My Cheap solution to drummers headphones

[In10city]

So I've been shopping around for some new headphones that will isolate the drumset sound and only let me hear what is coming through my monitor mix when recording. I find myself playing with more attention to dynamics when I hear the drums through the mics, board, eq, compressors, limiters, and mixed in with the scratch instrument and vocal tracks. I'm also a lot more attentive to the click track when I get good sound isolation.

Over at Musician's Friend I spotted some Vic Firth headphones for about $50 that are supposed to give very good isolation but they looked almost exactly like some hearing protectors that were issued to me (I work around F-16's) so an idea was planted.

When I'm in the gym working out, I always listen to music to stay focused and as an excuse to ignore people who are there to chit-chat. I've found a great pair of headphones by Koss called "The Plug".
Link:
http://www.koss.com/koss/kossweb.nsf/05prodsbymodel/PLUG/$FILE/PLUG_1.jpg?OpenElement

They go inside your ear and the foam cushion really helps block out external sounds. So last night I "installed" them and then put the hearing protectors on over the wires and it was amazing! I could barely hear the drums through them and when I connected (with an extension cable) to the mixer headphone output, I only needed half the volume I used before and I can really hear how the drums sound through the board. This is a very cheap solution/alternative to the higher priced studio headphones. These earbuds have a lot of bass frequency that I've not heard until putting the headphones on over them.

The best part is, if I accidently drop them there's no really small plastic mounting tabs to break off. Worst case scenrio, I'd be out $15 for another set if I pull one of the wires out or something.

[brandondrury]

Okay, so you are using $15 ear buds and isolation things on top of those, right? That sounds like a great idea to me!

How much are the isolation things? Are you using F-16 blockers or are using something cheaper that us civilians have access to?

Brandon

[In10city]

Yes, cheapie Koss earbuds with hearing protectors. The earmuffs are issued but nothing special and can be purchased at any industrial safety supply outlet. A quick search on the internet will lead you to a plethora of retail outlets selling them. Just search for "Hearing Protection".

The hearing protectors also come in handy if your drummer doesn't know when to quit...or if your guitarist thinks he's Steve Vai and everyone is there to listen to his magnificant hammer-offs (or whatever they are called) with his volume set to 11.

[brandondrury]

Awesome. It looks like you could have a killer isolation headphone rig for under $65! The cool thing is if the headphones break, it's not a big deal. You are only out $15 and you can get them in your hometown.

This is great idea dude. I may write an article on it very soon.
Brandon

[In10city]

I'm glad to give something back to this forum, I feel like I've been stealing ever since I found this forum. My initial drum set up is already so much better sounding than my last attempt thanks to all the suggestions and articles here. And this is with old dead heads and nothing really tuned up yet.

Glad to contribute!

[brandondrury]

I've been stealing ever since I found this forum.

If you feel that bad about you can write a check for $10,000 out to Brandon Drury.

Thanks for contributing, dude. While I don't track drums much anymore (I'll either pay an engineer to do it at a big studio while I produce or use samples), I'm sure that this headphone solution could be handy for something. I know a lot of drummers who woud benefit from this.

Brandon

[In10city]

Originally Posted by brandondrury

If you feel that bad about you can write a check for $10,000 out to Brandon Drury.

Do you take cash? I'll fax it to you!

[brandondrury]

Do you take cash? I'll fax it to you!

That's a new one! I dig it!

Brandon

[Futant55]

I was trying to get the drummer I was recently working with to use a click track and one of the problems was that he couldn't hear it over himself. I am definitely going to check into this. I was also thinking that they have these type of ear protectors for people who shoot guns. Im gonna check my local where ever the hell they sell gun stuff, and see if they have any at a decent price.

[brandondrury]

I was trying to get the drummer I was recently working with to use a click track and one of the problems was that he couldn't hear it over himself.

Double timing the click track helps a ton!

Brandon