DIY Drummer: Odds-n-Ends -- repurposing, refurbishing

 On my way to swapping out for a smaller bass drum for my West Craft kit, I had an idea.
I asked Kaleb if he'd be interested in taking on a small side project in addition to refurbishing my bass drum. "No rush," I said, "I just wonder what it would look like if you gave this the West Craft treatment." Kaleb was intrigued and took home one of three vintage Ludwig practice pads I had.
All I told him was, "Do it up in shades of blue, and don't worry about the rubber because I'll clean that myself when you're all done."

Less than two hours later, he sent me three photos. He was intrigued.

When I get the finished pad I'll be sure to share it here.

Also, I received in a batch of sticks a mallets an extra, unmatched pair of vintage Ludwig timpani mallets. Both had badly degraded felts, and the heads had been glued to the shafts so removing them for replacement would be risky. They weren't so far apart in size and shape that I couldn't do SOMEthing with them, though.
So today, I decided to turn them into multipurpose mallets. I wrapped the harder of the two mallets with a few turns of the soft wool yarn to help equalize the hardness and size of the heads a little more. Then wrapped both heads vertically in rotating loops, the way yarn mallets are traditionally wound. I had taught myself how to do this in college, from a little booklet on mallet repair (I also used to recover my timpani mallets with new felt, using the instructions from the same booklet).

These mallets turned out to be a little on the big side, but that's okay. I figure they can be used for soft rolls on timpani, drumkit toms and maybe even some cymbals.

The yarn I chose was very thick ply, designed for use in scarves, potholders, hats and other thick things. It turned out to be quite useful for this application, because it's thick and soft.
Finally, To keep a couple hairline cracks from growing, I decided to wrap the wooden shafts in white stick tape. I added a second layer in the handle area to help improve the balance a little.

I'm pleased at how it turned out.

I have a couple new pads coming my way soon, and I look forward to putting through their paces and reporting about them here.

A reminder: If you or someone you know is connected to a company that makes pads, or that has historical documentation about pads the company made long ago, please let me know! I am always looking for new pads to test and review here; if you work with a company that is willing to send me a sample to test, that would be great. I don't have infinite funding to spend on this so I appreciate it when companies are willing to send me a pad. I also seek historical documentation about the design and development of practice pads, especially prior to 1940. If you can help, please let me know by reaching out to me through Facebook.

Thanks and happy drumming.

More pad restoration: know what to look for, and keep it out of the landfill

 So this week I scored a wonderful selection of old pads and hardware.

The seller needed to clear it out quickly, accepted my below-asking offer and was willing to ship for free.

Granted, these pads will need some cleaning up, but when I’m done, they’ll be as fun to pound on as when they were new, and the hardware will help complete a few drum kits in the neighborhood.

When you look for used pads to clean up and reuse, you have to know what to look for.

AND you have to be willing to put in the time and work to rescue them.

The rubber pads will need some cleaning, and some real elbow grease to bring them back to useful life.  The tunable Remo pads just need cleaning up and fresh replacement heads.

Soon after I take delivery on this lot, several drummers will have great pads to practice on, and I will have kept all this stuff out of the landfill.

THIS is what sustainability is about. Find old, beat-up stuff, fix it up and clean it up, and prepare it for a second life with a new owner.

What I’m saying here won’t make many manufacturers happy; for them, it’s about tying custom to buy new stuff regularly. But for kids on a budget, for nonprofit youth programs on a budget, for your friend down the street who’s preparing to audition for a corps and needs a more durable practice pad, sustainability is EXACTLY what we should promote within the drumming world.

End of sermon. Happy Drumming!

Future Vintage: Vic Firth IMS10 drum sticks

 Sometime in the early to mid 2000's, Vic Firth released a stick called the IMS10. Designed in partnership with notable DCI drum instructor Brian S. Mason for the growing indoor percussion activity, it was smaller than most marching sticks used outdoors and featured an elongated acorn tip. Presumably, it was not a big seller at the time, because after several years Vic Firth stopped making them.

I wish they hadn't. It's a GREAT stick.

