new life for rubber heads?

[davezedlee]

i think i may have found a way to breathe some extra life into rubber/solid edrum pads... i used to own a TD3 setup and now have a DTX3, but found that sometimes for working on strictly mechanical technique exercises (ie hand/foot rolls, Rabb free-hand, double bass) i would use a slap together setup of a practice pad/Gibralter bass tower while watching soccer games :)

kept the noise down, and was easy to setup in front of a tv; eventually i slapped a SoundOff muffler on top of the pad, and preferred the feel/reduced noise of a soft rubber setup, and eventually wanted to transfer that same feeling to my edrum kits when Yamaha announced their new silicone pads (to subsequent rave reviews) i began looking into something similiar for my existing TP series pads, cuz spending $2k after already shelling out $3k just
isn't in the cards at the moment, although a single silicone snare pad isn't out of the question

so, to cut to the chase, it involves using an adhesive, soft, underlayer on top of the existing rubber surface, something that doesn't deaden the tracking ability too much, but could reduce the stick impact noise and vibration

i settled on a piece of eyeglass cloth over a base of... moongels, and it seems to be pretty effective... the gels are sticky enough to maintain constant contact with both surfaces with no travel, can be removed with no residue, reduce impact and noise (the softness of the cloth keeps them from tearing up) and both can be washed/replaced if either starts to wear down... they're also thin enough not to mess with rim triggers too much

i actually emailed RTOM about purchasing an 8" circular sheet, but got no love, so if any of you more astute DIY-ers know of any places to get a similiar elastomer in sheet form, please do share; a bunch of single squares is somewhat less elegant but seems to work, and best of all, can be tried for roughly $15 a pad, and can work on any solid surface (like the Alesis')

you DO need to up your trigger settings... on a TP10, an average wrist stroke that gave me a note velocity of 76 was reduced to about 45 or so; thicker/thinner elastomer sheets might help approximate the snare/tom pad "feeling"... it might be best to incorporate one pad at a time so that crosstalk doesn't become crazy

haven't tried it on a bass drum yet; adding it to the beater might work, but i might hold off until i can find a bigger sheet, or, at least, a larger single size "cloud"- there are kids toysets that have them as decorative window displays

you could use a thinner-ish mouse pad if you want, but to be effective it might have to be a permanent solution (ie, glued)

also, sculpture/movie supply houses have silicone kits that you can buy that allows you to mix your own formulations for hard/soft, and the "removable skin scar" kits could make them removable, but it seems like too much work/mess/fumes

so anyone able to track down a Canadian supply would be most
welcome... that or a VERY large lint roller!

good luck

[dschrammie]

This sounds like something that should be made into a video and submitted as an entry in the video tutorial contest!

[davezedlee]

well it would be VERY short

place moongel on pad

cover with suitable cloth

play

:)

[zoltan]

Using sticky hands seem to be cheaper than moongels. You'll have to cut them to shape though.
http://cgi.ebay.com/3-MINI-STICKY-HANDS-LOT-0F-144-CARNIVALS-PARTIES_W0QQitemZ140393713491QQcmdZViewItemQQptZLH _DefaultDomain_0?hash=item20b01e0f53#ht_500wt_1182

[davezedlee]

well, the closest i've seen is self adhesive gels from McMaster-Carr, who apparently don't ship to Canada

but a 9" square would cost about $40... this would work... it would be like having a removable/temporary black dot head, but one that you could place where you want, with the color of material you want as well

the moongels make excellent shock absorbers, just enough to reduce the impact from rubber heads

[davezedlee]

found these

not pro, but work well; less stick noise, softer feel, and can be played on directly

so the concept's there, at least

http://s2.postimage.org/JBTo0.jpg (http://www.postimage.org/image.php?v=TsJBTo0)

[zoltan]

What about these: http://cgi.ebay.com/6-New-moongel-7-Drum-workout-pads-kit-snare-percussion_W0QQitemZ150424806875QQcmdZViewItemQQpt ZLH_DefaultDomain_0?hash=item23060465db
They are more expensive but round and 7".

[zoltan]

found these


Where did you get them?

[davezedlee]

i found those easter egg things in a toy store at one of our famous Toronto Chinese malls... whenever i need exotic materials, there always seems at least one vendor (out of about 300) that has something similiar (last time, it was a composite first-gen Xbox cable)

only $4, so i bought 4 packages, and even put one of the small flower shapes on my bass drum beater... its a yamaha, so there still is a fair amount of noise, but less clicky, and it has a little more give now

the large moongel would be too thick, plus you are paying for the base, which you don't need, and would then have to get it to stick to your pads

i'm in Toronto, but those stateside could try searching for an iPad Sticky XL, or similiar dashboard sticky holder... those would probably need a piece of cloth over them

[davezedlee]

video here: about 40Mb

http://rapidshare.com/files/377075255/gel_EGG_comp.AVI.html
http://img11.imageshack.us/img11/8776/dteggs3.jpg

http://img534.imageshack.us/img534/7559/starbeater.jpg

[zoltan]

I wonder if these are the same stuff that you found:
http://cgi.ebay.com/Easter-Gel-Window-Clings-Decoration-Lot-Of-4-271_W0QQitemZ390184363978QQcmdZViewItemQQptZLH_Def aultDomain_0?hash=item5ad8cce7ca#ht_1964wt_941

[davezedlee]

those would be the same... i would recommend to get the largest physical size you can find

i may end up trimming the top "egg" on mine in order to eliminate the small triangular space in the center

or until i find 6-8" single size sheets... they work well on cymbals too