me and my friend are building a drum riser

[Rocket Boy]

it's 6.5x7 and 8 inches tall, i'll post pics later

 

[StarvingEyes]

what is the reason for building drum risers? just curious..

i track drums in a semi treated garage on a big asian carpet.

 

[drummerdude666]

I use a drum riser when playing some gigs so i can be at the same level as the band. Otherwise im all the way down there and that sucks.

So you buy/build a drum riser and your at eye level with the band, much more fun. Also it means you can actully see the crowd in front of you, instead of the first row of heads and your guitarists/vocalists butts!

 

[StarvingEyes]

so it really has no purpose in the recording aspect?

 

[gumplunger]

so it really has no purpose in the recording aspect?

Some people use a drum riser in the studio. Not sure what the exact purpose is, something to do with the room sound. I believe I remember a EQ article about recording Tommy Lee, and they used a riser.

Not that Tommy Lee should be a role model, but you get the point

 

[drummerdude666]

so it really has no purpose in the recording aspect?

Not that i know of....
I suppose if its covered in carpet it might absorb some frequencies...

 

[Tim Brown]

it's 6.5x7 and 8 inches tall, i'll post pics later

If you're going to build one, at least you guys could have made it 18" or 24" high!



Tim

 

[bileshake]

I read in a home recording book about building a drum riser for soundproofing reasons (less surface area touching the floor...) but that was it. Nothing more techinical than that.

 

[Tim Brown]

I read in a home recording book about building a drum riser for soundproofing reasons (less surface area touching the floor...) but that was it. Nothing more techinical than that.

It will actually make the drums louder, because now there will be an airspace under the drums to vibrate as well.


tim

 

[drummerdude666]

True, I hadn't thought of that.

 

[daav]

I've heard of people filling the riser with sand that will absorb some of the sounds for practicing indoors/with neighbors. No direwct experience with this though.

I've thought of building such a thing, can any one verify that?

Daav

 

[JuliánFernández]

Hi guys! I just began to build my studio... All the things said here about raisers are true (al least a little)...
All the info you may need -not just to make a raiser, but an entire studio- can be found on

http://www.johnlsayers.com/phpBB2/index.php and http://www.saecollege.de/reference_material/index.html

Guys like Knightfly, Avare or Paul Woodlock will help you for sure...
I can say that a drum raiser must be constructed following the Mass Air Mass theory.
So, you need a mass on top (like a 30mm mdf or 2 layers of plywood), 2x5 studs, and neoprene pads. You can check Mason Industries for neoprene...
In order to prevent the drums to sound even louder, you must fill the space between the top on the raiser and the floor with high density fiberglass (something like 50 kg/m3), in other case it will resonate and you´ll get a LOT of undesirable sounds...
The original idea of a drum raiser is to avoid vibrations travel to the floor... by making the raiser, and putting neoprene under it, you can achieve less transmition, and eventually, better insolation.
Floating an entire floor with this technic is WHOLE different world. The theory is similar, but you have to make a lot more calculations, especially about neoprene or EPDM compression.
Check the links for more...

 

[notbradsohner]

a drum riser is usually made to decouple the drums from the floor. This keeps them from sending out vibrations directly onto the floor. Getting them off the floor gets a much purer sound out of your drums.

 

[Tim Walker]

Live gig drum riser

Back in the 80's we had the best looking drum riser. It was 5 metal trash cans (upside down) with black painted plywood on top. The apron was grey felt carpet type material taped on. It broke down quick and was easy to move, and looked professional in every club. The drummer was a good 2.5 -3 feet up.

tim

 

[mrface2112]

you use a riser to get the drums off the floor. nothing sucks the sound out of drums like a concrete floor. you elevate them about 6-12in and your kick and toms will come alive--especially if you make the riser out of wood. it takes a little "extra" to actually decouple the drums/riser from the room, but the primary reason is to get them off the floor.

it's essentially the same reason that you get an amp up off the floor.


cheers,
wade