that I can't play fast because there is no bounce.

Yep; I don't think they would work. I've been going through Expert (check out the General forum ^_^ ) and I think they run the risk of hitting each other (just because the drum heads are rather small) and not bouncing enough. My personal ones aren't at my house so I can't try it out. But who knows, they may work great! haha Certainly worth adding to the process of elimination *nod*

[Bullseye]

I got confused by the posts about marshmallow and put Fluff TM on mine by mistake. Now I just have a sticky mess.

[Jixzer]

My skill level is not high. I'm working on medium now and I could see where it could be difficult on hard or expert. I may have to develop an alternate plan once I get better.

[ChodTheWacko]

http://domain1164266.sites.fasthosts.com/uploads/images_products/206.jpg

I looked at that picture, and thought, 'hell, why don't I just wrap something around the end of the sticks then?'

I grabbed the first convenient thing I could find - bubble wrap.
So I stuck a ball of bubble wrap on the end of the sticks.
It looks ghetto but works surprisingly well.

Maybe a smaller ball of felt would work better, dunno.

[EricRx]

I had a post on this same topic. Someone mentioned getting some rubber-type tubing from the plumbing section at Lowe's or Home Depot. He cut a small piece off and slipped it over the end of the stick and said it worked fine.

[Frederf]

I'm definitely going to get some quiet sticks and probably going to get 4 mouse pads (red, blue, yellow, green if I can manage :D ) and cut circles out for deadening pad inserts.

I definitely want to improve the "bounce" (new sticks should help, mouse pads may help/hurt) and really don't want to deaden them any more. I hope the mouse pads don't negatively affect the registering of hits.

Overall a quieter controller hit would be very very good. I find myself missing a lot of notes on the controller because the pads really don't like registering anything but perfect hits. Playing quiet means playing poorly when it comes to the game.

[dylan13]

I have rubber tips on one pair of my drumsticks,I think they will work good but Im not worried about the noise.

[Eman311]

It's not hitting the pads thats bothering people for me, it's the bass pedal.

[opusknecht]

It's not hitting the pads thats bothering people for me, it's the bass pedal.

Hmm. My bass pedal doesn't make any noise at all. Stupid question, but are you leaving your foot resting on the pedal when not playing, leaving your heel down and just moving the front of your foot?

I've seen buddies play, their legs hovering above the pedal and then stomping on the pedal. That definitely makes noise.

[bricot]

I tried the Tama silent tips and they seem to be the best alternative so far, the Promark pratice sticks had abou the same sound level as the silent tips but the sticks are $27 and the tips are only $6. A friend who bought the game came over and played mine and he thought that the tips reduced the sound fairly well, he is headed out to get the tips.

I have yet to try a thinner piece of neoprene than a mouse pad (too thick, deadens the sensitivity)