Always Mister Brown

I first met Mel Brown as an eighth-grader when he came and taught a drumming clinic for all the drum students in our school district. He talked about rudiments and technique, gave some demonstrations, and then invited brave students to come up and try playing his kit.

Several boys went up, gulped, and tried their hand at playing various rock beats. Lots of fills, lots of notes, a couple dropped sticks and blushes, lots of big sounds.

I was the last student who came up. The only girl, of course (it was 1978), and the only one who asked if he could lend me a pair of brushes. I wasn’t very confident on the drum kit yet but I knew how to accompany my parents with brushes when they sang.

Mr. Brown smiled broadly as I laid down a simple brush beat and kept it going, with only an occasional fill.

When I finished, he shook my hand in both of his and said, “that was some lovely brush work. Please keep playing. Please.”

I walked on air for the rest of the afternoon.

I’ve seen him in jazz clubs in Portland and it was wonderful to see him the other night at Revival Drum Shop. And to this day, I can’t bring myself to call him Mel. He remains in my heart, lovingly and with deep respect, Mr. Brown.

 

 

DIY practice pad: Adjustments must be made.

Well, the Hero Tilt was a little too heroic for my arthritic hands.

So today, my pal Stewart came over and helped me remove a little less than a third of the angle height from the pad’s platform. I traced the line indicating how much wood needed to be removed, and he brought over his circular saw and took off what was needed.

Afterwards, I sanded it and applied fresh paint, and when that dries I’ll reinstall the bottom surface to the underside. I managed to save the plastic surface, and I can glue it to a new softer middle layer to make it work.

I STILL like this pad, and it STILL has a tilt that’s plenty heroic. 

DIY practice pad: done.

 I can be impatient with personal projects, just saying.

Done.

The tilt IS steep but very playable. Perfect prep for wood hoop drums on the leg.

And I really like the difference in feel and sound on the two sides.

Thanks to Berry McWhorter for the pad’s name.

#diydrummer

#makestuffoutofstuff

#diddleseveryday

DIY practice pad, parts four and five

DIY practice pad, parts four and five:

Sand lightly and paint first coat.

While that’s drying, create playing surfaces for top and underside.

Top: salvaged from an old Promark X-Pad.

Underside: two sections of mousepads, layered and glued.

When they’re mounted on the wood block, they should feel different.

#diydrummer

#makestuffoutofstuff

I’d originally thought I could do a second coat of clear, but when I went looking in the shed, I discovered I didn’t have anything else but the gloss black. So I did the first coat of the black early in the morning, let it dry outside until dinner time, then applied a second coat of the gloss black. 

For what this is and how I’ll use it, that should be enough.

The mousepad bits came from two different mousepads I had on hand. One, a thicker normal style, serves as the base for the second layer, a very thin mousepad with a plastic surface showing a map of New York City’s subway system.

When I laid the two layers together and played on it, I loved the quieter, yet articulate feel. So that’s the underside.

The primary surface I salvaged from an old Promark X-Pad. Once it’s affixed it will feel amazing.

I allowed the paint to dry outside as much as possible, but with near-freezing temps overnight, I put it in the shed tonight.

I hope the paint dries firmly enough by tomorrow night that I can add the playing surfaces. 

And, in honor of friend Berry’s suggestion, I’ll stencil the words HERO TILT on the side.

It will be on the heavy side, so in the summer it will make a decent door stop.

😂

Tomorrow: steps six and seven: affix playing surfaces and emboss with logo.

DIY practice pad, parts one through three.

Disclaimers — 

1. I am NOT a woodworker.

2. I have very few tools for working with wood, other than a handsaw and a bench vise.

3. I had a big, beautiful supply of thick scrap wood that was begging to be repurposed, and a couple of sunny days.

Still, as practice pads go it could’ve been a lot worse.

When the glue sets, I’ll stabilize it with wood screws, fill in the gaps with a sawdust/glue mixture, and paint it. Then I’ll add rubber on top.

And yes, I’m perfectly comfortable with that tilt.

Part one: assemble pieces and use glue to set.

Part two: when glue has dried sufficiently — and I’m rushing things a bit because this is the last sunny day we’ll have for a week — apply wood screws to stabilize and hold it together, fill in big gaps with sawdust/wood glue mixture, small gaps with wood glue, and let dry thoroughly.

Next: part four. Sand carefully, then paint with a coat of color and a coat of clear, and let dry.

Part four: affix nonskid bottom, using repurposed mousepad material.

Part five: affix gum rubber top using nails and super-glue, let dry.

I’ll post additional photos when I have them.

#diydrummer

In which I plead, wheedle and beg: Henry Adler Tone Control practice pad

I have been looking for this pad for over twenty-five years.

I came very close to finding one in horribly abused condition, but was outbid at the last minute by someone with a crap metric ton of money.

So now I have lowered myself to putting it out there in the universe:

If you or someone you know has an old Henry Adler Tone Control practice pad (circa 1950s or 60s) that they no longer need, PLEASE send them to me. I’ve been looking for one of these forever and would really like to find one while I can still handle a pair of drumsticks.

I do not care about cosmetics. I do not care if the rubber playing area is gross, or missing. I will fix it up and clean it up and make it playable again. I just really want to find one. I will pay for it, just not several hundred dollars. I simply don’t have that much money.

Photos below are of a friend’s Adler pad, shown only so you know what it is I’m looking for. 

(And NO, his is not for sale.)

Thanks in advance.

