custom rockband drum kit

[onidirk]

  Like everyone out there, I was a little annoyed with the loud "tapping" with my drum set. I started to look things up.. and found the foam/felt mod that everyone is doing..(I went with white.. to give it a more "authentic" drum look..) but started to think about other ways in which I could spice the drums up a little.. after a bit of thought, this is what I came up with.. Overall, I am pretty happy with how it turned out.. for all the materials, it cost around $50.. and I didn't permanently alter the drums (so as to not void the warranty). I guess that's it.. if people are interested, I can post more pics on how I made them.. if not, well... then I won't..

[Jeff AMN]

That's pretty dang awesome. Any details on the process?

[Knievel]

Nice job man!

You need a couple of fake cymbal's in there to complete the look.

[Neilyboy]

That is pretty sweet man very nice job!!

Neil

[WaRpEd]

Sweet
Any details on the drum pads?

[camsauce]

RB is awesome!  I can't manage to get past hard drumming on most of the songs -- stupid foot/hand coordination 

[onidirk]

hey, thanks for the positive feedback!

Anyway, the tops of the pads are just cut from felt and foam... as can be seen here:

http://generationgamerz.com/v2/insight/time-for-rock-band-arts-crafts.php

  I thought about making some fake cymbals.. but since I am kind of a spaz when playing, I would probably end up flinging them across the room or something.. but I might still do something in the future.. (btw, I like your guitar hero amp/tv/game thing, Knievel  )

  I took a few pics while making them.. I guess I can post the process.. it would be cool to see someone improve on the design..

  I started off with a cardboard concrete form tube, 8" diameter.  Cost : about $6




Measured and cut to the depth that I wanted


I ran into a little "snag" in that.. the "8 inch tube" (which would have been a perfect size) was actually.. about 7.5 inches.. so, I just sliced the tube and made a spacer, so it was the correct diameter..


The notch is where the red drum and the yellow drum connect together, so it will slide onto the drum.

Here's the test fit for the first one..



I cut a circle out of foam core board (about $5 a sheet 36"x40" I think.. a pretty big sheet..haha)  I'm not sure on the exact size, but it fits inside the cardboard "drum"... It will later be hot glued to become the bottom


On the later drums, I glued the bottom in last.. but on the first one.. it was trial and error.. and I glued it now..


  That's all I have time for now.. I'll post more later.. Let me know if anyone out there even cares.. 




 

 

[danny_galaga]

they look great. but, im not familiar with the rockband stuff. what did the origianl drums look like?

[onidirk]

[deadkenndys1105]

This is a great idea.  I can't believe I haven't see anyone do that yet.

[arcadefever]

 

So cool 

[onidirk]

 OK.. so, we left off with the basic cardboard "drum" shape cut, and sliding over the bottom of the red drum..  I walked around Hobby Lobby for a while.. not too sure about what kind of design I wanted to go with...  I normally like to do things in bright colors (see: the hot pink wall in the background ... haha )  But, I wasn't sure about it, for this project..  I walked up and down the scrapbook paper isle .. there were a LOT of choices.. anything from crazy patterns.. to argyle.. and they cost about 50 cents a sheet (12x12) I ended up needing 12 sheets for everything.  I went with the one I did.. it had (I think, anyway) a cool.. kind of
"punk" look to it.. (Actually, it reminded me a little of the Pennywise "Full Circle" album cover.. at least, the look of it..)  And.. I didn't want a too complicated of a pattern, because then I would have to make sure the seams lined up, or it would look bad..




I also bought a sheet of cardboard mat (for picture framing.. I think) they had 2 thicknesses.. I got the thiner of the two, so it would bend easier (about  $6 for the sheet)  Also, if you just wanted a solid color drum.. you could skip the paper step, since the mat comes in a bunch of different solid colors (I was contemplating using the metallic gold that they had..)

I used some spray adhesive to attach 3 sheets of the paper, to the mat (which.. didn't stick too well.. I probably could have used more glue.. )





  I cut it to size..


 And covered it with some contact paper "laminate" that isn't very sticky.. but gave it a glossier look.. and protected the paper from ripping..



 

Then just cut the notch out.. and hot glued it to the cardboard "drum".. and trimmed it to size.. (I tried to make the seam face where the drums would face each other, so you couldn't really see them.





  That's it for now.. coming up next time.. super tedious little details!! Woot! 

[Donkey_Kong]

Awesome! I'm going to have to do this mod with my kids. Thanks for posting this.. 

[onidirk]

Awesome! I'm going to have to do this mod with my kids. Thanks for posting this.. 

   I'd love to see pics of how it turns out!

[Generic Eric]

That is cool.  I forwarded to some folks that have rockband

[Umpa]

Great job!
I am just starting to do this mod also. What did you use for the chrome accents and how was the Bass Drum made?

Thanks!
 

