Dear Sensorypercussionists,
What are your best tips for playing quietly in an apartment building with SP?
I play a small set 18" kick, 12" + 14" toms and a 14" snare with Remo Silent Strike Drum Dead on which I have the SP-sensors installed.
The loudest thing is definitely the bass drum when pedaling. Has anyone had good experience installing SP on a bass drum practice pad so that you can still train at least both important drum head areas “closed” + “open” and possibly the other areas (rim tip, rim shoulder, hardware, shell)? I don’t get a clear constant signal in my tests. Where exactly do you place the sensor on the bass drum practice pedal? What works best for you?
Has anyone had good experiences with training SP with an upside down bass drum pedal a cushion or on some other soft surface on the floor? After all, it’s always important to get a clear constant signal?
Two or more signals from a bass drum with sensory would be great, but I need at least one clear and constant signal for my kick, of course.
Do you guys have any tips on how to get the snare and tom toms quieter with mesh heads? Can anyone recommend better dampened silent drum heads that work well or maybe better with SP?
What works quite well with SP is playing with sticks made of plastic or nylon. But you should then re-train the areas so that the response of the sticks and SP-software works properly. I have had good experiences with the Adoro Silent Sticks. These sticks have a separation at the very front of the head of the stick, which makes the assignment of “rim tip” and “rim shoulder” very precise. Tadaa!
In addition to SP, I play the acoustic zildjian silent cymbals at daytime, which are of course too loud at night, but that’s okay. Are there any ideas and tips on how to get the silent cymbals even quieter besides best-practices of classical room insulation?
Maybe we can share some ideas on playing as quietly as possible with SP, or it might be interesting for a blog article if this question interests several people.
Best
Tom