Drum Riser
Product Design
A DIY drum riser designed and built to eliminate floor-borne vibrations from an electronic drum kit
Client:
Robert L.
Role:
UI Designer
Year:
2022
Challenge
Vibrations from my electronic drum kit were transferring through the floor and becoming a real issue for my neighbors. Commercial risers were either too expensive or didn’t meet my constraints around height, modularity, and performance.
Objective
Success criteria. Design and build a drum riser that:
Stays affordable compared to commercial options
Modular and detachable for easy moving/storage
Remains as low-profile as possible
Effectively reduces floor-borne vibrations
Looks clean and visually intentional in a home setup
Process
I modeled the structure in Shapr3D using precise measurements of my kit and designed a modular system that could be disassembled if I moved. I selected MDF as the main material for a lightweight, cost-effective build, then focused on vibration isolation as the key technical constraint. After testing common DIY ideas (tennis balls, springs, mattresses) and finding them unreliable, I researched industrial isolation solutions and contacted RRG (Germany). I shared diagrams and detailed load calculations, including the drum components, the platform, and my own weight,so they could evaluate my setup. Based on that data, they recommended an optimal foam density tailored to the load and use case.
Results
The final riser was built and performed exactly as intended: it reduced vibrations effectively and met every requirement, affordable, modular/detachable, low-profile, and visually clean, solving the neighbor-noise issue in a practical and repeatable way.
