How to Dampen Cymbals – DIY and Pro Solutions

There are several ways to dampen the noise of your cymbals. From putting some tape on them to buying yourself low-volume cymbals, you have several options when it comes to quieting down your kit.

Cymbals can be extremely loud. Drummers usually want to have their instrument with them, but if it’s an acoustic set, practicing can get a little bit tricky due to noise constraints.

Cymbals are particularly loud parts of the drums. With their sharp sound, they can carry well beyond the room where you are playing. Also, some drummers want to dampen the sound of their cymbals because they like it more that way.

In this article, we’re going to present to you the best ways to dampen the sound of your cymbals.

Tape (Gaffer Tape)

One of the earliest DIY solutions for dampening the sound of cymbals was by using tape. People will usually stick a patch of tape on their cymbals to try and dampen the sound that comes off. But, because duct tape leaves a lot of residue glue when you take it off, gaffer tape is usually a better starting point for a small sound adjustment. Clean removal still depends on the tape and surface, so test a small piece underneath, avoid printed logos and remove it after use.

Gaffer tape is a type of tape that’s usually used for cables and similar stuff, so it’s readily available in music studios and playing venues. Even if it’s not, it’s a cheap and easy way of adjusting the sound on your cymbals. A small patch mainly changes ring and sustain. Add it in small steps and compare the sound after each change; there is no fixed damping ranking that applies to every cymbal and patch size.

Gaffer tape, or any tape, can’t really be used to get your cymbals to be much quieter. What it excels though is fine-tuning the sound you get when you play your cymbals, cleaning out the residue sustain you can easily have when you play them.

Moongels

MoonGel is a purposefully designed gel that’s meant to be used on both drums and cymbals as a dampening product. It creates patches of soft gel which affect the sound of the drums when you hit them both on and off the patch.

Each drummer uses them differently – the best way is to just improvise and find what’s best suited for yourself and your drumming needs. RTOM supports using Moongel on cymbals, but start with a small piece away from the striking area and check that it stays attached as the cymbal moves.

RTOM recommends cleaning the gel with a little dish soap and water, shaking off excess water and letting it air dry. Keep it in its protective case during transport. It is a reusable way to adjust sustain, but check the cymbal surface after removal rather than assuming every finish reacts identically.

Cymbal mutes

If you’re looking to mute the cymbals instead of just turning the sound down a little bit, then you’re probably going to need cymbal mutes. These mutes come in various shapes and forms, but their main feature is that they are a piece of cloth or some other material that you put over your cymbals, making it much quieter.

The idea is to restrict the cymbal’s vibration and soften the stick contact, rather than stop every vibration completely. Check that the mute fits the cymbal and stays in place while you play.

They come usually in packs for your drum set, so you can cover both your drums and cymbals, but you can also get them individually just for a certain cymbal.

The point of these is to help you practice at home, as it dampens the sound of drums, reducing its output, but this does not guarantee that it will be quiet enough for neighbors in your building. This has its cost. The sound from your drums will be shattered. Same as when you take the cymbal with your hands, you won’t be able to get a nice, clean sound from your cymbals with these.

Alternative option – low volume cymbals

Another option for you, if you’re looking to keep the noise down from your drums, is to go and get yourself low volume cymbals. There are many variations of these from various manufacturers, and the Zildjian L80 Low Volume series is one established example.

Low volume cymbals are usually made as normal cymbals, but with holes in the surface, making them have an almost similar sound, but much quieter than standard cymbals do.

They are rarely used on stage because they are so quiet, they can’t cope with the rest of the band making noise, except in some acoustic variations or really small venues. But they are a perfect solution for anyone looking to get a nice, quality sound without the noise that usually comes with it.

Zildjian L80 is a range of low-volume cymbals, including a 20” ride, rather than a single model. The ride gives you a metal playing surface for a practice kit or a deliberately quiet recording, but its tone is different from a full-volume ride. Match the sound and output to the job.

The only downside of this solution is the price – you may want separate cymbals for quiet practice and louder stage work. You can also replace one cymbal at a time or use mutes on the others; there is no requirement to buy two complete packs.

This can prove a bit of a problem if you’re a professional musician, as you can’t practice on the cymbals that you’re going to play when the time comes on stage. Try the same groove at practice volume and check whether the feel and reduced output suit you.

How dampening cymbals affects the sound

As you well know, any sound that cymbals make is due to the vibrations they have when you hit them with a drum stick. When you affect those vibrations, you’re naturally going to alter the sound that comes off them when they’re played.

If you’re using gaffer tape or a moon gel, the dampening of cymbals will not necessarily bring the level of the volume down, but it will affect the sound that comes off. This is especially noticeable when you’re recording – controlling excess sustain can help the cymbals sit in the recording without covering other instruments. Also, keeping the “wash” off the sound can affect how the whole band sounds when you get on to play.

On the other hand, the use of low volume cymbals and cymbal mutes is meant to keep the volume of the cymbals down as much as possible. Cymbal mutes are a cheap way to keep the noise down, but they will massacre the sound of your cymbals.

Playing with these is meant just for practice and has the same feel as playing with practice pads – you can practice your moves, but you’ll never get the sound right.

Low-volume cymbals on the other hand have a much better sound, but they are also quite expensive and heavy to carry around all the time as a backup set.

Conclusion

Dampening your cymbals can be a great option for keeping the noise down in certain situations. Low volume cymbals are one of these options that can make practice more manageable, though you still need to check the sound outside the room.

There are several different ways in which you can dampen the sound of your cymbals. Depending on what you need and how much you want to dampen and/or affect the sound, you can choose from all of these options.

We hope that this article has helped you pick a product or learn about things that are out there on the market. The main thing is to choose according to your needs and budget, then test the result. Tape and gel mainly control sustain; mutes and low-volume cymbals reduce output more substantially. None of these options soundproofs a room, so check noise at the times and places where it matters.