The Most Powerful Tip 2.5 Years of Apartment Life Taught Me

Nearly 5 years ago, I moved into an apartment and had to figure out how to “make drums work” in a limited space with lots of noise constraints.

I had my usual acoustic drums that I hauled out on gigs regularly, but I had to figure out how to practice consistently in my living room without disturbing my neighbors. This ended up being quite a journey, and in the end I was able to boast that I never received a single complaint from a neighbor over the 2.5 years I lived there.

I’ll tell you a little about how I did it, but first I want to focus on the biggest things that these 2.5 years taught me. Believe it or not, these lessons are valuable for ANY drummer - no matter where you live.

• Know what you need to practice. I like to call this the “diagnose and prescribe” sequence. Be aware of your weaknesses on the drums, and diagnose them. Admit that your doubles sound horrible or your backbeats aren’t consistent. Then prescribe some action to fix the issues. I recommend videoing (or at least recording audio) of yourself playing so that you can go back and analyze your playing the way a good teacher does. You can’t fix a problem you don’t know exists. Find the problem, then work specifically at fixing that one thing. I do suggest going one thing at a time, especially if it’s something broad like “sloppy doubles” or “rushing fills.” Stay focused on that one thing, and get it fixed.

Why do I list this as the big “number one” thing? Because you have limited time to practice. If you’re forced to practice quietly, you definitely have limited noise hours. But we all have lives outside of music and other life obligations. We can’t practice for 9 hours a day, nor do we want to most of the time. Save time practicing by discovering what you actually need to work on. This leads directly into #2…

• Apply the 80/20 Rule to your practice sessions. 80/20 states: “20% of the work will generate 80% of the results.” OR, “80% of the work only generates 20% of the results.” It works both ways. By following step #1 above, you’re naturally applying this principle since you’re only practicing what you actually need to practice. Don’t practice jamming out or soloing for hours until you’ve focused on what really needs the practice. Then have fun with whatever you want for whatever remaining time you have.
• Also apply Parkinson’s Law to your practice sessions. This is an easy one! This law states: “Work will expand to fill the time given for its completion.” So if you allow 3 hours to practice, you’ll spend 3 hours getting it done. But if you allow only 1 hour, you’ll get the work done in 1 hour. Try applying this rule with work or school, and you’ll find that it’s pretty much always true. As I type this email I’m racing the clock because lunch time is my deadline to finish writing. Food is a powerful motivator. :) I love writing, and I always enjoy writing these emails, but I can’t spend all day or even all afternoon getting them done. Same thing applies to your practice sessions.
• Spend more time listening to music than playing along to it. Yes, there’s a time for jamming out and having fun, and yes, the process of learning songs should often include playing along with the recording. But here’s the deal: sitting there and listening to music through headphones doesn’t disturb your neighbors! You can do that all day and nobody cares. You can’t necessarily bang the drums all day and into the night. Believe it or not, simply sitting and listening to music is one of the most productive things you can do as a musician. Develop your ear! Listen to your favorite bands more often, and look for new music that inspires your creativity. This is a great way to stay motivated and to always remember why you started playing drums in the first place. Hey check out my free e-guide about how to listen better and learn songs more quickly without even touching your sticks. If you haven’t already downloaded this, it’s a must-have method for streamlining your song-learning, practicing, and gig preparation process.

Now I told you I’d share a little more about how to survive for 2.5 years and dodge complaints from neighbors. Here’s how I did it.

1. I only practiced during the day. I would try to only practice between 1-3pm most of the time, which thankfully my schedule allowed. No evening practice, no early morning practice. If I had had a regular “day job work schedule,” I would have practiced immediately after getting home or right before leaving for work in the morning - really whichever of those two times was more during waking hours. Honestly, though, I probably would have only worked on my pad mostly during the week, and I would have augmented that practice by listening to music and learning songs aurally (learn this in the e-guide above). Then I’d wait for the weekend to actually play on my kit.
2. Have a “quiet practice system” in place. Have a reliable way to muffle down your kit for quieter practice. On top of that, make sure you’re isolating your kit from the floor some way or another if you have neighbors below you. I built a tennis ball riser in 2017 that worked really well. Check out this old video on the channel all about it. I hope it gives you some valuable guidance. Btw, this applies to electric kits too. You want to eliminate the “thump” that goes through the floor. E-kits produce this too because of the kick drum. When you’re striking objects that are making contact with the floor, the sound travels much farther than you’d think throughout the structure of the building. Isolating the kit from the floor greatly reduces this noise transmission.
3. Don’t play hard when you practice. You might find this frustrating at first, but use this time to strengthen your lighter touch. Not everything needs to be hard-hitting, and not every song is loud. Practice playing more quietly, and save the loudness for the right gigs. This is a super simple tip, but it’s extremely effective. I know I’m preaching the obvious, but make sure to keep your levels down when practicing - especially on the kick drum.

There’s so much more we could go into here talking about gear you can buy and more tactics you can employ. But that’s why I have a youtube channel. :) Check out the playlist specifically on how to practice in an apartment. If you’re in the situation I was in a few years back, go watch all of these videos and see if you’re able to practice effectively again. And of course, shoot me any questions you still have.

Keep up the practicing, and stay non glamorous!

God Bless,

Stephen