Muting Drums

[Amireaux]

Is there any conventional(cheap) way to mute/silent a drumset(without compromising the rebound) so that it can be played in a HDB house without causing nuisance to the neighbours?

I've read up the post on Drumsets in HDB but the topic did not discuss specifically on what i wanted to ask, therefore, this thread.

Hope you guys can help.

Thanks!

 

[BebopIggy]

Cheap way: Cover your drums with cloth to mute the sound

 

[metzalx]

haha if want to mute until neighbours cant hear, you gotta use A LOT of cloth...And it'll definitely affect the rebound.

For the bass drum you can probably put a thick carpet under it to reduce the vibration through the floor (If you don't live on the ground floor, that is), but i'm not really sure what to do about the rest of the drums, and also the heads haha.

 

[phantompong]

It's not the sound you want to cut out as much as the vibrations. Even if you can't hear much sound, vibrations (especially low frequencies) will still cause major disturbance to your neighbours.

What I did - my kit is 10", 12", 14", 20" with a 14" snare. I tried looking for individual mesh heads, but did not find any, so I bought the mesh heads that are meant for the Tama Stagestar. They come in a pack of 10", 12", 13", 14" and 18" for around... $90? Can't remember. They also provide a set of rubber silencers for the hi-hats and one crash or ride. I currently only set up one cymbal, so that's enough for me, but if you need more you can get the ones made by HQ Percussion or Vater, they will do the same job.

I considered quite a few options and at first tried the HQ Percussion Soundoff Mutes, but they did not work for me - they cut out the sound without cutting out the vibrations, and your neighbours downstairs will tell you they can't hear anything but they can feel everything. The mutes by HQ Percussion serve the same function as the ones by Vater and Vic Firth (not sure if they sell the VF ones here), so if you see any of these I'd suggest you avoid them. Either that or buy them off me

Mesh heads preserve most of the feel and allow a range of tuning (though minimal compared to Mylar heads), and are loud enough for you to hear but not your neighbours, but they don't produce enough vibrations to disturb your neighbours. I replaced my snare with a practice pad since my snare is 14" and the Stagestar snare is 13". However note that even if you have a 13" snare with a mesh head and the snares are on, the snares will still sound, so throw the snares off or remove them.

If you have an 18" bass (unlikely!) then you're in luck, because the 18" mesh head from the Stagestar pack will solve your bass drum problem. The bass drum is the main producer of low frequency vibrations which is what your neighbours will feel most (think of the bass pulse when standing outside a disco. Something like that). What I did was I bought the Hansenfutz pedal from Nigel at Drums Resources. It goes for $86 and it's a practice pedal. It's very quiet, but you can remove the impact pad and you'll get a nice low volume thwack sound. A standard bass drum pedal will produce a lot of power, so anything requiring the use of the pedal mechanism as a substitute (bass drum practice pads, for instance) will still transmit vibrations even if they don't make much noise.

Hope this helps, and your mileage may vary. It's never cheap playing drums in an apartment, but this is as cheap as it got for me - mesh heads plus a Futz, running me well under $200 total. Practically all other options didn't solve the problem or were out of my $$ range.

 

[Amireaux]

Woow.

That was precise and concise...and very informative.

Thanks a billion bro.

With all that said, i only understood like 70% of what you explained. Is it possible for you to add me on MSN so we can have a more elaborate conversation. I really need the help bro. Assuming that you've experienced the same problem i am facing and got through it within your budget, you're pretty much the best person for me ask.

Do add me up at punkomatico(at)html.com

I'm actually trying to get a cheap 2nd hand drumset for practice and then get those mutes. I'm kind of wondering if i should get a practice drumset instead(those with only drumpads).

Which is more suitable for my practice in a HDB 4 room level 4 corridor flat?

What are the pros and cons for each of the options?

Thanks for your help guys. :wink:

 

[metzalx]

I think it's better to get an acoustic set rather than a practice drumset. As a practice set would usually cost around $200 (even for a second-hand one, i think), you can easily get an acoustic set, albeit it being of a lower quality. I live in HDB and there's this park somewhere, there's a time when I walked past it, and this guy actually moved his whole drumset to a pavilion there to practise with his percussion ensemble mates. It's a lot of trouble, but you'll be able to play as loud as you like. XD

 

[kanzer]

i go get practice pads mutes. yea from yamaha or any music shop.. its rubber so i will rebound. not tt ex also. check it out.

 

[FuyunoUta]

hey bro phantompong, may i know where did you get the mesh heads and rubber silencers? And can they be fitted onto any drumset? Thanks in advance.

 

[phantompong]

I not bro lah

I got the mesh heads from Swee Lee, they're actually the mesh heads meant for the Tama Stagestar. Since the Stagestar has been replaced by the Imperialstar I'm not sure how that works out, if they still sell mesh heads for the smaller sized set, but you could try and ask. I'm not sure if the mesh heads for the Pearl Rhythm Traveller are sold separately.

Do note that the sizes for the Stagestar mesh heads are 10", 12", 13", 14" and 18" so it's likely that you will be missing a head for either a tom or a snare (depending on whether you play 12/13/16 or 10/12/14) as well as the bass. I play 10/12/14 and use a practice pad in place of the snare, and a Futz in place of the bass.

The rubber silencers can be bought from Yamaha - at PS, it's near the drumheads. They should have Vater and HQ Soundoff silencers. Nigel at Drums Resources will also have Soundoff silencers. As I mentioned earlier though, they cut out high frequencies but not low frequencies, and it is the low frequencies that travel through walls.

Mesh heads and rubber silencers can be fitted on to any drumset - you don't need to make additional modifications.

 

[FuyunoUta]

thanks for the info , what's the price for the mesh heads?

 

[tcw]

I bought my mesh heads for my RTfrom Swee Lee. The mesh heads are sold separately. The prices can range from 10 plus to 30 plus bucks, depending on the size. I bought my whole set of heads for ard 70 plus.

 

[FuyunoUta]

awesome, thanks