It is smaller, but no overly so; and it is one of the best balanced, most comfortable sticks I've ever used for marching. I also like it for some concert percussion situations where a field drum and/or slightly heavier stick is called for. And it's a great rudimental stick as well.

The first generation were made with black paint, Mason's signature and wood tips.

Later, an unpainted version was released, without a signature, in both wood and nylon tipped versions. It was a little bit lighter than the original, perhaps because it was felt they'd be a better seller in a lighter weight for a wider variety of uses.

Today, I have a couple pairs that I've held in reserve. One pair is on my wall display rack, and the other pair is in my stickbag, taped up and used in my community marching band.

It's a fantastic stick. Some folks remember playing with these back in the day and are looking for them again. I recently scored a bundle of 15 pairs of these, New Old Stock from a music store that's closing its doors. I'm keeping another pair for myself and I've sold off some of the others. (I have a few pairs left as of this writing; hit me up on FB if you want a pair.)

If there's anyone out with some kind of pull at Vic Firth, maybe give a shout out that these sticks still have a fan base and ought to be brought back into production. Because right now they're hard to find and at some point they'll be gone, Let's keep these from becoming truly vintage one day.

Happy chopping!

Drum History Podcast, latest episode: All about practice pads

I was tickled to be invited to join Bart van der Zee on the Drum History Podcast, to talk and enthuse all about practice pads and their history.

I knew that if I did, I'd blow the lid off my little secret and get other people excited about it -- with the likely result that vintage practice pads would no longer be so easy or cheap to find.
In the end I decided that geeking out about history was more important than hoarding all the cool pads (which I don't but you get the idea).

We had a lovely chat!

You can find it here:

https://www.drumhistorypodcast.com/post/ep-107-the-history-of-practice-pads-with-beth-hamon

And if you support the podcast through Patreon, you can access little nuggets, "extras" available only to paying supporters. Including a little 15-minute thing with Yours Truly.

Happy Chopping!

Drum kit playdate: not bad for being so rusty

I haven't gigged behind a drum kit regularly, or owned a decent drum kit I could play at home, since 1993. That's almost 30 years ago.
My goal for assembling this vintage oddball kit, refurbished by Westcraft Drums, was primarily so I'd have a kit at home I could play regularly, even if I had to do so with mufflers to keep the peace there.
If things opened up in such a way as to help me find musicians to play with, great. But first I needed to play at home and get my sea legs back.

(You lose a lot in thirty years' time.)

Today, Sweetie gave me the rare gift of time alone in the house.

"Take the mufflers off," she said, "and have fun."

So for two hours, I did just that. Recent upgrades, including a 70's Zildjian Ping Ride and a 90's Zildjian light crash cymbal, made a great-sounding kit sound wonderful.

Of course, I shot video of everything I did, in ten-minute increments. Then, towards the end of my allotted time, I shot one final video, satisfied that all my previous efforts were sufficient to work out the worst of the ugly, forgetful kinks. I hoped I wouldn't suck.

After Sweetie got home, I watched all the videos to learn from them, and saved the best one to share (below).

For not having had this much time behind a kit in so long, I think I did okay. And I have quite a ways to go to get back to a point that will make me happy.
That's okay. I like to practice.

Purpose-driven developments in practice pad design

I've been cleaning out the dark corners of my practice pad collection, selling off doubles and making some space in my studio. Along the way, I've been trying out different pads and deepening my knowledge of pad design in the process.

Tonight I did a little comparison.
Using an excerpt from one of the NARD solos ("Benevolent Bill"), I played the first section on each of four different pads in my collection (disclaimer: all keepers, so don't ask if I'm selling them).

In order of trial and approximate age, here are my videos.

1. 1948-50 Slingerland Radio King pad, 2B sticks. The pad itself is actually no big deal, because it's the same design dozens of companies were selling in the back of their respective drum catalogs. Slingerland's Radio King pad was perhaps a little bit bigger than a lot of what else was out there at the time, but really the only thing that makes it special is the iconic "Radio King" badge. Still, it's fun to play on something so historic and older than I am.
The black rubber surface is still in good shape, and hasn't hardened yet. But it's also not quite as bouncy as gum rubber would be, and I have to pull the strokes out of the pad. This would also be the case with the bigger, deeper drums of this era (marching snare drums measured 15" or 16" in diameter back then), with Mylar heads tuned lower. Drummers of this era had to do some of the work involved in double bounce rolls and paradiddle rudiments, which is why so many worked out on pillows as part of their training.

