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Rock Band drums with MCU pads (and rubber bands!)

If you read my Twitter feed, you know I've been promising a blog post on the Rock Band drums for a few weeks. Well, it's taken me that long to sort things out - if you can call it that.

When I got Rock Band for Christmas, I tried the drums briefly to be sure they worked. And then migrated to guitar for several months. Last month I switched back to drums, in part to start teaching my 5 year-old how to play but also because I was stuck on some Hard guitar songs ("Suffragette City" in particular, which Expert guitarists note is harder on Hard than Expert). To protect the drum heads and cut down on noise, I invested in some neoprene pads from Rockbanddrumsoft.com, which - at the time - was all they offered.

At first I was thrilled with the pads. They really cut down the noise and expanded the drumming surface by covering the hard plastic rims. But I quickly realized I was dropping notes like a drunk billionaire out on the town. I tried rubber bands and taping down the pads to improve responsiveness, but only saw marginal improvement. I played on Easy back then (I'm just up to Medium now) and realized that if I ever got to Hard or Expert, I would be dead on arrival. I did a little research and found that this was common with launch and near-launch drum sets with EL in the serial number, and that the pads were accentuating an existing problem.

Fortunately, all I had to do was provide a credit card and I could order a free replacement set of drum heads (you don't even need a credit card if you're OK sending the existing drums in first). It took about a week and a half to get the new drums, but - alas - the adhesive on the neoprene didn't work well on the second set. Also, I noticed that, even with the newer QM model drums (which are supposedly much more sensitive) my red pad required a slightly harder hit to register. I contacted the Rock Band DrumSoft folks, and they revealed that they were about to remodel their store with several new offerings and offered a replacement of my choice. I skipped gum rubber (supposedly a great choice for more sensitive drums) and went with the Micro-Cellular Urethane (MCU) full coverage pads. These thin pads cover the drum rims and need to be carefully installed so they won't tear, though they are supposedly durable, removeable and reusable. There was even a DVD included to show the proper installation technique, so I had them up and running in about 20 minutes.

The pads arrived just in time for our first Rock Band party last weekend, and the drums were a hit! I did notice after the party that the red pad was still a little less sensitive than the others - so I wrapped it with a couple of rubber bands, which seems to ameliorate the problem. I may still need to send back these drums (thanks, EA, for such a liberal return policy!) but for now they work OK. Even though they are reusable, I may pick up an extra set of MCU pads just in case. I like them so much better than the neoprene, and even with sensitive drums, I prefer to light tap through the songs if possible (though I want protection since I know my 5 year-old won't be quite so restrained).

All in all, I love drumming in Rock Band and hope that some day we'll see a better solution either from EA/Harmonix or a third-party. I envision a modular drum set where the consumer has endless customization options as well as access to cheap and easy-to-replace parts when they eventually wear out - as, I imagine, even the best set will. For now, I'll just be happy if I get a set that will last long enough for me to master Medium and work my way through the Hard skill level and maybe a few Expert songs.

-=Gamewatcher