Drum Mutes?

[Shadoweclipse13]

We bought our daughter a 6-piece drum set for Xmas (possibly for the next 12 Xmas', haha) and I was wondering how the drum face mutes are since we live in an apartment. The building is like a townhouse, so no one above or below, just on both sides. But as someone who doesn't play drums, I don't know that it would be worth it or not...

This is the mute set I'm looking at (her exact sizes):
Vic Firth Mute Set

I'm sure they will feel different than open drum heads, but would it be so different as to be detrimental to a new drummer?

[marqueemoon]

Why not get mesh heads?

[Embenny]

Why not get mesh heads?

This is my thought.

Check out this comparison of a regular kit and the same kit with mesh heads and low volume cymbals.

It's incredible the options drummers have for quiet practice these days. Between mesh heads, LV cymbals and e kits, drummers can actually practice without neighbours and family members resenting them.

Everything that isn't a regular drum head will feel slightly different, but not in a way that's detrimental to learning. Certainly, mesh heads on a real kit and LV cymbals feel much more normal than any of the reasonably-priced electric kits, which use rubber or plastic cymbals and rubber or tiny mesh heads, none of which play in any way resembling actual drums.

PS your daughter is super lucky to have such an awesome dad. It takes a special kind of parent to encourage drumming

[marqueemoon]

I agree. Mesh heads + low volume cymbals.

That’s a lot more money of course, but much more satisfying to play and will make for better learning.

[Shadoweclipse13]

I appreciate the responses guys!! I like the idea of mesh heads eventually, but we bought her a complete 6-piece set (bass, snare, 2 mounted toms, 2 floor toms; hi-hats, crash, and ride cymbals), and it came with slightly upgraded Remo heads. After spending $900 on the set, I'm definitely not spending the extra for mesh heads right now.

I thought the rubber would be a nice compromise in the mean time, but I know very little about them except that Vic Firth makes decent stuff.

PS your daughter is super lucky to have such an awesome dad. It takes a special kind of parent to encourage drumming

Thanks man She's a great kid, and the closest I'll ever get to having kids of my own. I love the idea of her playing something that inspires her. We will have a house in a couple years, so I'm not worried about loud. Plus! I'll have access to a drummer

[ElephantDNA]

I mean the cheap version is to just use towels on the drums (can be secured with large "trash can" rubber bands) and there are a variety of cheap ways to deaden cymbals as well from just actual stuff you can get in the music store to other things like using a piece of felt. I think you can deaden the kit for less than $20 this way. I agree with the above that it would be better, but you can definitely do some things on a budget that will be effective and not too detrimental to playing.

The bass drum poses the biggest challenge for sure but again you can use similar stuff (just larger size) and also affix something to the beater so that it doesn't make as much noise.

Personally, for a beginner I would start with just a floor tom or maybe one rack tom and 1-2 cymbals anyways. I don't think a huge kit is great to start out on at the beginning.

[Shadoweclipse13]

I mean the cheap version is to just use towels on the drums (can be secured with large "trash can" rubber bands) and there are a variety of cheap ways to deaden cymbals as well from just actual stuff you can get in the music store to other things like using a piece of felt. I think you can deaden the kit for less than $20 this way. I agree with the above that it would be better, but you can definitely do some things on a budget that will be effective and not too detrimental to playing.

The bass drum poses the biggest challenge for sure but again you can use similar stuff (just larger size) and also affix something to the beater so that it doesn't make as much noise.

Personally, for a beginner I would start with just a floor tom or maybe one rack tom and 1-2 cymbals anyways. I don't think a huge kit is great to start out on at the beginning.

Towel/blanket inside the bass drum is something my friend who's been playing drums for over 20 years does. That might happen. But I'd like the option for the rest of the drums. It's not necessarily that I'm on a budget, I just don't want to buy any new heads for it for a while. Plus, she's 13: she's not gonna be changing out the heads every time she gets a chance to play louder; that'll end up on me. That's the beauty of the rubber mute pads: she can take them off herself with no help and a very small chance of damaging anything.

A 6-piece kit isn't huge. It isn't tiny, but that's what we bought her. If she chooses to only use a few, that's her choice, but I wanted her to have a kit that she could grow with to start with.

