Target markets

Found this morning on Reddit: a guy took the laminate off his new Evans Attacktile pad. On purpose.

For those who haven’t been following, the laminate was the whole point of this pad.

Guy spends $35 for a brand new pad designed to offer a highly articulate response and also a practice surface for brushes.

Then he takes it off the pad, to reveal the grey rubber that’s found on Evans regular pad, which also retails for around $35.

His comment: “ i took the laminate off my attacktile pad lol it just sounds the same but less articulate”

If this is the target market for Evans and VF pads, they’re winning SO HARD right now. 😂😂😂

Should I write a book about practice pads?

A friend suggested I research and write a comprehensive book about the history of drum practice pads.

It's an intriguing idea, especially now that I'm retired and have time.

It's also a daunting idea, because of the amount and kind of research required for such a book to be "comprehensive."

The last time I researched and wrote anything as thoroughly was a college term paper about Percussion Instruments in the Ottoman Empire. The course was a graduate-level course in Ottoman history that the instructor invited me to take for undergraduate credit (to be applied towards my certificate in Middle East Studies). The grad students had to submit a 50-page paper and oral presentation at the end of the term; as an undergrad, my paper could be 25 pages. I was fascinated and signed up for the class. The paper could be on any topic related to the Ottoman Empire. Eventually, I decided to write about Ottoman period percussion instruments and their influences on Western music.

I had contacted the Percussive Arts Society for help with my research, and while the respondent couldn't offer anything concrete, he invited me to send him a copy of the paper when it was finished. I told him I'd send him a copy if I got an "A" on it.
I struggled with the finer points of research and documentation, and wrote a 25-page typed paper, for which I gave an oral presentation in class. My oral presentation included demonstrations of modern percussion instruments that took their designs and uses from their Ottoman precursors.
I got an "A-" and sent the guy at PAS a copy.

A month later, the same fellow contacted me and asked if I'd give permission for the paper to be included in an upcoming issue of the PAS journal Percussive Notes. I was surprised, but said yes.
Two months later, I received two copies of the printed journal in the mail. I gave one to my instructor as a thank-you.

My instructor informed me that my paper had been published in a peer review journal. I had no idea what that meant. His mildly jealous graduate assistant explained it to me: "You got a scholarly paper published in an academic journal. Other academics -- people with graduate degrees, university professors and the like -- who subscribe to that journal can read what you wrote and offer comments and reviews of it. Undergrads don't generally get their papers accepted by peer review journals!"
I hadn't known such a thing existed. I was amazed and even a little proud of myself.
My professor was so tickled that he tacked a photocopy of the published article to the bulletin board outside his office.

That was the first and last time I ever worked so hard on a research paper, with citations and footnotes and everything.
I don't think of myself as an academic.

But the idea of writing a whole book on a topic, and especially researching it all, somewhat terrifies me. Which is a good sign that it's worth considering.

I don't yet know how to proceed. I don't yet know if it makes sense to try and create a printed, physical book; who would buy such a thing in the age of computers and e-readers?

But I am pondering the idea seriously. Feel free to reach out and tell me what you think.

Vintage Corner: FIPS practice pad, early 1960s

Frank Ippolito was a New York based drummer in the 1930s through 1960s, who toured with big bands and later opened his own drum shop. Along the way, he also designed and manufactured a practice drum kit with a distinctive feel and style.

The FIPS practice kit sold mostly on the East Coast of the US, for a short time in the early 1960s. Made of a dense foam rubber, topped with a sheet of Mylar and bound with a metal hoop, it was quiet and lightweight, which made it popular among drummers who lived in apartments.

The kit was made for less than a decade, and today is very rare.

I obtained this in an online auction from a fellow who didn’t know what he had, and was asking very little money for it. It’s 14” and would likely have served as the “snare” of a practice kit, resting on a drum stand. For its age and construction it’s in fair to good shape, though the underside shows considerable wear. The dense foam material still has some “spring” in it, and when you play on the Mylar top it still has a decent feel.

I doubt I will ever find a complete kit, but am very glad to have found this single pad.

For more about Frank Ippolito, enjoy this informative article by British drummer Mike Dolbear.

Below: photos of the pad I got, and a short demo video.

