“Neighbours! Neighbours! Neighbours!”, exclaimed Mick Jagger on The Rolling Stones’ 1981 release Tattoo You on the song “Neighbours”. According to Wikipedia’s entry regarding this song, “Jagger was inspired by [Keith] Richards’ own run-ins with his neighbors after the guitarist was evicted from his New York City apartment after complaints that he was playing music too loudly.”
My, how drummers can relate to that! The article “The Thing About the Neighbors” also expounded on the trials and tribulations that drummers face in dealing with neighbors who live, well, ‘too close for comfort’. It discussed some possible solutions to ‘ease the ears’ of those close by, such as muting pads and dampeners, both on the drums themselves and on the cymbals. However, these solutions have the unfortunate side effect of changing the feel of the drums, which most of the time throws off how we play. Electronic drums are an option as well, but these can be cost prohibitive, and even the ones with mesh drum heads, although you can get used to them, still don’t feel like the real thing.
Another option, which is also discussed in the aforementioned article, is sound-proofing the room where the drums reside. But again, this also could be cost prohibitive, and is beyond the reach financially for many drummers.
But, what if you could keep your acoustic drums, and play at a lower volume? No muting pads, no dampeners of any kind? The solution I’m talking about doesn’t change the drums, but the sticks.
Enter Lazaro Quilon of Lidwish Soulutions (yes, that’s Soulutions). He may have invented one of the most innovative solutions to quieting the natural loudness of drums. The Ultra Tones quiet sticks reduce the volume of the drums approximately 40%, without changing the way you play them. How is this possible?
Lazaro was kind enough to grant TheParadiddler.com an interview where he spills the beans regarding his sticks, his quiet bass drum beater, and more. Some of the things discussed in the interview are:
- How the idea of quite sticks came to Lazaro
- Construction of the sticks that makes them quieter
- The different applications where the sticks are an ideal fit
- How the sticks compare to other forms of drum quieting, such as pads, various dampeners, etc.
- Why the Ultra Tones should be in every drummers bag of sticks
- And a lot more
Lazaro is truly a unique character with a lot to say, not only about his products, but also about his philosophy regarding drumming in general that he’s picked up over the past few years. The interview lasts about an hour; it’s chock full of useful information. I’ve made it so you can download the interview to your mp3 player and listen at your leisure, or just press play and give it your undivided attention! 🙂 Either way, in the end, your neighbors will thank you.
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