All the proof I need

Marching percussion is still run by men most of the time.
Yes, there are more girls marching in the battery, women drum instructors, and even a woman who's a percussion caption head for a DCI corps. And that's great.
But the fact remains that the larger portion on what's happening in marching band and drum corps is still being run by men.

The sexism may not be as blatant in all corners, but that doesn't mean it's not happening.
Male staff are still being accused of sexual misconduct, but fewer women are being believed.
And behind the scenes, women and girls who complain are being riduculed and even threatened for making a stink about it.

This pad appeared on an online marketplace focused on marching percussion.
It was a stock image from Xymox that you could order when selecting a photo-finished practice pad in 2011.
The Wayback Machine can't tell me how long this image was offered, but I suspect that it was available for more than one season. It was gross then, and it's gross now.

Honestly, I just don't think this will ever end. It might get better in increments, but I doubt it will end. And in our current political and social climate, there's nowhere to go but down.
Color me bummed.

Product Review: Beetle Percussion Last Pad, Single-sided/concert

Early last year, I had an opportunity to put Beetle Percussion’s Last Pad through its paces. At the time, there was only a double-sided, marching focused version available. It was designed for modern marching drummers, able to take very high tension. You can read that review in two parts here, and here.

Eventually, after multiple experiments with that pad, I passed it along to a drummer with more experience playing modern, high-tension drums for further testing. Then, I turned my attention to other pads.

A few months back, I was offered the chance to try out the newer single-sided version of the Last Pad, designed for lower-tension concert and traditional marching practice. I readily agreed.

The single-sided Last Pad arrived this weekend, and I assembled it.

Beetle kindly sent the pad with two coated heads, one in single-ply Ambassador weight and the other in a heavier, two-ply Emperor weight. Since I already have a few pads with Ambassador heads on them for concert work, I chose to assemble this with the Emperor head.

The Last Pad comes with everything needed for assembly, including:

— Valchromat base, pre-drilled

— your choice of a lower-profile S-Hoop or a regular triple flange hoop

— all the necessary tuning bolts, nuts and washers

— a 14” insert consisting of 1/2” dense foam laid into a Valchromat base, designed to fit under the drumhead and on top of the primary pad base. You can order inserts made with recycled tire rubber if you wish, but the foam insert is necessary to make a lower-tension concert/traditional pad.

— a 14” head (not included in the base price, but you can buy one from Beetle for an extra charge or use one you already have)

You’ll need a standard drum key and a 5/16” open wrench. Beetle sells these as extras, too, if you don’t already have them.

The Valchromat primary base comes in multiple colors by request. My primary base is orange, and the insert (which is unseen once assembled) came in blue.

At left: the underside of the primary base, finished with foam discs for a nonskid experience on a tabletop.

Below: the top side of the primary base, inlaid with the same recycled tire rubber used on other Beetle pads.

The insert is inlaid with dense foam that, when placed under the drum head, provides a buttery feel that’s ideal for lower tings and coated heads.

Remembering my experience with the double-sided Last Pad and how the insert could wiggle slightly off-center, I put down a small rolled piece of clear tape between the primary base and the insert to keep it centered during tensioning. (Once it’s tensioned, the tape won’t affect the function of the assembled pad.)

The primary base comes pre-drilled to receive the tuning bolts, nuts and washers. I assume that two washers are used to provide greater strength and stability, with the larger washer going in first, followed by the smaller washer and then the nut. The holes of the washers have different inside diameters, so pay attention when assembling.

I took my time, using the overturned box as an assembly surface. Because everything came pre-drilled, assembly was very straightforward. However, you need to take your time and be patient because there are twelve nodes of contact. Tensioning and tuning properly will take longer, and you’ll want to make sure the insert doesn’t wiggle around while you put everything together. (The tape helps a lot with this.)

The holes are drilled to take counter-sunk washers on the bottom, and the elongated ovals make it easier to set up the tension bolts while you work your way around the pad. Once you assemble everything hand-tight, positioning each tuning bolt in or near the middle of the oval is straightforward.

After going around enough to ensure that nothing rattled anymore, I put the pad into a concert snare stand and began tuning more assertively. My concert stand of choice is a vintage Hamilton stand that is strong and heavy. The arms don’t line up with the cutouts in the primary base, but that’s not a problem here. A stand with three arms of equal length and distance will match up with the cutouts easily.

When it was all done, I tried it out. First, I used marching sticks:

Then, I turned to some concert sticks and tried some buzz rolls and a lighter touch:

Finally, I tried some brush strokes:

The foam insert definitely makes you put in a little more effort and thought to “pull” the strokes out of the head, just as you would when playing a traditionally-tensioned field drum or a snare from a drum kit.

That’s a feature of playing lower tensioned drums, and not a mistake. Anyone used to chopping on Kevlar will have to adjust their approach accordingly.

At some point, I may swap in the Ambassador head and try that out but honestly, I am so delighted with the feel and response of the Emperor head that I’m going to hang out with it awhile.