[onidirk]

Hey,

  I wasn't sure if anyone cared.. haha so, I didn't want to waste space with something that no one cared about 

For the chrome accents, I used some of that aluminum (?) tape for.. taping duct work.. My brother had a roll in the garage.. there's still quite a lot left.. He said it costs about $10 a roll..  The "snare" drum had different accents, then the rest.. from looking at pictures of other real, drum kits.. I kind of took that.. and made it a little more simple..   

For the snare:


I got these wooden dowels.. for a few bucks..




  cut them to size... and covered them with the tape...



I took a scrap of the cardboard.. cut it to about an inch.. scored it into a few sections.. covered it with tape.. and wrapped it around the dowels..







  As for the other drums, I did the same with the dowels.. but I cut a few triangle shapes out of some foam core board... covered them in the tape, them hot glued them around the drum.  (I didn't take any pictures.. but it's not that hard to figure out.. haha)



  For the trim, I cut strips of leftover foamies (from making the silencing pads) in whatever colors I had.. in about 1/2" wide strips.



I just set it up and cut to fit in between the rods that were glued to the drum.. cut a piece of the chrome tape.. and wrapped it around the bottom edge of the foam strip.  SO that the bottom edge wouldn't show up as whatever color the foamie was.  Then I just stuck the tape around the front and left the overhang on the TOP edge.





  Then, just line it up with the edge of the drum.. stick the foam down as straight as you can..



I had a hard time getting the tape to lay smoothly, at the edges.. it seems to wrinkle very easily.. but oh well..  I cut a few slits along the top.. and starting on one end, wrapped it around and stuck it to the inside of the drum..




  Later I made little tiny... squares to cover the area where the rod was.. to finish it off.. I'll post those later.. I hope this helps..  and good luck with yours!

[onidirk]

* I'll show how I did the bass drum, soon .. it was the easiest one.. so I saved it for last =P..

[Umpa]

Thanks for replying! I just got all 4 drums cut last night and will be starting the "decorating process" tonight. I will post a couple picks soon. Thanks again for the info!

 

[Umpa]

Just an update. I have my drums covered I used Red foil paper. Looks pretty good. I have the top and bottom bands on each drum and I have made the dowels. I'm getting closer. Thank's again for sharing the info.

[Umpa]

All done! Except for the Bass drum. Thanks for the info you posted here.

[onidirk]

 

Wow, those look pretty sweet.. Good job!  I feel bad for slacking on the posts..  I'm uploading the bass drum info right now.. Sorry to make you wait.

[onidirk]

K.. time for some bass!!

I picked up two embroidery hoops from the craft store, 18" diameter for about $5 each.  As well as some more paper (with the alphabet on it) and a sheet of the foam core board around $5 as well..  The hoops are basically, a wood circle.. with a larger wooden circle around it.. with a bolt on the bottom to tighten it.


I took the middle hoops out.. used them to cut the foam.. and cover the inside edges with the foil tape.




Took the left over wooden dowels I had.. and placed them around the hoop... hot gluing them into place.

 


Then put the other hoop on top.. gluing the dowels on to it.. to form a "skeleton" of the drum.. It's pretty weak.. so, I would be careful as this stage.. The dowels aren't really there for too much strength... they are mainly to help hold it together.. and keep it's shape for the next step..






I cut a piece of the cardboard and went around the skeleton, hot gluing it to the hoop, and the dowels.. I put the seam at the bottom, so if it didn't line up.. you wouldn't see it.  I got lazy and didn't take any more pics.. but I just did the same as before.. with the decorative paper.. as for the "bands".. I covered the outer side of the larger hoop (the one with the bolt) in the foil tape.. then just put it back together.  It was actually, a kind of tight fit.. with all the layers of cardboard and paper in between the two hoops.. but it fits.  Then tighten the bolt a little.. hot glue the foam core board in there.. and you're done.  I thought about trying to attach it to the kit.... but couldn't really find a good way to do it.. Actually, resting one of the "feet" right behind one of the bottom supports on the drum kit.. it kind of locks in place with the pedal.. and doesn't move around much.

* I didn't post this part.. but I made these little caps to finish off the ends of the dowels on the other drums.  I cut a piece of the cardboard.. put a couple small strips of foamies on the sides.. to straddle the dowel, and covered them with the tape.. and added a dab of glue to hold them down. 








Well, I think that's it.. I'm really honored that someone out there was interested enough in my project, to do it themselves! Thanks

[MBliker]

The drum kit is awesome, it looks really great. You should also try and modify the drum pedal. I have heard that people have convert the plastic pedal (which breaks all the time) with a metal drum pedal. If you were to do that the drum kit would be perfect.

[Umpa]

Thanks for posting about the Bass drum. I will see what I can do. I will update here with pic after the Bass drum is done.
Thanks again!

[Timstuff]

Whoa! I love Rock Band, and that's a pretty friggin' sweet custom. It looks real!