[Plumerai]

If she's never played before she might be good with those, but for me the sticks bouncing on rubber was a bit much. I have some Young Gods slipmats I found in the promo bin of a record shop. Thinner & made of fabric (felt?) that seems to work. Less rebound & muffles the drums.

[ElephantDNA]

If she's never played before she might be good with those, but for me the sticks bouncing on rubber was a bit much. I have some Young Gods slipmats I found in the promo bin of a record shop. Thinner & made of fabric (felt?) that seems to work. Less rebound & muffles the drums.

Yeah the rubber has some issues for a beginner because the feel is pretty different. I think a lot of experienced drummers prefer the towel method over the store bought stuff too - it's cheaper and doesn't affect feel that much.

[s_mcsleazy]

the cheap foam mutes are pretty ok but dont drop the volume by a lot. maybe like 15-20%. the big downside is the snare wire mutes you get in the packs often sound pretty....... shit. also invest in a set of the hotrod drumstick. they also help drop the volume. i will give this tip, if your daughter likes drums and takes to it. maybe book her some time in a practice space every week where she doesn't have to worry about being too loud. i can't speak for where you live but it's £10 for 3 hours if you're practicing by yourself here. so not a great deal of money. plus if she gets good, you can jam with her from time to time and help her get used to the idea of playing with other musicians.

p.s. cymbals are quite hard to mute too.

[Shadoweclipse13]

If she's never played before she might be good with those, but for me the sticks bouncing on rubber was a bit much. I have some Young Gods slipmats I found in the promo bin of a record shop. Thinner & made of fabric (felt?) that seems to work. Less rebound & muffles the drums.

Yeah the rubber has some issues for a beginner because the feel is pretty different. I think a lot of experienced drummers prefer the towel method over the store bought stuff too - it's cheaper and doesn't affect feel that much.

This is great help guys! As someone with no rhythm behind a drum set, I'd have no way of knowing about how it would feel, and that's the most helpful. My fiancée can sew, so we could maybe make something for her if she wants/needs it.

the cheap foam mutes are pretty ok but dont drop the volume by a lot. maybe like 15-20%. the big downside is the snare wire mutes you get in the packs often sound pretty....... shit. also invest in a set of the hotrod drumstick. they also help drop the volume. i will give this tip, if your daughter likes drums and takes to it. maybe book her some time in a practice space every week where she doesn't have to worry about being too loud. i can't speak for where you live but it's £10 for 3 hours if you're practicing by yourself here. so not a great deal of money. plus if she gets good, you can jam with her from time to time and help her get used to the idea of playing with other musicians.

p.s. cymbals are quite hard to mute too.

Good to know! The volume drop would be the more important thing there (in combination with the feel of it, as stated above). My fiancée and I certainly don't mind the sound as we are both very musical. I'm more worried about the neighbors, but in a year or two, we will likely be looking for a house, so it should be less of a problem at that point. I love the idea of a proper practice space. If she takes to it and we did that, it would be cool to make a practice space that we could both use, where we could store her drum set and some guitar stuff too. I am definitely planning on jamming with her a lot

Hotrod drumsticks sound great! Is that the brand, or a model?

[s_mcsleazy]

the cheap foam mutes are pretty ok but dont drop the volume by a lot. maybe like 15-20%. the big downside is the snare wire mutes you get in the packs often sound pretty....... shit. also invest in a set of the hotrod drumstick. they also help drop the volume. i will give this tip, if your daughter likes drums and takes to it. maybe book her some time in a practice space every week where she doesn't have to worry about being too loud. i can't speak for where you live but it's £10 for 3 hours if you're practicing by yourself here. so not a great deal of money. plus if she gets good, you can jam with her from time to time and help her get used to the idea of playing with other musicians.

p.s. cymbals are quite hard to mute too.