Sprucing up: vintage Ludwig 10” tunable pad, 1970s

I’d had one of these several years ago, but when I couldn’t work due to Long Covid I had to sell it to help pay some bills. I’d always missed it. So when I found this online at a good price, I bought it.

These Ludwig pads were amazing in their day, and remain highly desirable among drummers and pad collectors (which of course has a huge overlap). The 8” version shows up for sale far more often than the 10” version. Both are fabulous to practice on, with the 10” being a little more appropriate for concert drummers and the 8” being suitable for both marching and concert practice.

These pads are very easy to dismantle with nothing more than a standard drum key.

Some models come with a metal circular frame that fits very tightly beneath the head’s counter hoop, which is why standard drum heads won’t fit these pads. The foam insert was the full depth of the circular insert and a little more, allowing for a muted drum sound that still offered enough articulation to get the right feel. 

For later models of this pad, Ludwig did away with the circular frame and full-depth foam, likely due to costs, and replaced it with a wooden disc that measured the same size as the circular frame. On top of that was laid a much thinner piece of foam, which provided some muffling and aided in getting a good response. All three of my pads use the wooden disc construction. 

While the pad was disassembled, I used a rust eraser to remove the rust from the rim and the counter hoop of the head. I also added a tiny spot of glue to the base of the threaded posts to keep them stabilized in place. (The threaded holes can come loose and pop out with time and use, causing damage to the soft plywood base.)

Before I reassembled the pad, I decided to add a large circular CS adopt decal to the underside of the head. I liked the addition of a similar dot to my smaller pad, but on this larger one I didn’t want it to obscure the logo on the head. It shows from underneath but I don’t mind. And it adds some heft to the fifty-year-old head, which I think will help it last longer. The decals are offered in a pack of multiple sizes by Cardinal Percussion, and available at larger online dealers.

These pads came with a smooth Mylar head made specifically for them. Later replacement heads, labeled “Ensemble,” were designed to be used on either this pad, or on Ludwig’s tunable tambourine. They were thicker and had a faint texture that allowed for thumb rolls on the tambourine — and which made for an excellent, more robust playing surface on pads. This pad came with an”Ensemble” head and the response is amazing. Sadly, Ludwig stopped making the pads in the early 1980, and stopped making the heads within a decade or less after that. Both these pads and their replacement heads are hard to find now. That’s why I chose to apply CS dots to two of the pads I use the most often. 

When reassembling the pad, I added a second set of washers so there’d be two for each post. This allows the threaded nuts to sit a little higher and allows for slightly more range in tuning. NOTE: when reinstalling the threaded nuts, make sure the flat side goes on bottom against the washer, and the side with slightly rounded corners goes on top.

Adding the second washer also makes it easier to tension the head more carefully and gradually. Hand tighten the nut to start. As soon as the top washer begins to spin, stop and move on to the next threaded post until all nuts are mounted and finger-tight. Then tune carefully and gradually as you would any drum.

Once everything was reassembled, I noticed an immediate improvement in the response of the pad.

This is a keeper and will be part of my regular rotation.

Happy drumming.

Future Vintage: Matoon practice pad

Chris Mattoon is based in the mid west and tours with a couple of different bands. A student of Bernard Purdie, he became interested in making drums and percussion accessories while still a student, and went on to create his own company of custom made drums.

For awhile, Chris made beautiful practice pads from machined aluminum and gum rubber. Small (3" in diameter) and very portable, they were meant to be used on a stand or a knee platform. For a short time, he made them out of both plain aluminum and also with custom drum wrap finishes. They were highly desirable by drummers and collectors, and in production for only a few years.

I recently acquired this one from Reverb, complete with a knee platform.

It took some time for me to warm up to it, but now I enjoy its portability and response. The small size forces me to work on accuracy, and I like that too.

These pads sold new in the mid 2010's for anywhere from $100 to 150. Today, they are rare and might sell for as much as $200 depending on finish and condition. I got mine for $75 because the gum rubber was starting to show a little yellowing and age, but it still plays nicely. I store it with another mini-pad on top of it to minimize the exposure to sunlight, which is a good idea for all gum rubber pads.

Chris no longer makes these pads, preferring to focus on teaching, touring and making custom drums by request.

DIY percussion: My own private Bus Pad

When I went looking for gum rubber for my Moeller homage pad, the smallest size I could find was 12” square, for around twenty bucks. Since I knew I’d find other uses for the rubber, I bought the square.

