Author Topic: Any good ways to dampen the DMPad cybmals or make them quieter?  (Read 1970 times)

Hi, I'm new to the forum. Just got a DM10 Studio with some added larger pads and the 682Drums mesh conversion should be arriving tomorrow in the mail (very excited). I'm very interested in getting the quietest possible acoustic playing, as we live in an apartment with poor sound isolation. I'm pretty confident that the mesh heads will be quiet enough, but I noticed that the 16" DMpad ride I got, as well as the "cheaper" non-mutable 12" crash are relatively loud when hit even softly. I can easily imagine the repeated hits to the ride cymbal annoying someone in the next room or downstairs. I'm therefore really interested to see if anyone's had any luck with efforts to apply further dampening to the cymbals? I've tried a couple things, like additional store-bought foam and even various types of cloth, but I haven't found anything yet that's both effective and relatively aesthetically pleasing while retaining enough stick-bounce. I know it's got to be possible, because at one point I had a washcloth doubled up on the ride bow and the hits were virtually silent while retaining a little bounce too....but if possible I want to avoid taping a washcloth to my cymbals.  :P

I tried looking around in these forums, and a couple people have mentioned this topic, but I've not seen anyone report back on whether they've had any successes. Any input or thoughts (particularly from people who have done some experimenting) would be very welcome. Thanks!

Offline Khes74

Re: Any good ways to dampen the DMPad cybmals or make them quieter?
« Reply #1 on: March 19, 2015, 12:38:12 PM »
Hi, I'm new to the forum. Just got a DM10 Studio with some added larger pads and the 682Drums mesh conversion should be arriving tomorrow in the mail (very excited). I'm very interested in getting the quietest possible acoustic playing, as we live in an apartment with poor sound isolation. I'm pretty confident that the mesh heads will be quiet enough, but I noticed that the 16" DMpad ride I got, as well as the "cheaper" non-mutable 12" crash are relatively loud when hit even softly. I can easily imagine the repeated hits to the ride cymbal annoying someone in the next room or downstairs. I'm therefore really interested to see if anyone's had any luck with efforts to apply further dampening to the cymbals? I've tried a couple things, like additional store-bought foam and even various types of cloth, but I haven't found anything yet that's both effective and relatively aesthetically pleasing while retaining enough stick-bounce. I know it's got to be possible, because at one point I had a washcloth doubled up on the ride bow and the hits were virtually silent while retaining a little bounce too....but if possible I want to avoid taping a washcloth to my cymbals.  :P

I tried looking around in these forums, and a couple people have mentioned this topic, but I've not seen anyone report back on whether they've had any successes. Any input or thoughts (particularly from people who have done some experimenting) would be very welcome. Thanks!

I don't think there is a really a good way of doing it. The Dmpad cymbals are pretty quiet. Your best bet may just to get an isolation booth type thing. A drum riser right work well also.

Re: Any good ways to dampen the DMPad cybmals or make them quieter?
« Reply #2 on: March 19, 2015, 02:15:33 PM »
Hmmm...right now a medium-intensity hit on my ride sounds about as loud as the stock realheads on any of the drum pads. I'd hardly call that quiet.   ???  I've tried figuring out exactly where the sound is coming from and it doesn't seem to be vibrations from the cymbal stand or rack; it's coming from the properties of the cymbals themselves. And on the two problematic cymbals, the issue is slightly different. On the ride, it seems like there isn't quite enough padding on top of the harder surface. However, the 12" crash seems to create a tone related to the unpadded part of the cymbal. If I grip the outer (unpadded) edge of the cymbal, then the sound is basically as quiet as the chokable 12" and 14" cymbals. One thought is that I could replace that 12", but it seems unfortunate to have to replace a whole cymbal just to get it quieter....

Offline Khes74

Re: Any good ways to dampen the DMPad cybmals or make them quieter?
« Reply #3 on: March 19, 2015, 07:08:35 PM »
Hmmm...right now a medium-intensity hit on my ride sounds about as loud as the stock realheads on any of the drum pads. I'd hardly call that quiet.   ???  I've tried figuring out exactly where the sound is coming from and it doesn't seem to be vibrations from the cymbal stand or rack; it's coming from the properties of the cymbals themselves. And on the two problematic cymbals, the issue is slightly different. On the ride, it seems like there isn't quite enough padding on top of the harder surface. However, the 12" crash seems to create a tone related to the unpadded part of the cymbal. If I grip the outer (unpadded) edge of the cymbal, then the sound is basically as quiet as the chokable 12" and 14" cymbals. One thought is that I could replace that 12", but it seems unfortunate to have to replace a whole cymbal just to get it quieter....


The realheads are loud due to being plastic. Try mesh heads if you want quiter drum pads.

Offline Trondster

Re: Any good ways to dampen the DMPad cybmals or make them quieter?
« Reply #4 on: March 20, 2015, 09:55:43 AM »
The realheads are loud due to being plastic. Try mesh heads if you want quiter drum pads.
Uhm - yes. This topic is about the cymbals, though. ;)
DM10 Pro kit with dampened rack, extra crashes, mesh heads, Gibraltar stands, P2002C and a dream cherry snare by Diamond Drums.