How To Be A Drummer In The City

Musician 1st Class Jason Robertson, band leader and drummer, By U.S. Navy photo by Chief Mass Communication Specialist Dave Kaylor

Not all city drumming is this pleasant.

Voice and drums are the original instruments. Unfortunately, as anyone knows who tries to sing outside of the shower or drum outside of a studio, not everyone is a fan. It’s pretty hard to get good at an instrument without practicing though, so something’s got to give. In that vein, we’ve come up with four solutions to the problem of drumming in the city (or anywhere neighbors might not enjoy feeling the rhythm as much as you do).

Lessonface drum coach Marc Mendes plays the buckets next to Fenway Park in Boston in the video above. If you don’t want to play outside you can try our four pieces of advice below.

Rent a studio space

Studio spaces are available in many metropolitan areas for a reasonable rate. You should be able to find a good spot, sometimes with 24-hour availability, for under $500 a month. That’s not particularly cheap, but neither are the drums in general and you still chose them so that shouldn’t surprise you. Another option is using a jam studio as your practice space, like NYC’s Sweatshop. This can get a little bit expensive, but it’s a fun way to break up the routine and if you play with a group you can split the cost effectively.

Practice off the kit

Doing drills quietly with your hands and feet is a great way to improve dexterity, control, and speed without bothering the people around you. Lessonface drum coach Kevin Lopez has a great idea for drills you can do without sticks on your thighs and the floor:

“Try exercises that involve alternating your hands and feet. For example, play four measures of sixteenth notes alternating between your right hand and foot. Do the same thing for the next four measures but with your left hand and foot. For the next four measures, try alternating between your right hand and left foot. For the next four measures, try alternating between your left hand and right foot. Remember to start slow at first and use a metronome if you're having trouble with timing. Try various different combinations/patterns then switch up the subdivision to sixteenth note triplets. You can do these exercises pretty much anywhere (as long as the people around you don't mind the noise, of course).”

Buy an electronic kit

Electronic kits are a revolutionary tactic, and at least a couple of our teachers use them in their lessons. And don't worry, learning how to play drums on an electronic kit doesn't prevent you from becoming a great drummer on an acoustic kit.

"They are good for people who live in situations where making noise is a problem," says Lessonface drum teacher Todd Isler. "Nothing replaces a real drum. I think Roland makes a model that is not prohibitively expensive."

Electronic kits literally make as much sound as a practice pad, and they come with the added bonus of easy recording and seemingly infinite sounds available in one kit. Quietly practicing the drum tutorial your drum coach gave you or learning how to play drums during the awkward phase is a nice touch. Electronic kits still aren't perfect, however. Pedals are still going to be your neighbors’ enemy, as they don’t make the loud boom of the bass drum audible, they just make the sound of beating on the floor instead.

“For those who are looking into purchasing [an electronic kit], I suggest picking a model that has a diverse sound bank and is durable,” suggests Lopez. “Remember, buying a kit (electric or acoustic) is an investment, so choose one that's really worth the price.”

I have a Tama Iron Cobra double pedal and if I decide to go in for a double bass roll, everyone knows. This has caused problems in the past with some overly studious neighbors in college, and is always a danger. Oftentimes I find myself leaving my left foot on the hi hat pedal in order to quiet the overall noise level. I imagine my neighbors don’t want to listen to the sound of my feet for an hour a day during the week and two a day on the weekend. This clearly hurts my overall footwork, which is a major bummer. If you can snag a first-floor apartment then that helps quite a bit.

Kill ‘em with kindness/involve your neighbors

Muffling your kit by stuffing pillows and old blankets in them can help, but there’s no such thing as a silent instrument. The best way to keep your neighbors silent about your noise level is to involve them in the process.

When I was first learning how to play drums, I lived in a condo with neighbors on each side. Back then I had only an acoustic kit, and unfortunately taught myself how to play drums without the aid of a great drum coach to show me the way. There was no finesse in my game, that’s for sure. I played with poor technique and smashed drumsticks, cymbals, and drum heads with regularity. The noise level was so high that a neighbor who lived about a quarter of a mile away used to listen to me play from his front porch. Oh, and I played at least an hour every day for years before purchasing an electronic kit or taking some drums lessons to improve my technique and overall ability. I couldn’t drive to take drum lessons and we didn’t have the internet in my house back then, so I couldn’t try out online drum lessons.

How, you might be wondering, did I manage this without leading my neighbors to even once try to kill me?

By being nice. Really. It works.

That doesn’t mean you should bake a drums cake (although that probably wouldn’t hurt). It means you should speak with your neighbors and tell them your instrument is really important to you and you need to play everyday, but that you would love to work out a schedule that makes sense. Find the hours that your neighbors are most likely to not be home and schedule your drum practice time during that block; ask them to compromise on some hours if you’ll respect an understood “quiet time.” Heck, if need be, write a contract stipulating your playing time. Above all, show that you mean well, and you’re far more likely to earn the benefit of the doubt when your neighbors hear you practicing a full-kit 64-note roll for five straight minutes in order to keep your chops up.

Oh, and if all else fails, buy them ear plugs.

Are you a drummer learning how to play drums in the city? You can leave your thoughts in the comments section or Tweet us @lessonface.

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