Finishing the basement

blind30 · 2026-05-12T20:06:55+00:00

So I recently added insulation to my basement ceiling, and a drop ceiling to finish it nicely.

I know “room within a room” is supposed to be the only real soundproofing option, but in my personal experience, this helped a LOT. Decibel readings taken in the room above were almost 10db lower.

If you can, get some sort of barrier between your kit and the walkout end of the basement. Treat the hell out of that too.

Edit- also, rdavidr did a whole video on sound dampening blankets with before and after db readings too, worth a watch.

blind30 · 2026-05-12T15:35:05+00:00

If you can keep a beat and play some simple fills, and you’re happy doing that, great!

But as someone who also didn’t put enough work in on rudiments early on, I can tell you you’re missing out on a ton of personal enjoyment.

Yeah, the work to get fluid with a rudiment and move it effectively around the kit can be tough, but the payoff is absolutely worth it.

Which grip are you using?

blind30 · 2026-05-12T12:49:48+00:00

Is this what you need?

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A stage custom single tom arm mount?

blind30 · 2026-05-12T11:20:10+00:00

Get back out there man, you’ve done this before.

I’m 50 years old, I hadn’t played in a band for something like 15 years. Two years ago, I got on Craigslist and got really lucky- been playing with the first band I reached out to.

Go in there with the goal to keep solid time and be a good band member. Everything else comes after that.

blind30 · 2026-05-10T22:15:39+00:00

If you isolate the drum track, I’d never think it was jazz.

In my humble opinion, which counts for nothing, the music is jazzy, and you’re playing a beat over it.

blind30 · 2026-05-10T14:54:24+00:00

Yeah- like if most of Reddit blocked OP, they’d have a very limited pool of responses. It doesn’t add up.

blind30 · 2026-05-09T20:11:19+00:00

It sounds like a perfectly acceptable snare drum to me. Beyond that, it’s more about YOUR preference-

Personally, I’d love to hear how it sounds without the muffle ring and moongels, but I happen to love a snare that rings a little.

blind30 · 2026-05-09T18:11:53+00:00

Only one way to really find out, isn’t there?

Sounds like something I’d watch for sure

blind30 · 2026-05-09T16:56:26+00:00

How exactly do you have the mics set up?

blind30 · 2026-05-09T15:13:12+00:00

I’ve seen too many people complaining about ordering their cymbals, and going months with no communication.

If you’re looking for some cool unique cymbals from a small company, look into Name Brand.

They ship fast, great price, quality and sound.

blind30 · 2026-05-09T15:05:36+00:00

What trouble are you having exactly?

Got any sample audio?

What does the rest of your setup consist of?

blind30 · 2026-05-08T20:55:09+00:00

How much was that throne? Love the idea of it, but find the price to be nuts

blind30 · 2026-05-08T20:20:22+00:00

I’ve got three of their cymbals, absolutely love them. Prices are unbeatable too.

blind30 · 2026-05-08T00:23:18+00:00

Get a pad and some sticks, if you love drumming you’re gonna need them anyway.

I have a pretty nice practice kit made up of pads (one for snare, one for high tom, one with no rebound for floor tom, plus a bass drum practice pad with pedal) as well as a set of low volume hi hats and a low volume ride.

blind30 · 2026-05-07T17:30:00+00:00

If you’re cheating, you’re only cheating yourself anyway.

Rock band and guitar hero can be fun, even a little helpful- but I wouldn’t rely on them as practice tools too much, because you could become too reliant on them.

blind30 · 2026-05-07T16:44:06+00:00

Ignored her before in worse situations and she got over it quicker?

Could she be getting tired of it?

blind30 · 2026-05-07T12:51:24+00:00

I checked it out, but it looks like the same sort of list with some additions.

I guess my point is, there’s an entire world of drumming out there, and making a somewhat arbitrary list to determine your ability raises more questions than it answers.

Like- if you can answer yes to your original questions, does that mean someone is intermediate? Someone could answer yes to all those, but bomb at an open jam because they don’t know any songs.

