Practice pad drum set suggestions

8Mile

Platinum Member
I would like to purchase a practice pad set that mimics as much as possible the layout of a real drum set. I want to be able to practice set playing and reading exercises at home and, living in an apartment, doing so on a real set is not an option. I'm not interested in spending the money to buy an e-kit. I've used those Sound Off drum pads that cover your real drums and cymbals, but I didn't care too much for them.

There are some nice sets out there like the DW Go Anywhere set, but what all of them seem to lack is a hi-hat pedal. For me, that's a deal-breaker.

Is there a set that includes a hi-hat pedal? If not, are there any add-on pedals that mimic a hi-hat that I could buy separately?

Any suggestions would be appreciated.

Thanks!
 
Do you want cymbal-like pads that articulate like an actual hihat, or just a realistic feeling pedal with a surface to hit? If the latter, you could probably drill a hole through a practice pad to slip over the clutch rod of an actual hihat stand. I'm thinking of one of those larger RealFeel-type pads.

But it might be inconvenient to take your hats off and move your stand to your pad kit every time you want to play it if you don't have an extra hat stand. Or are you looking for something altogether different?

Also I vaguely recall there being acrylic or plastic "cymbals" out there somewhere (made for e-kits I think) that have quiet pads on them. They attatch to hardware and move just like real cymbals.
 
Maybe some e - kit bits and pieces are a good approach. I only know of the dw tree and I think I remember Thomas Lang promoting some kinda pad kit that included it's own riser.

The pedal pad on the dw thing is pretty hard, but you could stick some softer material on there and use a double pedal.. Maybe different beaters or playing surface will facilitate a hat/kick pedal variation.
 
Is there a set that includes a hi-hat pedal? If not, are there any add-on pedals that mimic a hi-hat that I could buy separately?

Any suggestions would be appreciated.

Thanks!

Most of these kind of sets never cop the hi hat *pedal*. They may have a pad for it, but no pedal or its action.
I got around that by making my own, using a real hihat pedal.

get a cheap yoga mat, $20 max (yoga mats are thin and dense)
trace out the exact diameter of your hi hat cymbals, top and bottom
cut out the round shapes
make a hole in center of each, to fit through your hihat rod
assemble hihat as usual, but place one pad through the rod and between top and bottom cymbals
place the other pad through rod but on top of your top hihat cymbal

you now can work the pedal action up/down to make dull "chick" sound, and can use the upper cymbal to get a muffled sound from stick action

you may also want to pad the top mat with a little foam, stuck on with glue.

if i get a chance i'll take pic of mine
 
I don't have any pictures but what I'm doing for college is as follows-

2x Vater 6" pads mounted on cymbal booms
1x Offworld Outlander pad on snare basket
1x DW Steve Smith bass drum practice pad
2x Evans RealFeel 14" hi-hat mutes on my two pairs of 14" hats which are on regular HH stands
2x Evans RealFeel 20" ride mutes on my two 20" cymbals.

Everything's on real hardware and is a consistent volume, aside from the two Vater pads which I don't mind. The Offworld is quite a bit harder than the Vater pads too so it effectively mimics the dichotomy between snare & tom rebound. The Smith pad feels great though it's a little loud. The Evans pads feel great and mute very well, even hi-hat foot stuff, but I assume you've tried them (the stretchy rubber ones, NOT the pie-shaped ones). Opentune's suggestion re: the hi-hat is a good one too. I think it's wise to stick with muted real hi-hats to keep the action, but everything else has good alternatives.
 
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