Anyone Try Rubber Tips for Drum Sticks Yet??

[ATVMAN29]

its my only small gripe about the game, the drums are kinda loud!

[dxduece]

I've been using my timpani mallets. They work pretty well. :p

[ATVMAN29]

any quieter?

[Xzyliac]

The louder the better!

[dxduece]

Well, it doesn't have the annoying banging on plastic sound lol.

[ZkDotNet]

The louder the better!
Not if you're stuck not being able to play at night cuz it wakes the family up. :(

(Also, not when your daughter flails around and hits the plastic rims all the damn time.) :/

[BodhiWolff]

I used some mold-making rubber on a cheap bargain-bin set of drumsticks. I dipped them, let them dry, and then repeated the process 3 more times. The result was a rubber-tipped drumstick set with a fairly large end of bouncy rubber on the tip.

It does muffle the sound somewhat, and gives it a little more spring.

I wouldn't say it is a perfect fix, though. It dimishes the sound by about 15 percent, maybe even 25 percent, and much more so if I remember to hit softly, but when you go crazy and *bonk* the pads with them it is the pads themselves which make the bonking sound too, so I would call it a half-fix at best.

It is a step in the right direction.

Perhaps a different rubber, or a professional product, or simply more coats of rubber?

We'll have to see what the future holds.

[SmokaCola]

I cut a mouse pad and wrapped part of it on the tip of my drumstick and I have it held with scotch tape (or w,e) and it seems to reduce the sound a good bit. Not completely quiet but definitely better than before.

[Mournblade77]

Anyone tried drum brushes yet? you know, like these...

http://www.guitarcenter.com/Regal-Tip-Throw-Brushes-490486-i1371119.gc

[Micker]

What if you just ball up some scotch tape on the end of the stick??

or you could try something like this

http://www.zzounds.com/item--HHQSOPAK

[LeShrimp]

I can't find my duct tape or I'd be giving that a go

[ChodTheWacko]

What if you just ball up some scotch tape on the end of the stick??

or you could try something like this

http://www.zzounds.com/item--HHQSOPAK

I balled up some bubble tape and it's not bad.
Try wrapping different soft things around the end of the stick.
Like say, a small hand towel.

- Frank

[vtjustinb]

I've tried timpani mallets, felt tenor mallets, brushes, rutes, and puffies (puffy tenor mallets). Of them all I like the timpani mallets best (T1 general mallets, not the big cartwheel felts).

[scourge]

How about cutting out circular pieces of a thin foam rubber and actually put them on the face of the drum?

[shivish]

Be safe, use a condom.

[BodhiWolff]

Update on using molding rubber on a spare pair of drumsticks:

I went back to using them again, and you know what? I lied. They dampen the sound *much* more than I realized. In fact, now that I am no longer in a panic while hitting the drums, and am relaxing more and not smashing them, the rubber tips significantly cut down on the noise. Plus, the extra spring is just noticable, and I appreciate it.

I am going to update this project to a success. The next stage is to try to find an even better way to do it.

I found it at a Michael's craft store. It is too expensive if the only project you are doing is this one project, but perhaps there is a smaller size available?

[atomic_il]

You could go to an office store and buy four cheapo mouse pads and put them on the drum skins.... I haven't tried it but i plan to.

[Angry_Games]

ok, I've tried something myself because the snap of the stick on the pads means we have to turn the sound waaaaay too loud to hear over it.

I'm a computer guy, so I have a lot of motherboards laying around. Every single motherboard comes in an anti-static bag and on the bottom of the board is a thin layer of computer foam.

You can easily take this foam and cut it with scissors. Wrap a strip around the stick head, and then use duct tape to secure it to the stick, all wrapped up nice so you only see the tape, not the foam.

Try it out. It's still a little loud, but I'd guesstimate that it's about 75% quieter on the pads than without it, and that's good enough for now until music stores are open and I can get some rubber/vinyl practice sticks or those mallet-type things you guys are talking about that have the felt heads.

