drum shield

[gitrokr]

i'd like a drum shield but i dont want to spend like 250 bucks on one from musiciansfriend....can i just buy plexiglass from home depot or someplace and put on hinges............or would this not block as much sound?? what im saying...is, is there an advantage to buying their drum shield or should i just build my own for cheaper?

 

[theletterq]

What exactly will you be using it for? Live? Studio?

 

[gitrokr]

both....so we can play the drums even when its later at night kuz my studios not 100% soundproof (more like 90), and also for recording....so when guitars are playing along with the drums drums dont leak into other mics and other instrumets dont leak into the drum mics

 

[theletterq]

Well, one of those is not going to help soundproof your studio at all. All they do is keep the sound from projecting out front, most notably in a live situation. All of the sound is reflected right back at the drummer and then bounces around from there.

If you want it for a stage situation then by all means build your own, but for a recording situation you would be better off looking at room treatment options, and or some sort of other isolation panel. Office cubicle dividers are a good, cheap option.

Lastly, bleed is your friend!

 

[Rimshot]

I think that the drum shield for acoustic purposes is a myth that has been put on drummers. I think its REAL main purpose is actually to protect the guitar and bass and keyboard players from getting beaned by a flying drumstick out of a sloppy drummer's hand,or to protect the drummers from flying drool from the lead guitar player, or maybe because a lot of we drummers belong in cages, ...something like that.
It won't do squat for soundproofing your studio.....I tried it already.

 

[mikeh]

Rimshot - I believe you are correct the shield does protect the other players from flying sticks, drool and other questionable things which spew forth from the drum riser (the work really well with projectile vomit, etc) naturally this requires cleaning of the shield every few months (in particular if left in the band truck on hot summer days).

gitrokr - the drum shield's primary purpose is to limit bleed from the drums into other stage mics. The shield does little to limit the sound - in fact from a drummers perspective it actually makes the drums sound louder, since the sound reflects off the shield right back at the drummer (it makes the cymbals almost unbearable).

Drum shields deflect sound but do not absorb sound. Now you could build some panels with sound absorbtion which could ut down some sound - but to really eliminate the sound it would have to enclose the drummer (which may not be to a drummers liking).

 

[theletterq]

(the work really well with projectile vomit, etc) naturally this requires cleaning of the shield every few months (in particular if left in the band truck on hot summer days).

Sick man...sick, sick, sick

 

[Backwards Rec]

Uses for drum Shield

I use one all the time for my on location business to clean up the vocals. I made it myself for about $150 with plexiglass and hinges from Home Depot. When I am recording my band in the project studio I use it but I back it away from the drums a bit and cover it with blankets. This seems to work fairly well for me when I'm recording everything in one room.

Here is a bad picture of it in the background at a live gig.