After using what I needed for the Moeller homage pad, I had quite a lot of rubber left over. I really liked the feel of the 3/8” thick rubber, and chose to make myself my own private “Bus” pad.

I returned to the same construction site where I’d sourced the wood for the Moeller homage pad. By now, most of the structural work had been completed and they’d moved on to siding, floors and interiors. There wasn’t as much scrap wood to pick through, but I managed to find a nice piece of solid wood that had been finished with a vague tan primer, and had a lot number stamped on one end. It just barely fit in my bicycle saddlebag, and I took it home.

I cleaned it up, cut off a couple inches on one end to fit the piece of rubber properly, sanded it lightly and painted it with glossy clear coat. Then, I roughed up the top and the underside of the gum rubber, glued them together and let sit under weight overnight.

The next day, I did the same thing with the underside of the wood base and a piece of stackmat material, which I glued with the fabric side against the wood and the rubber side out for a nonskid surface.

Finally, I used up the last of the scrap leather and copper finishing nails, and made a little nameplate.

I’m very pleased with how this turned out. It’s a portable size that fits in my backpack, but slightly wider than commercially made lap pads currently on the market.

This is in danger of becoming my favorite portable pad.

A short demo video can be found here: https://www.facebook.com/100003556179660/videos/pcb.9283558178439296/936505621744947

The pad works well with both heavier concert sticks and with marching sticks. It’s extra thickness means that I have to pull the rolls out a bit, which is great for warming up and also makes it a quieter pad.

DIY Project: homemade Moeller pad

Readers here will remember my first attempt at making a tilted wood practice pad, during the pandemic. It was a rough job, and the tilt was insane, but I learned a lot from the process. A friend named it the Hero Tilt pad.

Not long after finishing that project, I came across this photo of a pad made and used by Sanford “Gus” Moeller.

It was one of the most beautiful pads I’d ever seen, and I wanted to own it.

I also knew that wasn’t likely to happen. This one was either in the hands of Moeller’s descendants, or a collector, or maybe even a museum.

So if I wanted one, I’d have to make my own. The trouble was that I’m not an experienced woodworker. I own no power tools and I wasn’t prepared to lay out a ton of money on the project. So I made a deal with myself and decided that I’d take my time, do my best, and be willing to live with the results.

Part One: I got the wood slabs from a scrap pile at a construction site near my home. 

The cylindrical pieces came from chair crossbeams dumped by a restaurant when they replaced their broken chairs. Unable to get accurate measurements from a photo, I went “by the eye,” as they say. I drew lines for simple cuts with a hand saw, and after the pieces were cut I sanded them all by hand. I mostly wanted to sand down the sharp edges so they wouldn't snag on anything. Since I was working with scrap wood, hand tools and arthritic hands, I was prepared for my pad to be a bit more rough and ready than Moeller’s. 

Part Two: I roughed up the facing edges and used wood glue to attach the three main pieces together. I used a wood stool and bicycle toe straps as clamps to set everything overnight. When the glue dried, I went back and added a couple of wood screws for stability. Then, I added the small side struts with wood glue and let everything dry overnight.

I had thought of staining my pad like Moeller had, but my very rough scraps and glue spots would only be accentuated by stain or vernish. In the end I decided to just paint the wood. I opted for some Gloss Forest Green left over from when we painted our house three years ago. A couple of coats and it didn’t look half bad.

I wanted a name plate, but there wasn’t enough room to apply one where Moeller had placed his, so I mounted it on the side of the base. I made mine from scrap leather and used an art pen. I preserved it with a coat of clear nail polish and mounted it with tiny copper finishing nails.

Part Three: I applied a nonskid bottom using thin mousepad material. I’ve used this on other practice pads and it works well.

Part Four: Finally, I was ready to add the rubber playing surface on top. I marked off the size I wanted, dipped a sharp carpet knife in oil, and cut to desired size. After wiping the oil off, I scored the top of the wood and the bottom of the rubber, applied super glue gel, bound it up with bike toe straps and let dry outside.

Here’s the finished pad, and the original Moeller pad for comparison. It’s not perfect, but it’s solid and feels great to chop on. Considering my lack of woodworking tools and knowledge, I’m still pleased with how it turned out.