“No you can’t learn the drums. Drums are too noisy”
"Will you stop that racket? I can’t hear myself think”
“I’m calling the police if you carry on making that noise”
These are all phrases that as drummers, we may be familiar with. Drums are noisy: fact. However, there are easier ways to play drums at home without bothering your family or neighbours. Here are the 3 main options:
Silencer Pads
Rubber pads that sit on top of your drums and cymbals, and cut down a lot of the volume. They’re easy to fit - just place them on top of your drums and you’re good to go. Our silencer pads are available in a variety of sizes to fit all kits and cymbals. They also come in packs - we recommend the Vic Firth sets at £79.99.
Check out our full range of practice and silencer pads here: www.cookes.co.uk/categories/practice-silencer-pads
Mesh heads
The mesh heads replace the conventional plastic drum heads on your kit. The mesh heads are made of a fine net (or “mesh”), a little like ladies tights. They still give some tone, and feel similar to a standard drum head. Available separately or in packs, they’re an easy way to cut your volume when practising whilst retaining some tone and feel.
We recommend the Remo Silentstroke mesh heads. They are available in all sizes from 6” to 24”.
Remo Silentstroke heads on our website: www.cookes.co.uk/products/search=silentstroke
Low Volume Cymbals
The mesh heads are great for snares, toms and bass drums but you’ll still need a way of lowering your cymbal volume. The Zildjian L80 range are perfect for this job. They are normal cymbals but with thousands of small holes, so you keep the feel and look of a normal cymbal but with 80% less noise. We have these set up in our showroom and customers can’t believe how quiet they are! They don’t hang around for long, so come in and try them out.
www.cookes.co.uk/products/zildjian-l80-low-volume-cymbal-set-lv468-14-16-18
The Full Monty