2. 1972 Patterson design Pad. Another wood box, this one horizontal, with a more pure gum rubber playing surface that's lively and offers a bit more rebound. Still using the 2B sticks out of consideration for the design and the pad's age, I can get a very nice bounce. This is more in line with the marching drums of my youth, which usually measured 14" in diameter and had more lugs, so they could be tuned tighter and higher than the older 15" drums. Combined with a Remo "Pinstripe" head, these drums produced a fat but crisp sound that was tremendous to hear when eight or ten drummers played in perfect unison.

3. Vater Chop Builder pad, black (hard) side, with marching sticks. Switching to marching sticks for this heavier, denser pad made sense; the 2B sticks don't really work as well with the modern marching pads. I chose to utilize the harder black side of this pad to see if there was a real difference between it and the final pad in the comparison. There definitely is a difference.
Several companies produce two-sided pads with a soft and hard side, and in most cases the hard side on these pads is SO hard that you might as well be playing on a Formica countertop. The Vater version pulls back a little from that, with a thick "hard" side that still has a little rebound in it and makes for a more pleasant playing experience.

4. Vic Firth Heavy Hitter Slimpad. One of the most popular marching pads on the market since its introduction in the early 2000's. This predates the Vater pad by a few years but I saved it for last because it comes closest to the feel and rebound of a modern Kevlar marching head. It's 1/8' thick gum rubber on a wood base. Nothing fancy, but they dialed in the feel so it gives modern marching drummers exactly what they need in a practice situation. The gum rubber is lively and offers rebound, but the thin playing surface means there's a lot of hardness coming from the wood underneath. As opposed to "pulling" the strokes out of the drum, as I'd do on a Mylar head, all of the bounce comes from the tightness and hardness of the Kevlar surface. If I tried to "pull" the strokes from as Kevlar head I might end up pulling a wrist muscle and actually hurting myself.

The heavier marching sticks are really the best way to go on this pad, as the heft of the bigger stick balances against the hardness of the pad.

Practice pads from the early days up through the 1970's and very early 80's were not quite as purpose-driven, not as specialized as they are today.
They didn't have to be because concert, jazz and marching drums all utilized Mylar heads, which can only be tightened so far before either the head breaks, or the hardware pulls out from the side of the drum.

With the advent of stronger materials, drum heads could be made from carbon-fiber and Kevlar, and later on, hybrids of the two materials. These heads, capable of being cranked high and tight, became the standard for marching bands and drum corps -- and changed the way marching drummers approached technique. New drum pads specifically designed to meet the demands of marching drummers came onto the market. Some of the earliest models are no longer in production and are highly sought after by drummers of that generation, hoping to replace the pad from their younger marching days that got worn out or lost.

But practice pads for Mylar drummers have also evolved. Very few drummers today would willingly choowe to practice on that Slingerland Radio King, when other, more responsive pads now exist on the market.

That said, how much have technical advances in drum and pad design affected drumming technique? Or vice versa? Or does it have that much of an effect outside of modern marching ensembles? These are questions with complex answers, and I'm just trying out practice pads.

Feel free to respond with your questions and insights here in the comments.

And Happy drumming!

DIY external bass drum muffler

I recent scored this because I wanted to muffle the echo of my bass drum a little.
This may be more than I was looking for. It's a lot bigger than the photo indicated...

I'm taking the bass drum to Revival Sunday to get some help with setting up the drum to take both a ride cymbal AND a small rack tom, using the hardware the drum came with.
I'm hoping I can get away with something that isn't too complicated and which won't topple over from excess weight. I don't plan to use a floor tom with this kit so I need everything to be compact and minimalist. I hope they can help me with the cymbal mount as well.