Where do you practise?

[James]

Sometimes I wish I chose a quieter instrument...

Where do you guys practice?

Particularly if you're in a band or are playing with others?

[Dugafola]

Sometimes I wish I chose a quieter instrument...

Where do you guys practice?

Particularly if you're in a band or are playing with others?

i practice in my house if no one is home. in my garage if someone is home.

we have rehearsals in a dance studio downtown.

there's always the beach as well for some duga duga action.

[drummer]

My brothers and I have created a band so I usually just practice with them.

[bubudi]

park or beach with a towel over my drum head allows me to get all the practice i need. then there're rehearsals with the group at a studio. occasionally, we go down the beach on the w/e and get a bit of a crowd forming.

[seeker]

I play at home, as I live alone and have no neighbors close by.

Besides that, I play with the marimba band at least once per week, and get to any drum circle that's available.

One of the most valuable things for me is a drum stand that I made. Found the plans on the Internet and made it from PVC pipe. Now I always have a drum handy to play on if some rhythm starts running through my head.

[atam]

Recently I am thinking to get myself a thick skin bougarabou for this purpose. I hate to muffle my skin on the djembe, or to feel anyhow limited. But I also hate to limit other people with my noise... The bougarabou I am thinking of has a nice sound, but much less penetrating.

[snagglepuss]

I love that the running theme is "when noone is home".. same here!

[ubba]

Sometimes I wish I chose a quieter instrument...

Where do you guys practice?

Particularly if you're in a band or are playing with others?

I too feel at times I should have chosen a quieter instrument and wonder if my neighbors wish this as well. I only have one upstairs neighbor that is gone for long stretches but there are houses not too far from me. So I find myself trying to play softer and in the end it has helped me get a better quality slap, go figure.

[ubba]

Recently I am thinking to get myself a thick skin bougarabou for this purpose. I hate to muffle my skin on the djembe, or to feel anyhow limited. But I also hate to limit other people with my noise... The bougarabou I am thinking of has a nice sound, but much less penetrating.

I just broke down and got my first bougarabou, it is a bit softer sounding than my djembe for sure and I love it! The tones sound a bit like conga but still very different and the slaps are something that I will have fun working with as they are different than my djembe as well. I do not find the cowskin harder on my hands than my goatskin djembe, to the contrary I like the feel. Djembe and bougarabou rock!

[atam]

My bougarabou sounds MUCH quieter (and softer) than my djembes. And although it is a different instrument, I can enjoy playing it without any change of playing techique. When I practise on it, I get used to its sound quite fast and then the pleasure from playing it is comparable with that from djembe. Still, I can´t play in our house, for it is still too loud for other people, but when I go out it is much less disturbing for people around. I would say at least 50% less sharp and less disturbing than a high-pitched djembe.

[michi]

MI would say at least 50% less sharp and less disturbing than a high-pitched djembe.

Yes, a cow skin isn't as bright as a goat skin. Although, as far as volume and disturbing neighbours is concerned, it's the lower-pitched sounds that travel further. Just think of a band playing somewhere in the distance. What carries the furthest is the bass.

If you drape a towel over your drum, you might be able to practice at home. The towel muffles the sound quite a bit, but you can still play tones and slaps.

Cheers,

Michi.

[atam]

I am not quite sure about playing at home, even with the towel over the skin - I live in a block of flats where you can sometimes even hear neigbour sneezes So, I prefer to play less frequently but really "full throttle" in the rehearsal room. I found this is better for me, because at home I have to play REALLY quiet, which does NOT have good influence on my technique. And also on my psyche !

Still, there are more hints for playing at home, appart from the towel over the skin. It is to muffle the bass, putting something inside the djembe - in its narrowest part. And, also to put a thin pillow beneath the djembe, because even the contact of the wood with the ground can carry the strikes through the walls. This is for the people who live in such conditions as myself, and who dont mind 90% loss of the sound. I do mind.

As for my bougarabou, I play on a small one - diameter (12,2 inch). It has adequate bass, but not too much, in comparison with a big djembe. And as for the disturbing sounds - different people mind different things, but in my experience, the most affected are usually people within 50 or 100 metres, and I really think they find most disturbing the sharp slap tone. The more the closer they are. Especially, if I play like crazy, continuously for 2 of 3 hours, as I usually do. But of course, this can be very individual.

In my experience, most of the people dont mind the sound of the rhythm comming to them from the distance, but they start to mind loudness and dynamic peaks quite soon, if they are close.