Best way to soundproof A2E toms?

[TheYardbird]

Hi there! Some of you might have read a bit of the other thread I've made where I discuss my plans of making an A2E conversion kit, now I have yet another questions wich others might have thought about and could use some pointers: The best way to get your toms/snare as quiet as possible?

There are many different ''ways'' you can ''equip'' you toms. You can go with only a mesh-head at the batter side and no resonant head and nothing inside the drum. Or you could use mesh heads on both sides and put some fabric or foam (like a cutout from one of those foam mattresses with the ''spikes'' on one side) to absord noise, although this would result on the rebounce and feeling of the tom to change(?)
You could also just glue some random foam onto the inside of the shells to absord noise, there are many ways, but wich one is the most effective?

What kind of sound-proofing to you have on your toms? What do you think would be the best?

I was thinking a cut-out from one of those foam mattresses and do a cut-out that covers most part of the reso-head (it will be resting on the reso-head inside the shell) but still allows for some airflow in and out of the tom. I'll try and attach images of what kind of mattress I mean and what kind of shape I was thinking for the foam.

But, too much stuffing in the tom would probably result in much lesser rebound so you'll have to ''tune'' the batter mesh head very tight, might be something to be aware of.

Anyways, what do you guys think?


//Mike.

[bwilburn79]

If you're going to use toms with heads on both side's, I suggest leaving the mylar reso heads in place and lining it with a disc of spongy type foam to quiet them down. This assumes that your trigger setup will be a crossbar or edge mounted style. If you go the cake pan route, lining the bottom with a disc cut from an EVA foam yoga mat worked wonders for me. My setup is quieter than an open bottom pad like a PD-100. I wouldn't allow anything to rest against the batter head except the trigger.

[TheYardbird]

If you're going to use toms with heads on both side's, I suggest leaving the mylar reso heads in place and lining it with a disc of spongy type foam to quiet them down. This assumes that your trigger setup will be a crossbar or edge mounted style. If you go the cake pan route, lining the bottom with a disc cut from an EVA foam yoga mat worked wonders for me. My setup is quieter than an open bottom pad like a PD-100. I wouldn't allow anything to rest against the batter head except the trigger.

Iam quite sure that I will use Triggera's Intriggs in my set once I start putting it all together

[hairmetal-81]

[Sorry, Mike. I've wanted to come back at you, but the text-box of my PM crapped out!] Before you go with any 'fancy' insulation, you might try to just put mesh on each side of the drum. Since mesh is 'breathy', with tiny kinda holes in it, it let's the sound through, so should on the opposite side of the batter head too, without allowing any bad form of resonance. HTH

[triggera]

Iam quite sure that I will use Triggera's Intriggs in my set once I start putting it all together

Way to go!

[TheYardbird]

Well you guys seem to have a fantastic quality/price-ratio so for someone who tries to keep the costs down, it was kind of a given choice

[TheYardbird]

[Sorry, Mike. I've wanted to come back at you, but the text-box of my PM crapped out!] Before you go with any 'fancy' insulation, you might try to just put mesh on each side of the drum. Since mesh is 'breathy', with tiny kinda holes in it, it let's the sound through, so should on the opposite side of the batter head too, without allowing any bad form of resonance. HTH

Yeah I will probably test a bunch of variations to find what works best in terms of acoustic sound reduction while maintaining a good rebound and feel. Just wanted to check if someone had any tips on what to try or some surefire-method

[allanjohn]

I used a ring of computer packing foam (with bumps like your memory foam pic) and it works reasonably well, but the toms are still noisier than Roland baskets.

[Tommy_D]

Unless your drums are made of particle board, you will get natural resonance out of the shell with any type of head on the drum. The mylar resonant heads don't add much of any acoustic noise to the drum when a mesh batter head is on it. Just crank the resonant head tighter than you would with regular acoustic tuning and it won't vibrate enough to make much of an impact.

[KennyinDundee]

Ok id like to add something to this discussion if I may. I currently have triple mesh heads on the batter side of my cut shell toms and double mesh heads on the reso sides. They seem reasonably quiet. However, I wonder if changing the ply of the reso head to a single or triple would change the acoustic volume of the drums? Just a thought!

[ItsMe]

1" foam rolled round the inside of the shell from bottom up to your cake pan/platform trigger mounting system and mesh heads top and bottom I've found this to work well and hot glue down the seam on the inside when fitted.