Electric drum set

[Chris111384]

Hello!
I recently purchased a midsize electric drumset... nothing too expensive. I bought it so I could practice in my apartment. I live on a 3rd floor, and I have found my neighbors still complain about the noise. Does anyone know of any thing I could do to prevent sound from traveling through my floor into the neighbors?
Has anyone else encountered this problem? What did you do?

[Markadiddle]

What kind of kit is it and what to you have under it now?

Welcome to DC BTW!

[jgziegler]

where do you live Chris? I mean, it could be because you are playing too hard or the walls are made of paper, what I do when im practicing later is have one headphone slightly off my head just to make sure I'm not playing loudly.

If you can honestly say you aren't playing loudly, I would suggest having a look at what are the quiet hours where you live. Ultimately, if you are maintaining a proper decibel level, they can't do anything but complain. Are there any barking dogs or crying kids in your place?

Also, who exactly is complaining? Neighbors below means its probably your BD. And just to cover all bases, you are using headphones right?

In 18months of having band practice in my flat, I've had 1 complaint, when i was practicing by myself after 10pm. I was doing too many rim shots on my e-snare. The other week, I was practicing at 11pm, very careful to play softly, which is also good training!

Let us know how it goes!

[Chris111384]

It is a simmons 5 piece. Not my first choice, but it does what it needs to for the price. I live in an apartment complex in florida. Getting complaints is, people knocking on my door to tell me to stop, they even claim to hear it on the 1st floor.

And yes, I am using headphones. The floors seam pretty solid, and we never ever hear any of the neighbors through our common walls.

Playing softer can be an option, but is tough when I'm practicing blast beats and whatnot haha. I have nothing under it now, just carpeting. Was thinking about putting a mattress pad or something like that underneath to soften the blow when stomping on my kick.

And thanks for the welcome!

[MDK]

Need some type of rubber feet to absorb the shock. I think someone here did something with tennis balls or the like.

[Markadiddle]

I was looking back through threads trying to find one of late8's posts regarding this. He had some really good ideas regarding floors. Now where the heck did that go.....

[Bish]

Need some type of rubber feet to absorb the shock. I think someone here did something with tennis balls or the like.

I was thinking this, also.

Better yet, take it to the balcony for a test. After several hours of "rehearsing" if your balcony falls, you are playing too hard. If not, it may be the best place for it.

BTW, welcome to Drum Chat.

[Cdeleone]

Move. Living in an apartment with people below/above you is a tough living situation, especially when the ceilings aren't made of concrete. Can you hear your upstairs neighbors walking around? Unfortunately, when you hit the bass drum pedal it most likely thuds on the floor. I can totally understand why this would be an issue...good luck!

[8beat]

Maybe if you don't use the pedals then you can still practice on the pads.

It might help to turn on the TV and radio in the next room. The TV and radio noise might conceal your drum sounds.

[The_Epsicle]

This idea might be a little overkill but I am looking at almost the exact same living situation soon, and while I have yet to buy an E-kit I do see this same problem arising. Maybe take a wooden shipping pallet and convert it into a drum riser , I suggest a pallet simply because many big box stores tend to just throw them away and will probably give you some for free. This is of course only applicable if you are handy with tools. You could stuff some blankets/old clothes/ on the underside of the pallet to insulate it while still maintaining a solid base for your set, really wouldn't be too difficult if you put your mind to it.

[Cdeleone]

you almost have to create a floating floor...here are some ideas:

1) You could create a hover craft of sorts by getting a leaf blower, stuff bike tubes/inflatable raft into a drum riser, attach e-kit to drum riser, turn on leaf blower and hover above the floor.

2) Find studs on opposing walls and screw in some eye bolts about 5 ft off the ground. Build a drum riser and attach metal wire/chain to the bolts and have it suspended above the ground.

3) Cover your entire floor about a foot thick with egg crates/foam/insulation and cover that with plywood. Then place your drum set on top of plywood.

4) Buy a flying carpet and play on top of that

[crispycritters]

I remember 8beats old thread about his 'tennis ball platform'. Basically he used a large sheet of something like MDF with carpeting or a drum mat on top (I think) large enough to accommodate the size of the drumset and placed it on top of about 15 or so tennis balls, the balls would squash under the weight of the board with drum kit on top so the platform would not move. the air layer underneath the board would insulate the impact of the pedals travelling through the floors and wooden joists on the building. I suspect it is mainly the noise of your pedals rather than the volume of your drums which is irritating your neighbours - they are probably hearing a constant rhythmic banging noise travelling through the floor joists.

Platform is for the drum set only - the throne remains on the floor - you probably would have to raise the throne by a few inches to compensate for the height of the set.

[The_Epsicle]

I found this post from 2010 that seems to illustrate what you all are talking about.

It isn't that bad. I know MANY people in another forum that have e-kits in apartments and they do just fine. The main issue is vibration, not the acoustic noise of hitting the pads. What many of them do is build what they call a "Tennis Ball Platform" which is two boards with tennis balls in between them and an area rug on top. Apparently, this absorbs all the vibration from the drum set and the neighbors won't hear a thing. Here are some pics that someone posted on that forum:

[The_Epsicle]

I also found this:



Parts from the floor upwards:
8 rubber buttons as feet
1000 x 700 x 19 mm MDF board
8 tennis balls
Another MDF board
Impact sound isolation foamed plastic for laminate floors
10 mm rubber gym mat
Another layer of floor isolation
Runner carpet

[Chris111384]

Thank you so much everyone! Definately going to thry the tennis ball thing and post if it worked.

Also, might try the flying carpet...