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This blog post will help you find the best drum pads for practicing drum rudiments and hand techniques to improve your overall skills on the snare drum and on the drum set.
So, if you are new to playing drums, this little buying guide is an ideal starting point because sooner or later – as a drummer – you will need to buy a drum practice pad anyway.
Why?
Because a drum practice pad is your ideal companion wherever you go and wherever you don't have access to a real drum set.
For example:
And the most convincing reason – in my opinion – to buy a drum pad is the price, as you will see in the following section.
The best drumming pads for practicing
Here are my favorite drum pads, I can recommend buying.
Most popular
12" Evans RealFeel
This is the Evans RealFeel drum practice pad. It's one of the most popular drum pads worldwide. It is available in different sizes and versions, which you can read more about clicking here.
Small sized drumming pad
6" Promark Drum Pad
This is my very 1st 6" practice pad by Promark. Unfortunately, Promark discontinued building this drum practice pad, but there are other companies who produce drum pads of this size.
Evans RealFeel
The Evans RealFeel practice pad is available in different sizes from 6 inches (ca. 15 cm) up to 12 inches (ca. 30 cm) diameter.
I got this special edition practice pad in red, which isn't available anymore at the moment.
Of course, the color doesn't influence the “real-feel” when you play this great practice pad.
In the center of this drum pad, the rebound isn't as intense as close to the edge.
This is my 12" Evans RealFeel Drum Practice Pad
Choose from 4 drumming pad versions
In total, there are 5 versions available of this Evans practice pad for practicing. Here they are with a little description added:
Evans RF-6d
The Evans RF-6D (6 inches) can be played on both sides. One side offers more rebound and the other helps to gain more endurance.
Evans RF-6GM
The Evans RF-6GM (6 inches) can be mounted onto an M8 thread, while the main side offers great rebound for your daily practicing routine.
Evans ARF-7GM
The Evans ARF-7GM (7 inches) is quite similar to the prior practice pad. It's a 7" version and can also be mounted to an M8 thread (e.g., cymbal stand), while the main side offers great rebound for your daily practicing routine.
Evans RF-12G
The Evans RF-12G (12 inches) is the big brother of the RF-6G and can be played on 1 side with a great rebound.
This is the pendant of the red pad I own.
Evans RF-12D
And last not least, here's the Evans RF-12D (12 inches). This is the double-sided version for drummers who want to practice their doubles and single stroke rolls on two different surfaces.
The best drum practice pads made by other manufacturers
Of course, Evans isn't the only company who produces great and thought out drum practice pads.
Here's a selection of other quite popular drum pads, which are also great for practicing any hand technique:
Zildjian Graffiti
If you like to practice on a colorful drum pad, the Zildjian Graffiti is ideal for you! It's available in 6" and 12" here.
Ahead Strap-On 5"
This 5" practice pad by Ahead is quite small and can be strapped onto your knees for a great practice session – no tables, chairs or other surfaces needed!
Ahead Strap-On 5"
DW created this 12" multi surfaces drum practice pad to train your chops. There are 3 different areas which you can play on. Every single one with a different feel. Click here for more information.
Are you looking for a drum pad practice kit?
In case you are planing a long term trip to a foreign country, or you are touring the world with your band; you should consider buying a drum pad practice kit!
This is the DW “Go Anywhere” DWCPPADTS5 drum pad practice kit, including a stand.
There are two 8" pads for the toms and two 10" pads for snare and floor tom. The kick drum pad can be played using a conventional kick drum pedal.
This practice drum kit is very affordable and doesn't need a lot of space when set up.
Ideal for hotel rooms, backstage and so on. Click here to learn more about this kit.
Donner DED 200 e-drum set
A few weeks ago, I published this Donner DED 200 review.
Although the company's name and its products still aren't that popular, this e-drum set really surprised me in terms of quality and playability.
Donner DED 200 Electric Drum Set
In comparison to the DW Go Anywhere kit, the Donner DED 200 is equipped with mesh heads and – of course – a sound module.
Still, this drum set only costs approximately $400,- and you can even get it cheaper using the discount code [MIDNIGHTDRUMMER15] during check out on Donnerdeal.com.
More electronic drum practice pads
Yes, there are electronic drum pads like these, but their purpose is more for performances and studio recordings than practicing on them.
Of course, this is still possible, but the price is quite high.
If you are looking for a drum pad with an internal metronome, you should aim for products like the Millenium R1-12 or buy a metronome separately.
How to find the best practice pad for your drumming style and level
Probably any of the drum practice pads, I mentioned in this blog post, will make you happy.
I wouldn't recommend buying a very expensive one, but too cheap isn't a good idea either.
When I started playing drums, everything I bought was quite cheap and while practice pads don't seem to differ very much, there are still big differences in quality and playability!
As mentioned, my very first drum pad I bought was a 6" Promark pad. My former drum teacher recommended it to me, and it's still in a very good shape.
It will probably do its job for the next 200 years or so – nothing can damage it, really.
Once you bought a decent drum pad like these, you will never have to think about buying another. Most are build very solidly and damaging it is almost impossible.
Please let me know in the comments, what kind of drum pad you are looking for and which one is your favorite.
Thanks a lot and enjoy playing drums!
