Need help building drum risers?

How thick should my walls be, should I float my floors (and if so, how), why is two leaf mass-air-mass design important, etc.

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giles117
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Post by giles117 »

Totally it does. That's why I like it.

I've cut on various surfaces. and decided that the way Andrew did it and I suggested gives the nicer drum sound.
Bryan Giles

FOH Live, Live Remote & Studio Engineer
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Just living life and having fun with all this talent YHWH Elohim has given me.
Ptownkid
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Post by Ptownkid »

So if i floated it on pucks, plywood top and bottom and filled it with insulation, would i get a better drum sound than just having them on the floor on carpet?
AndrewMc
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Post by AndrewMc »

Not sure how it would sound if the riser was filled with insulation - it may sound a bit boomy - maybe the riser would become an extension of the kick drum? Probably worth to try to make the frame as ridgid as possible.

Certainly with sand in the space - the kit sounds like a whole new kit - the kick is tight and punchy without any boominess at all. The kit did not sound as good as this before.
Andrew McMaster
giles117
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Post by giles117 »

Just make sure you double layer the platoform top and stuff it with the Mineral wool. You will be pleased. I can understand your apprenhension.

Been there done that.

This will work for yah.
Bryan Giles

FOH Live, Live Remote & Studio Engineer
Producer

Just living life and having fun with all this talent YHWH Elohim has given me.
knightfly
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Post by knightfly »

Brian, you might consider that the sand-filled version is really a single mass (with 3 layers) resting on neoprene blocks which are surrounded with insulation for some damping - so technically that version is a 2-leaf system; sort of a "poor-man's floated slab", from a physics standpoint.

If you replace the sand with insulation, you will raise the m-a-m frequency, create a triple leaf, and introduce resonances that would not have been there with the sand fill.

I'm sure there are many ways of getting "likable" sounds, some of them depending on the personal tastes of the listener; but the fact remains that when you use anything as porous as insulation between layers, you create another air gap. This might (or might NOT) sound good in the room, but won't have as good isolation to the lower floor (if there is one) as either the floated concrete or the floated (triple LAYER) sandbox... Steve
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