As we are edging closer to Christmas, some of you guys may be debating on whether to get a new drum kit. You may have concerns about how loud you might be when you practice, and may also be worried about how your neighbours or family members might feel about your new instrument.
Well fret no more!! I am hear to give you the best tips to reduce the volume at home and make your drums quieter, so that you can enjoy practicing on your tubs without a care in the world!
1. Electronic Drum Kits
These days there are so many great electronic drum kit options out there that help to reduce the noise levels at home, whilst still offering that real feel experience.
Any electric kit with a soft rubber/foam pad or mesh head will help to reduce the sound of your kit and as the electronic kits require headphones or a speaker system to play, the volume can easily be controlled.
Depending on your budget, Carlsbro has a fantastic range of kits you can choose from which offer both rubber or mesh pads and that realistic feel as you can upgrade from foot switches to actual Hi-Hat Pedals. If you are looking for an electronic drum kit that is suitable for practice at home, recording in the studio or even playing live, then we recommend taking a look at the Yamaha DTX range.
2. Low Volume Cymbals
For those that wish to stick with an acoustic drum set, but require a solution to reduce noise levels, one of the best options is to look for some good quality low volume cymbals. Brands such as Zildjian and Husht offer a new type of cymbal technology to reduce your the volume of your cymbals by up to 80%. The way this is achieved is the cymbal is designed with lots of tiny little holes, all around the cymbal to reduce the overall mass of the cymbal, whilst still offering the tone and feel of a normal cymbal. These cymbals are incredible and a very affordable option, particularly if it is a temporary solution whilst family and neighbours are around!
Check out these awesome Husht LTV Quiet Cymbals below –
3. Dampening Pads or Mesh Heads?
So now we have a solution for all of your acoustic drums. There are two great ways to reduce the noise of your kit and its really down to your budget and preference as to which one you decide to go for.
Dampening Pads – Simply open the box and attach these rubber pads onto each of your drums and they will instantly decrease the volume of your drumset. These are great if you need a quick solution to make your drums quieter, and can be easily taken off, if you do decide that you want to make a racket while the neighbours out. Evans Sound off or Vic Firth Drum mutes are ideal for this scenario and they offer different packages to fit all different sizes of drums.
Mesh Drum Heads – If you are looking for a more permanent solution for your kit, you could opt for mesh heads. These are exactly like the type of heads you may see on some electronic kits, but for your acoustic drum kit! These heads are attached onto the batter side of the drum, just like any normal drum head and can be tuned to a desired tone, but with very little volume. These heads are around the same cost as normal batter heads and last for quite a while. If you know that you will mostly need to keep it down while practicing, these will be ideal for you!
4. Drum Sticks and Beaters
These days there are various drum sticks options that are designed to reduce the volume of your strokes around the kit. You could opt for some brushes, hot rods and theres a relatively new stick on the market called Adoro Silent Sticks. Although they above options are great at allowing you to play quietly with your hands, you will still have to find a solution for your bass drum.
However not to worry! Adoro has also came up with a beater solution for your bass drum pedal. Similar to the volume cymbals, the materials that are used in the beater reduce the overall mass of the beater meaning that less force is transferred to your drum head, meaning you can play your bass drum quietly with a realistic feel.
5. Muffle Your Bass Drum
This one is such an easy solution. All you have to do is take off the resonant drum head (Not the side you play with your bass drum pedal) and stuff it with any old towels, quilts, duvets or rugs and this will help to reduce the volume of your bass drum a little bit. The more that you can stuff it with this kind of thing, the more your bass drum will be muffled or dampened. You may find that this doesnt reduce the volume as much as some of the options above, but its certainly a cheaper alternative and your neighbours will thank you, i promise!
6. Soundproof Your Practice Room
This is certainly a great solution if you have the space and budget to do this, however the cost of soundproofing your room isn’t going to be cheap. Rehearsal rooms and studios invest a lot of money into ensuring they have thick soundproofed walls or triple glazing glass to ensure that they reduce their volume in the studio, and this is definitely not a practical solution for your garage.
There a lot of myths about how you can affordably soundproof your walls such as using egg cartons and sticking them up all around the room. I would highly recommend to avoid doing this and this will offer no soundproofing to your practice space, and i’m honest they look pretty hideous.
If you do decide you would like to convert an old room into a practice space, make sure you get some advice from someone that knows what they are doing. Last thing you want to do is invest a lot of money trying to soundproof your room and find the materials you have bought aren’t suitable for the job.
Reducing the volume of drums is never going to be an easy task but by using some of these solutions, you will be able to practice till your hearts content without frustrating your family or neighbours. Remember its always important to play an acoustic drum set where possible!
You can visit your local drum store to see if they have a place you can practice or find a local rehearsal rooms that you can rent for a couple of hours.
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