Drumshhh Accessories for Rockband!
We've all been there. Well those of us who are Rock Band Gamer Rockstars. We're jamming on a set to the rage of every groupie who stopped by our basement to watch us jam and the entire set is ruined by the clacking of drumsticks on the RockBand drums. Doesn't it just drive you mad? Doesn't it just ruin the perception that you truly are rock gods, put on this Earth to jam with the best and destroy the rest?!
Well don't fret little bear, for Drumshhh Accessories is here to help.
We received a set of Drumshhh Accessory pads directly from Drumshhh for review purposes. They were shipped out to the most fanatical Rock Band Member here at PreGameLobby (aptly named: Rockstar - his
First Impressions of the game showed his true love). One of the photos below shows just how much Rockstar loves this game. Yes, he has essentially built a cockpit for his drums. Neil Peart eat your heart out!
The Drumshhh pads come in a variety of flavors. There are the basic four-colored pad for beginners, the full-sized black for the professional look, the small-sized black which allows a portion of the color to show through around the edges, the Bullseye pattern and the newly introduced Quadrant pattern. We received the Bullseye pattern for purposes of this review. The Drumshhh pads appear to be a composite of felt bonded to what looks like neoprene.
The pads feel nice, are adhesive backed and super easy to install.
To prepare for the installation the Rock Band Drums drum surface were cleaned with Windex. After letting the Windex dry the Drumshhh pads were installed with ease. Just peel the back and let em stick!
Remember the part where I said Rockstar is a Rockband fanatic? Well here's the proof part. The Drumshhh pads were installed in Rockstar's "Skydrum cockpit":
Note the fact that the drums are raised, there is a light installed below the drums and the kick pedal has been modified. This isn't your ordinary RockBand gamer rocker - this is a true Rockband fanatic.
The size on a couple of the pads appeared to be a tiny bit small which allowed some of the original color to show through around the edges. Frankly it wasn't much of a problem and didn't really bother anyone.
While the Drumshhh pads will give your drums an extra custom kick ass look, most people are going to want to buy Drumshhh pads to address the clackity-clack of the original pads. No one wants to hear clackity clack all night right?! (Unless you're Dave Chappelle.
) So what do the Drumshhh pads do for noise levels?
The noise levels with the Drumshhh pads were cut down by about 75 percent. Yes, 75 percent! All of the high frequency "clack" was eliminated.
Now granted most of us aren't rocking out on our RockBand drums without other noise like screaming fans who are singing along to our incredible rocking. With the volume at normal (read: loud) listening levels the drum hits could be heard slightly by the drummer. This is fine since the drummer needs to know what's going on.
The big difference, however, was what Drumshhh did for the rest of the band. They instantly all grew long hair and we were magically transported on tour with thousands of screaming fans begging for a night with us. Oh wait, that part may have been a dream.
In fact, with the Drumshhh pads installed the other bandmembers reported that they could not hear the drumbeats
AT ALL! This really improved the entire Rockband experience for all of us.
There are two drummers in Rockstar's band, Rockstar and his friend. As the drummers, in addition to the decrease in "clack" levels, they both noticed a better "feel" to the drum pad. The Drumshhh pad added just the right amount of feedback and dampening to make the experience even more enjoyable. There was a slight increase in "bounce" which made the drums feel more realistic. They both also liked the colored "bullseye" in the center of the pad by which they were able to key into with their peripheral vision. With the Drumshhh pads installed the result was more accurate and centered strikes, with less "rim hits".
Another side benefit is the ability to go bang the hell out of the drums with less fear of damaging them. I believe Animal from the Muppets must have had these installed. No longer will you have to harness your animal drummer instincts, let the drum sticks fly and rock out 'til you can't move your arms anymore!
Rockstar and his co-drummer also noticed no decrease in sensitivity, even with light cymbal strikes. This was an initial concern of theirs when the Drumshhh pads were installed, but thankfully it was never realized. The drums and cymbals all remained perfectly sensitive.
Having seen quite a bit of daily use, the Drumshhh pads are still kicking and holding up perfectly. There is no sign of wear and tear and they improve the entire drumming experience across the board. The Drumshhh pads are a great product and well worth the price for obtaining an even better Rock Band experience.
But wait there's more! As a new advertising partner here at
PGL, Drumshhh will be offering discounts to
PGL members. So if you want the best drumming experience Rockband has to offer, get your drumsticks out and prepare to purchase a set (or two) of your very own Drumshhh pads. Look for more info in Drumshhh's forum in the
PGL Plaza and check out their
Website for more info.
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