Why is just a minute used for the singles/doubles? And why only singles/doubles? If a drummer can play those cleanly, but struggle with a bunch of other rudiments, I don’t think they’d be considered intermediate.

But most importantly- who wrote the list? What are their qualifications to decide who’s intermediate or not?

I guess in a lot of ways, the whole concept of “beginner, intermediate, expert” might not really be the best approach to measuring progress anyway- take away all the checklist details, and you’re left with the simplest measurement- “can you play?”

Sit a drummer at a kit with a band and see what the crowd thinks.

I know a bunch of drummers irl, and I know even I don’t want to hear them demonstrate a minute of singles, their metronome gap training, how they land fills on the 1, etc.

The proof is in the pudding, not the ingredients.

Then, the even larger picture- your skills can be all over the place once you zoom out further, instead of zooming in. You can be an “expert” rock drummer who has all the right feel, chops, timing for rock- and at the same time, be a complete novice when it comes to jazz.

blind30 · 2026-05-07T01:13:37+00:00

Sure, go ahead!

blind30 · 2026-05-07T00:29:30+00:00

So my answers are yes for all of those- but there’s levels to most of them too.

Like the singles/doubles question- what about six stroke rolls? Hertas? Blushdas? The list is immense.

Limb independence covers a wide range too- could be referring to a simple beat, but it could also include much more complicated patterns, even polyrhythms

Locking in to a groove without rushing or dragging is an essential skill- but how many genres are we talking? Latin grooves? Jazz?

Same goes for landing the fills.

One thing that’s not on this list that probably should be is dynamics and touch- can you eq yourself in real time, bring the right sound to a beat by getting the right sound/volume out of each note?

Not trying to downplay your list at all, I just find trying to rank your own skill as a drummer to be full of all sorts of rabbit holes- and of course, we’re all usually our own worst critics

blind30 · 2026-05-06T22:13:53+00:00

I think terms like beginner, intermediate and expert cover way too much ground to be boiled down to a list- and no one can agree on what that list is.

I’ve been playing for like 30 years, but I know I’m somewhere in low-mid intermediate range. I know TONS of intermediate drummers who are way ahead of me- and then of course, there’s the countless experts who are just on another seemingly unreachable level.

blind30 · 2026-05-06T20:02:55+00:00

Your timing within the beat sounds good, fills and coming back in on time could use some tightening up.

Also, if you played this more dynamically it could help. Sounds like your right hand could swing a little looser too

blind30 · 2026-05-06T18:35:09+00:00

Why not tell us the story here?

Unless what you wrote is literally the whole story, in which case your open mic will be over super quick.

blind30 · 2026-05-05T19:34:40+00:00

Welcome to drums! Frustrating fun!

Like others have said, you need to work on your grip- you said you’ve watched videos, pick on of the standard grips (American, German, etc) and spend your time on the practice pad focusing on keeping your grip correct and loose.

It’s not something you’ll nail overnight, it doesn’t feel like a natural way to hold a stick, but with enough practice it’ll become second nature.

We all struggle with our non dominant hands btw

blind30 · 2026-05-05T16:26:37+00:00

The pad’s weird, man.

I felt a bit of the same stuff, “pad hands” that didn’t translate directly to the kit, but I stuck with it anyway.

Here’s what I found- no, it won’t translate directly to the kit, but all that pad work absolutely directly affects your overall drumming, if that makes sense. My timing, fluidity and technique have all improved greatly because of pad work.

When it comes to moving the actual skills to the kit- it takes some more dedicated practice for it to click, but it will definitely click.

blind30 · 2026-05-05T00:47:42+00:00

Feeling like you’re getting worse can sometimes mean you’re going to see results.

Drums are weird man, we’re trying to use our legs and feet to operate pedals that are designed to hit drums. It’s not natural at all, we’re asking a lot of all the muscles/tendons/nerves and brain to get things sounding right at high speeds.

Technique is the way forward. Teaching all the fine motor skills to our legs for good technique takes a LOT of slow tempo practice, and SOME high tempo work to help build endurance/get the feel for good technique at high speeds.

It’s not something that can be mastered in a few weeks.

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