[deepbluevibes]

What was the exact brand of the molding stuff, and how much did it cost? I'd definitely want to try this out :)

[xlr8shun]

What was the exact brand of the molding stuff, and how much did it cost? I'd definitely want to try this out :)

not sure if this is what the other poster used for his drum sticks, but i was thinking about a few dips in this (more dips = more layers)

i know you can find it at most home improvement stores, got some a few months back for a project, got it at home depot.

or you could google for things like "rubber dip" or "liquid rubber grip" or "liquid rubber handle" etc..

they also make a liquid EPDM, however its usually used in commercial roofing applications, so unless you know a contractor, it might be expensive to get ahold of a little bit for something like this.

edit> forgot link

http://www.plastidip.com/industrial/plastidip.html

[deepbluevibes]

For some reason, I can't click on the edit button on my last post, so i was wanting to clarify, when i said mold, I meant the rubber mold that was described as being at Micheals.

[_GABO_]

I went back to using them again, and you know what? I lied. They dampen the sound *much* more than I realized. In fact, now that I am no longer in a panic while hitting the drums, and am relaxing more and not smashing them, the rubber tips significantly cut down on the noise. Plus, the extra spring is just noticable, and I appreciate it.

Sweet idea, maybe you should make a walk-through (with pics) and put it somewhere in the forums? Help the nocturnal RockBand drummers 'round the world a bit, maybe. Keep it up!

[Ellis8513]

i need these rubber tips, right now i have towel over my drums and i keep failing cause it doesn't always register my hits

[ScreamingSlave]

I'm just going to stop by a music store on the way from work and see if they have anything for that, or maybe a set of drum sticks with rubber tips.

[GAMERx24x7]

t shirt....i cut a t shirt into 2 1/2 inch strips ...folded them over 6 times and placed them on the pads....tape the top and bottom around the pad......registers every hit and is wayyyyyyyy quieter!!!!!!!!!

[Scynthe]

I think we definately need to see some pics of what you guys have been doing to dampen the noise :)

[digitalvinyl]

One option: http://www.balbex.cz/hlavni.php?lng=en&cat=PR

Another: http://www.promark-stix.com/news/news.cfm?news_id=8d226106-e4a4-45ed-8900-33b931d748d9

Another:

http://www.drumkit.biz/item--MF.444838

I don't know if these will work or not, but some seem promising....

[mind_in_rewind]

digitalvinyl, thanks for the links!

Judging by the name, are you, by chance, a DJ as well?

[Cheshyre Cat]

I actually picked up a pair of Timpani padded drum mallets and they are working really well. A little heavier but not as loud at all.

I found mine at Suzuki Music. They had a bunch of other kind of mallets that might have worked well also.
http://www.suzukimusic.com/education/melodians_mallets_beaters/

[Xzyliac]

Not if you're stuck not being able to play at night cuz it wakes the family up. :(

(Also, not when your daughter flails around and hits the plastic rims all the damn time.) :/

You my friend need one of these (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Basement).

[MrNazraq]

I tried using those "silent tips" for the drum sticks. Yes it makes them a bit quieter (just a tiny bit, not that much), and it adds some spring. It also adds quite a bit of weight to the end, and that affects the balance of the stick. It was difficult for me to do the quick drum rolls, and I didn't quite know what the problem was until I took them off.

So, I set out on an alternate solution to the drum noise. I read that someone else on these forums used the foam padding from Michael's. I headed down and bought a set ($8 for a pack of 12 sheets of foam).

I cut them out with a circle cutter and placed them on the pads. When you hit them lightly, it makes almost NO NOISE AT ALL! If you hit them fairly hard, it'll make about half as much noise. This solution works well, but after about 2 hours of play, I already noticed that the foam is beginning to dent and warp from all the hitting. I'm sure I'll have to change the foam quite a few times each month.

So, if anyone else has a more permanent solution that doesn't affect how sensitive the pads are (the foam doesn't affect it at all), please let us know!