drums too loud

S

six string

New member
What's up guys. I just joined and I have a question. If you are playing live in a highly acoustic room is there anything you can do to make drums quieter besides using a fiberglass shield? Obviously I don't know a lot about sound but there is only one way to find out, right? I appreciate any suggestions.

Thanks
 
What purpose do you need to quiet the drums? Is it for practicing? Is it for recording?

If it is for practicing, then you can get a set of "Sound Offs" which are pads that are placed over the drumheads and seperate pads for the cymbals and kick drum. They make the drums sound like crap, but will allow you to practice without disturbing neighbors and family. You can also get a set of mesh heads to use on your set for practicing. They're absolutely silent to the touch, but if you ever want to get a drum sound, you then have to replace all the heads again with real drum heads.(a real pain in the ass)

For recording and controlling bleed into other instrument's mics, you'll need to built an isolation room, (expensive) but there's no other way. A drum sheild will only help to a certain extent. If the room is small and resonant, you'll need more isolation than a sheild will give you. If you're not worried about sound leakage into other rooms, then you only need to isolate the drums from the other instruments, Otherwise, you'll need to build a room within a room just for the drums (check out this topic on the studio construction forum below).
Treatment of the interior of the room whether you build a seperate isolation room or not is critical for getting good sound when recording. You'll need bass traps, bafflers, acoustic foam, padding of all sorts which can include hanging carpet or quilting, cushions up against corners and reflective surfaces, etc.
I knew little about this a few months ago, but I've been involved in creating an iso room for my own drumset the last few months and I've gotten much good advice here and on other boards, done tons of reading and a lot of trial and error. It's pretty good now, but there's always room for improvement.
Good luck.
 
Well actually it's for live performance. Me and a couple of friends just started playing in church for our youth group, but anyway, the room is about 40' x 60' but the stage is kinda sunk back into the back wall about 6 or 7 feet and the drums are all the way in the back. The walls are textured and painted. I guess the only thing to do is use a shield and maybe some lighter sticks. Or is there something else?
 
here's an idea

Contrary to popular belief, the drummer should be able to play as softly as necessary for any situation ;-). Lighter sticks should help, but a lighter touch is even better! Playing closer to the edge of the drum away from the sweet spot a bit is a good idea sometime. Hotrods are very good for a lot of softer songs.

Any form of muffling will reduce volume to a certain degree, but will certainly affect the overall sound. Small pieces of felt taped onto the head makes good temporary muffle. A bandana over part of hi-hats/ride cymbal will also help reduce ring.

I have found that hydraulic heads are less volumous.

Best of luck!
 
Thanks for the advice. I'm actually not the one doing the drumming. I play the guitar. But i'll spread the word to my drummer. I have just one more question. How much would a fiberglass shield help? Would it be worth getting one, or am I just going to have to tell him to take it easy? I know I'm asking a lot of quiestions, but that's because i'm ignorant. Thanks again for the advice.
 
A couple of low tech things you can try are to throw a sheet over the drums and hang a couple of rugs on the wall to cut down on reflections
 
maybe you guys are too quiet?

Simple solution would be to crank everything else lol. Isn't that how it usually works anyways?
 
Yup! The earlier post that suggested the drummer tone down s bit and not hit so hard is great sdvice.
Blankets hanging can work but may not look so nice. A drum shield and some acoustic panels might be the way to go to keep reflections from going all over the place as well as a dense rug under the kit. A suspende acoustic panel over the drummer's head to create an irregular deflector would be good.
Lighter sticks and less exhuberance.
 
six string said:
Well actually it's for live performance. Me and a couple of friends just started playing in church for our youth group, but anyway, the room is about 40' x 60' but the stage is kinda sunk back into the back wall about 6 or 7 feet and the drums are all the way in the back. The walls are textured and painted. I guess the only thing to do is use a shield and maybe some lighter sticks. Or is there something else?
Click to expand...

Regardless of playing quitely or not, what it sounds like you are getting is the "speaker" effect from playing drums in a recessed stage, with a wall behind, at the end of a long room. This is normally a drummers dream - they don't have to work so hard, as they get all that reflection off the back wall, and the amplificaiton from the recess. Picture yourself with cranked guitar upstairs, door closed. From downstairs, it's muffled, but noticeable. Open that door and you get that ported speaker effect. The whole darn thing is amplified twice as loud... !!! :) :)

What you might try is bringing the kit out of the recess and setting it up to one side (left or right) of the stage. This will probably sound wierd to the other musicians at first, but from an overall mix in the hall perspective, it may dampen the drums significantly. The impact will depend on the type of walls/ceiling you have too. No guarantees !! But worth a try...

Regards,
Steve
 
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