Good to know! The volume drop would be the more important thing there (in combination with the feel of it, as stated above). My fiancée and I certainly don't mind the sound as we are both very musical. I'm more worried about the neighbors, but in a year or two, we will likely be looking for a house, so it should be less of a problem at that point. I love the idea of a proper practice space. If she takes to it and we did that, it would be cool to make a practice space that we could both use, where we could store her drum set and some guitar stuff too. I am definitely planning on jamming with her a lot

Hotrod drumsticks sound great! Is that the brand, or a model?

it's a model. they're made by promark but other companies make something similar. they're basically a bunch of plastic dowels wrapped together, this dissipates a lot of the initial hit of the stick. last time i had to play drums for anything, i had to use those sticks because normally i use marching sticks which can be really heavy and loud in certain situations.

sometimes i kinda envy the typical american detached home with a basement you see on tv.

[Shadoweclipse13]

the cheap foam mutes are pretty ok but dont drop the volume by a lot. maybe like 15-20%. the big downside is the snare wire mutes you get in the packs often sound pretty....... shit. also invest in a set of the hotrod drumstick. they also help drop the volume. i will give this tip, if your daughter likes drums and takes to it. maybe book her some time in a practice space every week where she doesn't have to worry about being too loud. i can't speak for where you live but it's £10 for 3 hours if you're practicing by yourself here. so not a great deal of money. plus if she gets good, you can jam with her from time to time and help her get used to the idea of playing with other musicians.

p.s. cymbals are quite hard to mute too.

Good to know! The volume drop would be the more important thing there (in combination with the feel of it, as stated above). My fiancée and I certainly don't mind the sound as we are both very musical. I'm more worried about the neighbors, but in a year or two, we will likely be looking for a house, so it should be less of a problem at that point. I love the idea of a proper practice space. If she takes to it and we did that, it would be cool to make a practice space that we could both use, where we could store her drum set and some guitar stuff too. I am definitely planning on jamming with her a lot

Hotrod drumsticks sound great! Is that the brand, or a model?

it's a model. they're made by promark but other companies make something similar. they're basically a bunch of plastic dowels wrapped together, this dissipates a lot of the initial hit of the stick. last time i had to play drums for anything, i had to use those sticks because normally i use marching sticks which can be really heavy and loud in certain situations.

sometimes i kinda envy the typical american detached home with a basement you see on tv.

I looked them up and I think I'll grab her a pair of them! I'm between the Hot Rods (2nd smallest) and the Cool Rods (smallest rods). Ever compare the Cool Rods to the Hot Rods?

Yeah, I don't think I could live in a house without a full basement. I think I would hate having neighbors that close too. I mean, I do that with apartments, but not when I own the place, you know?

[ludobag1]

since i have buy my drums ,i have buy silent cymbale ,rubber for tom ,and put foam on the place where the bat of bass drum hit ,result i have lost more than 10 db of sound ,i have also install it on foam ,big carpet and drum carpet to avoid the drum kick propagation by vibration or knock in the ground
i also use rod instead of stick ,seriously for praticing is better way more quiet and less ears breakers
now as i remember i come to 96db not attenued with stick on snare ,to 90 db with rod and with the ruber on at 87 db ,it is still loud but more supportable (my room for is really little and the needed of attenuation is for stopping the reverberation and full volume ,the sound was catch in and not goingfar then is focused in ,then attenation is good)

if i have neightbours who play drums in appartement,i ll be more happy if they practice in middle of afternoon ,than in morning or late at night cause it is noisy ,real drum kit in appartement is with the tastes of neightbours ,if they are cool ok ,but if not prefer an electric kit or silent kit ,as i remeùber when i live in appartement in bourges i have an asshole who watch tv really late at night and really loud that i heard it when i go to sleep ,and it was knocking at his floor when sunday i play guitar on the middle of afternoon ,real quiet more over less volume than tv watching ,it is bad example of neigtbourhood but it exist !

[NBarnes21]

Those drum mutes will do the job fine, those cymbal ones will do less in reducing the volume but those are higher frequencies anyway that shouldn't carry much through the walls. stuff the kick drum full of blankets and pillows, turn off the snare wires, and it should be pretty quiet. Definitely not ideal for a new drummer to only be practicing on a muted set but the plus side of those mutes is you can take them off pretty quick so maybe she could play for an hour here and there at a reasonable time of day on a full natural sounding kit. if you want better cymbal mutes check out the wrap around evans sound off cymbal mutes, those work better for dampening cymbals

[url="https://www.lonestarpercussion.co ... s SoundOff[/url]