If you’ve been on the fence about the Last Pad, it’s worth the money and the time you’ll invest in it.

If you’re focused on marching snare and you chop on Kevlar, get the double-sided version and put different heads on each side. If you’re looking for a really fine concert or traditional pad, the single-sided is ideal. 

(Note: Beetle Percussion does not pay me to test and write about their pads, or to help market them. Now that they offer hoodies, though, I may just have to buy one.)

Happy drumming.

Brandon’s Demo: Beetle Percussion Last Pad (singlesided)

Here’s a really nice demo of the Beetle Percussion Last Pad, provided by Brandon Graves.

If you remember a couple years back, I reviewed the double sided Last Pad, which was really designed for modern marching drummers and capable of taking extremely high tension. It was really not a pad that applied to my uses, and with Bradley’s blessing I sent it along to another, younger drummer for further testing.

Meanwhile, I’ll soon be taking delivery on the singlesided version of the Last Pad, which is designed to be optimal at a lower tension and is more suited to concert and Mylar marching work. Since I don’t yet have my pad, I thought I’d share this video from Beetle artist Brandon Graves to whet your appetite.

(NOTE: Beetle Percussion does NOT pay me — or even ask me — to post these articles or to hype their pads. I do so because I believe Beetle makes some of the nicest and the most sustainable practice pads in the industry, and I think they’re worth your consideration. That’s all.)

I expect to receive my Last Pad within the next month or so. Remember that these pads are craftmade one at a time right here in the US, and as with all things Beetle, they're worth the wait.

One of these things is just like the other: waxed canvas stick bags

Because I like to point out naked emperors everywhere I find them, here’s this week’s interestingness.

First, Meinl’s waxed canvas drum stick bag. Very nice, waxed cotton canvas with padding, reinforcements made of synthetic “pleather” and stitched well all around. More than enough pockets for all the sticks and mallets you’d need for a gig. Very attractive and pretty durable bag, and if you care about such things, it’s vegan. (That’s worth something here in Portland, which has more vegan restaurants than you can possibly imagine. Vegans like appreciate that.)

The bag comes in multiple colors, including black, khaki and green.

Very attractive and available at all your favorite big box music retailers, including Sweetwater, Music & Arts and Musician’s Friend (which may be all the same thing with three different names and coverage regions, but that’s not in my wheelhouse.)

It retails for $120.

Then, there’s this lovely number from Third Floor Bazaar, a single drum/percussion warehouse retailer based in New York. Jonathan Singer, the proprietor, has a doctorate in Percussion and teaches part-time in addition to his duties running the retail business. He ships all over the country and overseas, and has a legion of loyal customers who border on outright fandom (disclaimer: I’m one of them).

Jon offers a house brand called Name Brand, which began with cymbals made by independent cymbalsmiths and has expanded to various accessories, including a lovely stick bag made from waxed canvas and synthetic “pleather.”

If you look closely, it’s the same as the Meinl bag. Not similar, but nearly identical. Same size, same construction and design. Meinl’s snaps are embossed with the brand name and the hooks for the shoulder strap are a bit bigger. I haven’t seen the Meinl bag in person, and it’s possible that the canvas used is probably made from a slightly thicker material. I don’t know. But when nearly every other aspect of these bags is essentially the same, it’s hard not to notice.

It’s also hard not to notice the difference in price.

Meinl’s bag retails for $120.

The Name Brand bag retails for $45.

Now, obviously, neither Meinl nor Third Floor Bazaar are making these bags in-house. If they did they’d have to sell them for so much more money it would be stupid. But it wouldn’t be hard to guess that the bags are being made in the same factory overseas. Indeed, even if they’re being made in two different factories, both of those factories are still overseas (likely in China, because with few exceptions — and almost none of the cheapest exceptions exist elsewhere in the drum industry — China makes nearly everything now), with one closely copying the design of the other. China isn’t known for worrying about things like protecting intellectual or physical property designs.

I’ve gone on before about all the pitfalls of manufacturing overseas, marking up prices obscenely and selling the products here in the US. I won’t beat that horse again here. But if you actually need a drum stick bag and you don’t want it to be made of animal products (petroleum doesn’t count, because dinosaurs have been gone a long time), you could do a lot worse than this Name Brand bag.

I bought one because I needed a stick bag, didn’t want one made of leather, and I trust and support Third Floor Bazaar. I’m sure as hell glad I don’t live in New York, because I’d be visiting that place every week.

So what’s my point here? I do have one and it’s this:

If you’re going to buy drums and parts and accessories, make sure they’re things you actually need and will use. Count to ten before you spend the money.

Where possible, repair what you have, or buy used (Third Floor has you covered there, and so do lots of small drum shops around the country). 

When you need to buy new, support a small business rather than a big box conglomerate, because the profits will stay local and support the little guy, rather than pad the bottom line of a bunch of shareholders.

Thanks for coming to my TED talk. Happy drumming.