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How to Muffle a Cymbal

Anyone who owns a drum kit and wants to practice but doesn̵7;t have a soundproof room in which to do it in faces a dilemma. Noise from the drums and cymbals may drive roommates, family members and even neighbors up the wall. Muffling the drums themselves are easy; all you need is a bit of spare foam. Cymbals, however, are not quite as simple. You can buy cymbal mufflers at a music store or use something that might just be lying around the house to muffle those cymbals effectively.

Things You'll Need

Mouse pad
Scissors
Tape

Instructions

- 1
  Find a full-size mouse pad. This item may be laying around your house already, but if not it should be easy to get at most stores. Make sure it is full size and not backed by any hard material.
- 2
  Cut a hole in the middle of the mouse pad with scissors. This hole should be just large enough to fit over the top of the cymbal assembly so that the mouse pad lies flat on the cymbal head. Bending the pad in half and cutting a semicircle in the middle of it is a quick and easy way to accomplish this.
- 3
  Place the mouse pad on the cymbal head with the hole fitting over the stand. Use tape to secure the corners of the mouse pad against the cymbal head. The mouse pad should be flat against the cymbal head with little or no air beneath it at any point.
- 4
  Strike the mouse pad when you are playing the cymbals in order to muffle their sound. Instead of the cymbals' usual loud, metallic clanging sound, the mouse pad-muffled cymbal should produce a soft "thunk."

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