Quiet Practice

Noise is the reason a lot of people buy an electronic kit, and also the reason some of them end up frustrated. Electronic drums are far quieter than acoustic drums, but they are not silent. This section covers how drum noise travels through a home, what neighbors are likely to hear and the fixes owners report actually work.

I write these pages from manufacturer specs and claims, product dimensions, basic building acoustics and a lot of owner feedback from apartment players. I do not have a sound lab and I do not quote decibel figures I have not seen published. When a manufacturer makes a noise claim, I say whose claim it is.

The two kinds of drum noise

Almost every complaint traces back to one of two things.

Airborne noise

This is the sound of sticks on pads and cymbals traveling through the air. On mesh heads it is a soft tap. On rubber pads and rubber cymbals it is a louder clack. Walls and closed doors stop most of it, so it bothers people in the same room more than the neighbors.

Impact noise

This is the thump of the kick beater, and to a lesser degree the hi-hat pedal and the throne, passing through the floor into the building's structure. It travels much further than airborne noise. A downstairs neighbor can hear it even when the room above sounds quiet. This is the noise behind most complaints.

For what those two kinds of noise add up to in practice, read how loud are electronic drums. If you share floors or walls, can neighbors hear electronic drums explains what usually carries through different buildings and what does not.

What the pages in this section cover

The section is built as a ladder, from free changes to buying a different kit.

Fixes, from cheapest to most serious

Owners who solved noise problems usually did it in steps. This is roughly the order the how-to guide follows.

1. Habits that cost nothing

• Agree on playing hours with the people below or next door, and stay inside any quiet hours in your lease.
• Use headphones, not an amp.
• Play the kick with a lighter foot. Burying the beater adds floor impact without making the drum louder in your headphones.
• Keep late sessions for hands: rudiments, stick control and grooves on the snare and hi-hat. Save heavy kick work for daytime.

2. A dense rug or drum mat

A thick rug or a drum mat stops the kick from sliding and soaks up small vibrations. On its own it rarely solves an upper-floor problem, but it is cheap and it is the base for everything else. The rug roundup picks the Roland TDM-20, which measures about 63 by 59 inches, as the best mat for most kits.

3. A pedal platform or riser

This is the fix most owners say made the real difference. A platform decouples the pedals, or the whole kit, from the floor with a layer that absorbs impact. Roland says its NE-10 Noise Eater, a low board for the kick and hi-hat pedals, cuts floor noise transfer by about 75%. NE-1 feet go under stand legs. The riser roundup compares those with Silent Stomper boards and full-kit decks like the Auralex HoverDeck, and the DIY riser guide covers the tennis ball build plus inner-tube and foam versions.

4. Changing the kick

Some owners switch to a felt beater or a lighter pedal setup, and some move to a beaterless kick. A beaterless pedal reads the pedal movement with a sensor instead of a beater hitting a pad, so the main thump disappears. The pedal still taps a little when it bottoms out, and you lose the option of a better pedal or a double pedal. Roland's KT-10 is the usual upgrade. For the full trade-off, see kick tower vs kick pad.

5. A quieter kit

If you have not bought yet, the kit itself can be part of the answer. The silent kit roundup leads with the Roland VQD106, which Roland says cuts playing noise by up to 75% compared with a conventional V-Drums kit. For a beginner budget it points to the TD-02KV, whose beaterless KT-1 kick is very quiet through the floor.

Pads, cymbals and kick type

Not all electronic kits are equally quiet, and the differences are mostly about materials and the kick.

Mesh heads are the quietest drum pads at the source: a soft tap rather than a clack.

Rubber pads produce more stick noise. Owners in shared rooms and thin-walled apartments notice it. The comparison of mesh vs rubber drum pads covers the difference in detail.

Cymbal pads are often rubber even on mid-range kits and can be the loudest airborne source in the room. They carry through open doorways, so a closed door matters.

Kick pads and towers with a real beater create the most impact noise. Beaterless pedals create the least, at the cost of feel and upgrade options.

Floors and buildings

The same kit can be fine in one home and a problem in another.

• Concrete slab floors usually carry less kick thump than wooden joist floors, according to owner reports, though it varies by building.
• Wooden joist floors, common in older houses and many US apartments, can carry kick thumps a long way.
• Upper floors are where impact noise matters. Ground floor and basement players report far fewer complaints, because there is nobody below.
• Shared walls mainly carry airborne noise, unless the kit or the throne touches the wall. Pull the kit a foot or so away.

If you have a choice of room, a ground floor room away from bedrooms is the easiest fix there is.

What owners report about specific fixes

Tennis ball risers

A sheet of plywood or MDF resting on tennis balls is popular because it is cheap and simple. Owners often report a clear drop in the thumps reaching the room below. The usual complaints are a slightly bouncy feel and the need to keep the whole kit on the platform, throne included. If the throne sits on the floor, some impact still travels through it.

Foam and rubber platforms

Layered platforms with dense foam or rubber under a rigid top feel more stable than tennis balls. Results depend on material density. Very soft foam compresses over time and loses effect.

Commercial platforms

Ready-made platforms cost more but save the build and usually come with a carpeted top. Owners mainly praise the convenience. Effectiveness varies by design, which is why the riser page goes through them one at a time.

The hi-hat pedal

Once the kick is fixed, some owners notice the hi-hat controller next, since it taps the floor every time it closes. Keeping it on the same platform as the kick solves both.

A noise plan for a first kit in a shared building

Based on what owners report, this order avoids most problems:

1. Set up away from shared walls, and not above a neighbor's bedroom if you can avoid it.
2. Put down a dense rug or drum mat before the first session.
3. Talk to the neighbor below before you start. Offer a test session where they tell you what they hear.
4. If they hear the kick, add a pedal platform or riser before buying anything else.
5. Only if that is not enough, look at a beaterless kick or a quieter kit.

Most people stop at step 2 or step 4. Very few need to replace the kit.

Quiet practice for families

In a family home, noise is often about the household rather than neighbors.

• Put the kit in a room away from bedrooms.
• Use closed-back headphones so the player hears the kit and the house does not hear the music.
• Use volume-limited headphones for younger children.
• Put a mat under the kit to cut rumble into the room below.

Age-based kit picks, including the quiet TD-02KV, are on the electronic drum sets for kids page.

Quiet options beyond a standard e-kit

A practice pad

If a kit is not possible at all, or it is very late, a practice pad keeps your hands working almost silently with no floor impact. Many experienced drummers use one daily for rudiments. The practice pad roundup leads with the Evans RealFeel 12-inch two-sided pad.

An apartment-first kit

If you are still choosing a kit and live in an apartment, the apartment kit list in the Kits section focuses on footprint and kick type. Noise fixes stay here.

Quieting an acoustic kit

Some readers already own an acoustic kit. Options include low-volume cymbals, mesh heads on acoustic shells and triggers that turn it into a hybrid. All of them cut airborne volume a lot, but the kick still creates impact noise, so the platform advice above still applies. Trigger setups are covered on the hybrid drum kit page.