Drum Sound Shields

S

sessionselect

New member
I'm going to be living in a townhouse next year and i don't want to piss of the nieghbors with my drums and band practices. Would it be a wise investment to get a drum sheild around my set? how effective are these shields? Do they block/absorb the sound or does it just may it bounce back and make more noise to me, and less to everyone else?

thanks for the help in advance
 
i have considered electronic drums but i don't like it for the cost, and because i have my set the exact way i want it, and to have the electronic set that way would cost a rediculous amount. Plus i'm kind of against electronic drums in a band(even though they have come so far and sound really good). Just because i like the natural sound/look/feel of a real drum.
 
A sound shield would not cut the sound enough for an apartment/townhouse. They are more designed to isolate sound for micing purposes rather than eliminate sound.

If you don't want electronics about the only other option is something like the Sound-Off pads.
 
I was in the same situation a while back. What I did was build a cheap electronic kit for practice at home, but still used my acoustic kit for playing gigs. They are not the same instruments and pads don't feel like real heads, but it was the best compromise I could come up with.

As for the cost, you can either pick up a used Roland kit with an older module ion ebay for maybe $600, or pick up just the module and build some pads. Building pads is easy and cheap. Check out electronicdrums.com for some info. The free plans they have there might be just what you need.
 
ok, well i am going to put sound proofing foam to cover all the walls of the room that the drum set is in. do you guys think that that will help a lot/a little/somewhat or whatever in cutting the sound down? aren't townhouses prebuilt with decent sound proofing between neighbors?

thanks

ss
 
All the foam will do is give you a deader sound in the room. It will do little to nothing on stopping the sound from making your neighbors crazy.. There has been a series of articles in Modern Drummer this year on this very subject. You need to build a room espically desgined to be soundproofed. After you figure out how much that will cost it will make the electroinc drums seem cheap.
 
There is no way you are ever going to soundproof an appartment enough to paly drums without getting evicted in a week.
 
Sorry dude, but I doubt that will help much. For adequate soundproofing you really need some serious and expensive work. Adding blankets etc. will deaden the sound, and maybe kill some of the high end, but wil still let lots of sound through.

You could try heavily muffling the drums themselves along with your walls. It will help, but your neighbors still may complain.
 
well, it's a townhouse built for college housing. So i don't know how good the sound is between the houses. The good thing is, i only have one neighbor, we live on the end of the row of houses. So there's gotta be something we can do anything that doesn't invovle actualy going into the walls. IS THERE ANYTHING OUT THERE???!

thanks
ss
 
Oh hell, if it is a collge student neighbor that is different! Just give him bongs hits a couple times a week to appease him and play as loud as you want. It is a cheaper option than electronic drums or soundproofing. ;)
 
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