It is possible to play the drums too hard?

Turn your monitor up? Drummers can be LOUD.

In a concrete basement? You’re going to have a hard time hearing yourself. Pad the walls, get in-ear monitors or noise-cancelling headphones, put up some kind of shield in front of the drum kit to block some of the sound.

@aphilotus we’re poor musicians. We don’t have that kind of gear, lol.

@gussnarp I’ve suggested covering the walls & I don’t think shielding the drums would work cuz I don’t think he’d be able to hear me then.

I wish I did have a soundboard & monitors & stuff like that, but that was the reason I was using his relatives half stack. Today his relative took it back I have to tote mine over. Which means I won’t be able to hear myself.

It is possible to play the drums too loud. Granted, drums are a loud instrument. Sometimes drummers just hit everything as hard as they can, either subconsciously or in an effort to stand out. There is no problem with hitting hard, when need be. But I think it depends on the type of music.

Try elevating your amp or something. Put in on a chair/table/anything closer to ear-level than the ground. (That is, if you keep it on the ground currently…)

Well without monitors, in a concrete basement you are going to have a hard time hearing yourself no matter what. @jfos’ solution of elevating the amp might help. You can ask him not to play as hard, but if you play out is that how you want him to have practiced?

Padding the walls will help for sure. Also, how about shielding the drums just up to his chest level? Then his ears wouldn’t be shielded from you. In the long run, the two of you might not be a good match, as some drummers are definitely louder than others.

@jfos tried that with the combo. If I turned the combo up anymore than ⅔s it distorts & i feel like it’s close to being blown. The half stack I had up all the way it sounded fine, well, without drums being played & still couldn’t make out lower-mids to mid tones.

@gussnarp no, if we do finally play out I want him to bring it, but I can’t really practice if I can’t hear if I’m playing sloppy or not, ya know? Relocating isn’t an option. I just texted him to put up as much shit on the walls as possible.

@augustlan you know how hard it is to find a “good” drummer? Although shielding at some angles & what not might help. I’ll definately try it.

Does your guitar have a switch to pick which pick-ups to use? Maybe the tone won’t be what you want it to be, but there’s a chance that the notes may be more audible.

@jfos it definately won’t be the presence I want to create, but the neck position would be “more audible.” I don’t wanna limit myself to that, since I do utilize the switch often.

Headphones? Most fairly good headphones come with a ¼” TRS adapter, though most new amps come with a 1/8” TRS outlet anyway.

Not sure what kind of combo amp you have but there are also 40 dollar headphone amps you can buy that plug directly into the guitar specifically for headphones. You could probably get a splitter for a few bucks at radioshack if you need both headphones and amp running off your guitar (not sure how clear that would sound though).