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Is it possible to learn/play drums in an apartment?


Holy War

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Been awhile since I've been around these parts wave.gif

So I get back from my deployment in May and I am thinking of picking up a nice 5 piece starter kit. I live in an apartment in Southern California and have played guitar there for a while with a rockerverb and DSL100 turned up a quarter of the way with no complaints thus far. Is it possible to get an acoustic set with dampening pads and play in an apartment without bring the super on my back?

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Buy a decent used kit. Get a good brand like Yamaha or something used because those starter kits from CB and whatnot are crap.

Instead of the muted, I find that Hot Rods are the best for quiet practice. You'll till have to mute your bass drum somehow, but hot rods quiet everything down and still retain feel.

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Quote Originally Posted by peavey_impact

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Even playing on an e-kit will put out a surprising amount of noise. Really depends on how insulated your apartment is and how cool your neighbors are.

 

If he's on the 1st floor it should be doable though. YOu're right though, the sticks do still make noise, especially on the rubber cymbals and so does the bass drum pedal.
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Quote Originally Posted by Thurston View Post
If he's on the 1st floor it should be doable though. YOu're right though, the sticks do still make noise, especially on the rubber cymbals and so does the bass drum pedal.
Roland has a mesh bass drum. that would help.

But still, the cymbals...
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Quote Originally Posted by Thurston View Post
If he's on the 1st floor it should be doable though. YOu're right though, the sticks do still make noise, especially on the rubber cymbals and so does the bass drum pedal.
Roland has a mesh bass drum. that would help.

But still, the cymbals...
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No way that's going to work in an apartment. I would look at a good electronic set as a possible solution. Besides, if you ever want to record drums then you can hook it up to your computer, send the Midi to Superior Drummer or another drum module and you'll have killer sounding recordings without miking anything up.

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Quote Originally Posted by this is paul View Post
No. It's possible with electronics if you live on the first floor, but otherwise the constant kick pedal action will have your neighbors knocking in no time.
Even then, you'd either want very solid walls or some rather cooperative neighbours. Or both. Even an e-drum kit still makes a fair bit of noise. Nowhere near an acoustic kit of course, but you're still whacking shit with sticks.

Got a drummer friend you can borrow some sticks and a practice pad from? Coz that'd give you a bit of an idea what it'd sound like in your place hitting just one pad. Then imagine a whole kit of that.
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I have a massive e-drum kit and while I don't live in an apartment I can tell you some key tips to keeping things quiet.

Firstly, build yourself one of these platforms.

Secondly, the new(ish) Yamaha DTX "XP" series pads are bar none the quietest e-drum pads on the market.

Rubberized cymbals aren't actually loud at all if you hit them on the rim since the rim is usually the roll over point of the rubber, providing a squishy zone to hit. Yamaha's PCY135 and PCY155 cymbals are the best bang for the buck, but really any of the fully rubberized "realistic looking" cymbals will do. Just don't buy ANY that are plastic or metal with a cushioned strike zone. They are all loud.

The hi-hat is personal choice. You can get the real deal looking ones (eg Roland VH-12) or the more simplistic ones (eg Roland VH-11) but they're noise level is mostly dependent on your force. Again, only buy the fully rubberized ones. The VH-11 is has the best ratio of quiet play, feel, and price.

The bass drum is the killer, though. Some bass e-drums are awesome to play on (eg. Yamaha KP125 - best bang for buck bass e-drum) but aren't super quiet. A mesh bass drum (eg. Roland KD140) is the quietest but may be a tad more bouncy than a drummer coming from an acoustic set would want (plus the KD140 is ridiculously expensive).

Then, of course, there's the other route of just buying an acoustic kit for cheap and then converting it by building in the triggers and replacing the acoustic skins with mesh heads. It's actually not hard to do, it's by far the best looking option, it's closer to the "real" thing, it's cheaper, and it's quiet.

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Quote Originally Posted by Johnny Two Tone View Post

Do that. I don't find a huge difference between heavily muted acoustic drums and an ekit for environmental noise. The muted acoustic kit will sound like ass, but it's an actual drum kit at those times you can un-mute. Electronic drums sound OK through headphones... but the feel will never quite be right, and they'll never match the sound of acoustic drums. Your call.
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Quote Originally Posted by ermghoti II View Post
Do that. I don't find a huge difference between heavily muted acoustic drums and an ekit for environmental noise. The muted acoustic kit will sound like ass, but it's an actual drum kit at those times you can un-mute. Electronic drums sound OK through headphones... but the feel will never quite be right, and they'll never match the sound of acoustic drums. Your call.
Have you heard Steven Slate Drums 4.0? I guarantee you no one out there without professional recording/micing gear can make their drum recordings sound better.
The idea that acoustic drums "just sound better" than absolutely everything that the e-drum market has to offer is such an old cliche. Does anyone here play and record drums? Most acoustic drum sets, in an average Joe's home setup, sound like ear rape.

"...they'll never match the sound of acoustic drums." You silly guys. Ten years from now you won't even realize that what you're listening to is entirely programmed.
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Quote Originally Posted by Johnny Two Tone View Post
Have you heard Steven Slate Drums 4.0? I guarantee you no one out there without professional recording/micing gear can make their drum recordings sound better.
The idea that acoustic drums "just sound better" than absolutely everything that the e-drum market has to offer is such an old cliche. Does anyone here play and record drums? Most acoustic drum sets, in an average Joe's home setup, sound like ear rape.
Where did I mention better/worse? Sample libraries are great, I have BFD myself. Nothing sounds and feels like acoustic drums, and I'm not talking about recording.

Quote Originally Posted by Johnny Two Tone View Post
"...they'll never match the sound of acoustic drums." You silly guys. Ten years from now you won't even realize that what you're listening to is entirely programmed.
I'm not talking about ten years from now, I'm talking about the entry-level e-kit he is going to buy tomorrow. Ten years from now doesn't help him.
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Quote Originally Posted by Johnny Two Tone View Post
Have you heard Steven Slate Drums 4.0? I guarantee you no one out there without professional recording/micing gear can make their drum recordings sound better.
The idea that acoustic drums "just sound better" than absolutely everything that the e-drum market has to offer is such an old cliche. Does anyone here play and record drums? Most acoustic drum sets, in an average Joe's home setup, sound like ear rape.

"...they'll never match the sound of acoustic drums." You silly guys. Ten years from now you won't even realize that what you're listening to is entirely programmed.
how are you still alive with no oxygen reaching your brain?
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