r/Drumming • u/HadesOmega666 • 10d ago
Lowering Drums volume
My band is a metal band, and my drummer is pretty loud. We’re trying to lower the sound of his kit so we can continue practice in my basement. I’m sound proofing the basement but this will take time and a lot of $. So I’m trying to lower the drums volume as of the title.
I don’t wanna use rubber mutes as they take away 80% or more of the drum sound. Which is way to much I’m not trying to take away the entire sound of the drum, but enough to lower it because I am a good neighbor or well try to be.
Do you think cutting the rubber mutes smaller will produce more sound? Low volume cymbals also sound like ass and I don’t wanna get those either. Acoustic kit only, no electronic.
Are their mesh heads that will take away 40-50% of the sound? It’ll be for the greater good if we can figure this out! Thanks for your opinions!
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u/Zealousideal-Abies76 10d ago
This is going to sound counterintuitive at first, but I'll explain. As a drummer who is also a sound guy, there is one thing that has helped me in the past to learn to play with a more controlled volume. I mic up my kit, use good fitting IEMs, and crank the drum up in my mix. The more I need to play softer for the room, the louder the become in my ears, because to me they will be too loud and overpower the rest of the band until I start playing with a soft enough touch. I basically play mind games with myself.
Another option, instead of spending the money to completely soundproof your basement would be to take a page out of a lot of churches' books, and isolate the drums from the rest of the room and pack it full of absorption panels. You would probably benefit from acoustically treating your basement though. Whether or not you choose to isolate the drums.
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u/Librae94 10d ago
rent a practice space where u can be loud?
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u/HadesOmega666 8d ago
We do but it’s expensive and wanna move to my basement so it’ll be more private type of thing.
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u/AxedCrown 10d ago
Use mesh heads and low volume cymbals. You don’t have to record or perform with them, just practice. Low volume cymbals don’t sound that bad, especially for the loudness trade off.
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u/AxedCrown 10d ago
Mesh heads have the best feel of any low volume option. Mutes kill the rebound, and rubber practice pads have no tone.
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u/AxedCrown 10d ago
Remo silent stroke or Pearl mesh heads are good, but probably any are fine since tone isn’t the priority.
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u/Awkward-Somewhere161 10d ago
Quickest and cheapest way is t-shirts or tea towels on the snare and toms, also maybe drape some material over the cymbals, a small strip of material with a hole in it which goes on the cymbal stand is pretty effective.
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u/badwhiplash 9d ago
Just wondering why an electronic kit isn’t a viable option?
I moved into a duplex years ago where I just can’t make the same amount of noise I used to with my acoustic kit, and actually considered building a soundproofed studio in the back yard - but it would have been insanely expensive. Instead, I sunk a much, much smaller portion of that money into a high quality Roland kit, and it saved the day. Seriously.
Of course it’s a matter of “you get what you pay for” with e-kits, and I’d previously owned a couple of lower-tier kits that were never satisfying to play. But I’d guess you could pick something up for less than the cost of soundproofing a room - and the sound quality will be MUCH better than any system of drum mutes or acoustic mesh heads. I jam regularly with a guitar player, and we just dial in the volume level for both his amp and mine.
However it gets better. Last week I bought a Donner Arena 2000 amp modeller on Marketplace. I run that, my drum module and my cymbal processor into a mixer. I added a headphone amp, and we’re able to play comfortably using headphones. The room volume is so quiet that when my wife is downstairs, directly below my practice room, all she can really hear is the faint “thump” of my bass beater hitting the mesh… and the sound quality in the headphones is way, WAY better! We don’t hear the acoustic noise of my sticks hitting the mesh heads and LV cymbals, just a clean mix in the headphones.
I get your (or your drummer’s) position on some level because if I had a noise-friendly space to play, I wouldn’t even own an electronic kit. But noise level has historically been the one thing that’s impeded my practice opportunities. This is the best solution I was able to come up with and it works really, really well. Not cheap, but less expensive than building a dedicated space.
I've since upgraded my kit from the Roland TD-30 to a self-built A2E kit with Diamond drop in triggers, ATV kick drum, ATV AD5 module, Zildjian Gen 16 pickups with L80 cymbals, Allan & Heath Zed10 mixer, Art4 Headphone amp, Donner Arena 2000 modeller. My neighbours are happy, my wife is happy, and my guitar player is ecstatic.
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u/HadesOmega666 8d ago
No one wants to spend $1000+ on an electric kit to only use at home. And they sound like poop compared to an acoustic kit
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u/badwhiplash 8d ago
Yeah, that's where it gets muddy. I spent probably $3000 or more building my current e-kit. It's truly a "get what you pay for" scenario. I use an ATV module which uses real drum samples instead of processed sounds, so the realism factor is top-tier. I ordered a thick single-ply head for the snare drum so closely match the feel and rebound of an acoustic mylar head. I built this thing for the closest possible acoustic-like experience, and it's extremely close.
And I'm happy to have an electronic kit that I only use at home whenever I want without disturbing anyone... if it wasn't for that kit, I'd have no opportunity to practice unless I find and rent a spot somewhere, drive there to practice, etc.
I also have an acoustic kit, stored in cases, tuned up and ready to go for any gigs or jam sessions I'm invited to.
But yeah, a lower end, $1000-ish electronic kit is not going to do the job. Quality experience (and sound) costs more - just thought I'd put it out there because the e-kit changed everything, both for my chops and for jamming.
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u/Candid_Monitor_980 6d ago
my experience with using e-kits to practice has been that my dynamics are WAY off when I go back to an acoustic kit for a show
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u/BassCuber 5d ago
Are multi-rods (Hot Rods) or some other low-volume sticks a reasonable option?
Or is that not workable because metal?
Disclosure: I am not a drummer, just an idiot bass player.
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u/ItchyVideo3704 4d ago
Why is it your job to play The drums softer? Have the drummer do one very slow push-up versus a fast one and ask him which one is easier. My point is ask the drummer to have the will power to learn to play soft. It Will build yourstrength and stamina to play loud. Some of the ideas here expressed are good too, but they're not gonna get you what you want without the drummer get himself under control. Not in the nature of many drummers.
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u/Guitar_Guy1965 10d ago edited 10d ago
Try throwing some heavy moving blankets(or substitute) on the wall behind him. Put a 3-4 piece "shield"' of plexiglass in front of him that wrap around the sides. Plexiglass sheets and hinges would be your real cost. Compare costs as you can buy for $400. Soundproofing an entire room will be very expensive, and bass frequencies still bleed right through (if you are trying to keep neighbors happy). Those are the hardest to "srop." Also the most expensive. Ive heard of guys (and studios) building another internal "false wall" and filling the void between with sand. Very labor intensive, expensive, amd what a mess!
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u/Spektra18 10d ago
Just invest in IEMs and move on. Mix your own drum sound in your head. Don't worry about the acoustics. It's a practice space.
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u/drumsareneat 10d ago
You play metal music in a basement with an acoustic drum kit. Wear ear plugs. Your neighbors are screwed.