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Posted: **Thu Nov 16, 2006 4:01 pm**

I live in a third story apartment and have trouble getting practice time in before the neighbors get home. I've even been forced to get rid of my fiberglass galaxys because they are too loud. Would I benefit from some accoustic foam on the walls or anything like that, or should I save my money and look for a practice space. A couple people on another board suggested a storage building in a busy part of town where nobody cares if I'm banging on drums. Does anyone have any secrets for quiet practice or good places to go. I want to be able to practice slaps without getting a knock on the door from the neighbor.

Posted: **Thu Nov 16, 2006 9:36 pm**

Hi DeadHead:
I had posted the exact same question a few months ago. I'll give you some suggestions:

- If you wish to practice with your drums, try looking at local community colleges and state universities. Sometimes, you can register for a 1h class, become a student and use the music practice rooms.
- Even if you can't use their music rooms, you can find other places accessible to students, like gyms, dance department rehearsal rooms, etc. I have found a lot of luck with dance dept rehearsal rooms where I am. Just take your student ID and the cops won't bother you.
I note that you are in Austin, TX, which is a great college town, so you might have some luck.

- Also, try watch some of the local salsa bands nearby and ask the congueros where they practice..

- For a little while, I practiced in this huge parking lot by the university where I am. Unfortunately, it was difficult because people kept driving by to watch me, some would give me compliments, some insults.

The most effective for me, and I have been doing this regularly for the past 4-5 months: I went to home depot, and bought a circular slab of wood (with a sunmica coating, so that there are no splinters). I drilled two holes near the edge, and put rope through those holes. Then I tie the wooden slab around my thighs, on my lap, while I am in a seated position.

So i'm sitting on the drum seat and I use another chair to support the piece of wood in front of me.

This technique is very effective, because I have a portable practice pad, that I just use at home. It also reduces the stress of worrying about being thrown out from a practice room by the cops, or complaints from neighbours. Wood doesn't project sound too far and loud, and it really prepares your hands. After months of practice, I can make slaps sound different from 'opens' and muffs. My hands hurt so bad in the beginning, really really bad, a lot of bleeding, both in my hands and kidneys, but now they are like rock. its the best thing I did. After that kind of practice, congas are a breeze. I do go practice at my instructors house once a week, so I haven't lost touch with my congas.

good luck my friends, I highly recommend the wood slab. home depot has them with a mica finish, or bare wood if you prefer. bare wood could give you splinters, and then blisters, so go with mica.

Posted: **Thu Nov 16, 2006 9:36 pm**

If you want to prevent sound from travelling through walls etc. you need to put up some heavy dead material like concrete, gypsum plaster (dry wall) etc. Foam won't change anything at all in this situation. Soft materials like foam is for making the sound invironment nicer in the room you are practicing in, but doesn't do anything for the neighbours.

I would seriously recommend the storage building or stuffing your tumbadoras with blankets.

Troels

Edited By troels on 1163713119

Posted: **Fri Nov 17, 2006 8:52 pm**

i use the pearl practice conga head, it works great if you are working on rudiments. the sounds are basically the same when you start using it but, once you get it down your sounds will become more defined. the only thing is that after a while it kinda becomes boring. but it beats getting kicked out of your apartment.
how about a family member or a buddy's house. i have practiced before inside a closet. or maybe you can put a few strips of tape inside the conga on the heads to dampen the sound. where there's a will there's a way brother. im sure youll find a solution to your problem.

Good luck

oz

Posted: **Fri Nov 17, 2006 9:22 pm**

also, if you decide to play in a garage/closet, etc, you could try looking for soundproofing material in a place like home depot. Another option is to go to dennys or ihop, or the supermarket and see if they have extra egg cartons. those can help.

i agree with ozrivera, this process of 'finding a way' is very helpful - you toughen up a bit, and not let anything or anybody bring you down.

Posted: **Fri Nov 17, 2006 10:40 pm**

the best thing is to find a job in a music shop , then you can play as much as you want without disturbing anyone

Posted: **Mon Nov 20, 2006 4:59 pm**

I had an apartment some years back. I was very up front with the leasing office. I said, I play drums... I am loud. When can I play and when cant I play? They told me I could play until 9:00 PM. So thats what I did. I had some people that enjoyed it and some that didnt. if I wanted to practice late at night I'd only do rhudiment drills and stuff like that with a thin blanket draped over the drums. Worked very well.

Foam on the walls... peobably wont help much in an apartment setting.

Posted: **Mon Nov 20, 2006 5:12 pm**

Even deep in the jungles of oklahoma is hard to find a place where u can practice....

Edited By verticalgil on 1164042830

Posted: **Tue Nov 21, 2006 7:51 pm**

i live in a house but sometimes when i get in and it's late and the wife and kids are sleep.i put on a regular pair of mittens.and it muffles the sound quite a bit and i still get to work out

Posted: **Wed Nov 22, 2006 4:38 pm**

thats a good idea boogie, i'll give that a try

Posted: **Thu Nov 23, 2006 5:17 am**

guys,
i live in a house with four room. i use the farther room from my neighborhood which makes the less sound. the room is especially for practice. but still is heard next house. i have to use padding for my timbales and cowbell. congas, and bongos i can practice without problems. i am will in the future build a sound proff practice room. my best and ache to all!! franc

Posted: **Sun Dec 03, 2006 2:43 pm**

If at home, I practice using the Pearl conga practice pad. As someone else said, it can be a bit boring, but it's relatively quiet and does not vibrate through the floor into the room below.

I also teach in a music store and am able to use the teaching rooms for practice. As long as the room is not booked out, I can usually practice before and after lessons.

I am also able to practice at a local park. It's pretty quiet and the only time I was disturbed by a person was when I was asked "what sort of thing is that?" when I was practicing cuica.

I am often disturbed by dogs when I play the cuica. They bark like crazy! But drums such as hand drums, congas, djembe, repique de mao etc don't seem to bother them.

Posted: **Mon Dec 04, 2006 12:45 am**

The I like the park idea. I love playing outdoors on a nice day-something fresh about it. I think the storage rental or friends house is the best bet. I used to live in an apartment and hated it. I never felt free to play anything. wasn't till i bought a house that i started feeling free again. now i play whenever i want. Wife an kids don't mind-they sleep right thru it. i got 'em trained well!

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