Vintage Corner: Carmine Products practice pad, 1970s (?)

New to the stable. The rubber’s not bad at all, but what really grabbed me was the label. I asked drum wizard Donn Bennett (@donns_drum_vault) if he recognized it. He shared the photos with Carmine Appice (@carmineappice) who told him it looked “familiar.”

Crazy.

#vintagepracticepads 

Drum Pad History: FM Dynamic Practice Pad.

 Some lovely pad history:

I decided to do some research on the FM Dynamics practice pad, which many of us have seen listed on various websites. It’s a very simple pad that comes in a variety of color combinations and either tilted or flat. When I first saw these, I wondered what the fuss was about, and why the prices were rather high for what they were. But I loved some of the color combinations! They were a breath of fresh air in the world of practice pads.

I reached out to the seller of the pads on Reverb, Stan Fornaszewski, who was happy to tell me more:

“These were made by my father, John Fornaszewski around early 2014. He passed in late 2014. I think 75 were made, and each was made in a unique color. They have a woodblock-type tone. Which gives the player ability to hear and develop dynamics. Also, the rubber-pad is designed to be less-bouncy, to develop strike/rebound control. The idea was that the older drummers had better hand control and finesse with strength, because they developed using pillows and towels on tables (before rubber pads became really bouncy). Not high-tech hype by today’s standards, but that was the idea.”

Stan has a few of his father’s pads left, each one made BY HAND by John, and they can be found on Reverb, currently on sale through February 24. When they’re gone, they’re gone.

Of course, I had to buy one.

At the same time, an older version of the pad (with a slightly larger playing area) was being offered on eBay. I thought it would be cool to have both generations of the pad, so I made an offer, which was accepted.

Both pads should arrive by next week.

I LOVE historical rabbit holes like this one! 

The pads themselves may not be technically exciting, but the history — and the low production number — makes them really cool.

I’ll make a demo vid when they arrive.

(Photos — Top: FMD practice pad, older version. Bottom: FMD practice, newer version, 2014.)

Repair: dropped Drumslinger pad

I bought this used Drumslinger pad last fall so I could have an alternate marching pad that was different than my Rudimental Control pad (which I enjoy). Then, a couple months ago, I was transferring it from a desktop to a stand and I accidentally dropped it on the floor. My studio floor is carpeted, but to my horror I discovered that I had dented the fiber wood platform. I added a washer to the tuning bolt in that spot as a reminder not to overtighten, lowered the tension all around and carried on.

Still, it stressed me out. So today, after lots of thinking about it, I crafted a stabilizer from a piece of old road sign, poked holes in it and affixed it to the bottom of the center portion of the platform.

While removing the head and hardware, I discovered that all that holds the pad together is the tension. The little rubber spacing dots fell out when I disassembled it. That surprised me; I had imagined something more permanent inside. When I reassembled it, I put a tiny spot of glue under each dot to hold it in place while I reassembled the pad on the floor.

It’s not pretty, but it is stable, and hopefully will keep the wood there from degrading further. I had thought of hammering the edge down so it would curve along the line of the dent, but decided against it. That’s why there’s a gap between the metal plate and the wood. (I may sleep on this and change my mind later.)

Then I put an old pinstripe head on it, to remind me to keep a more moderate tension on it. The washer is still there as a reminder, too. It’s not bad, and it sounds and feel better than before the repair.

The finished kit.

The finished drum kit: suitcase kick, vintage snare, hi hat, crash and ride.

Considering how old my chops are and how long it’s been since I actively gigged behind a kit, I’m content to keep it simple until I find myself again.

#namebrandcymbals 

#zildjian

#kentsnaredrum 

#labackbeat

I'm still into vintage pads.

My pad collection has definitely been winnowed down over the past year, but only to be rid of all the modern rubber marching pads that have come out in the last ten years. With the exception of the Evans red ("Barney Beats") rubber pad, I've basically let go of everything else in the marching-specific genre, circa post-2000.

What I HAVE kept are mostly tunable pads, beginning with the early Remo "Weather King" models with metal rims, and advancing all the way to pads from Drumslinger, Rudimental Drummers and the newest entry into the field, Rudimental Control. These are great pads, each with their own specific features and feel, and I enjoy them all.

The other pads that I've hung onto are the much older tilted rudimental pads, usually rubber-on-wood-block, that were ubiquitous between 1920 and 1970 or so. I am especially enthralled by homemade and home-repaired pads from this era. They come in a variety of styles and show even the most crudely-fashioned pad can, if it responds well, serve as a useful practice tool.

One of my favorites is a pad that was homemade by the late Jim Dinella, a pad I purchased from his estate last year and enjoy playing on periodically. (I DID shore up the attachment of the various platforms to ensure that it would still be playable -- perhaps hurting its financial value but preserving its musical value. I have no regrets.)

 

 

And here is another that has captured my heart. It's rough, to be sure, and may have originated in a factory; but I think at some point the bottom was modified to allow it to be mounted on a stand.

In order to make the pad more versatile, I'd have to remove the heavy metal piece the allows it to be mounted to the stand it came with, but I risk damaging the bottom panel of wood (which, though not original, adds character and interestingness I'd prefer to preserve).

The rubber is quite old and may also be factory-issue, but I can't prove or disprove that.
It has a really sweet, old school feel that makes me work to pull the rolls out a bit (which I don't mind). I think it would be interesting to ask a Kevlar kid to try playing this and see his reaction.

I recently found a few more of these "orphan" pads and they will arrive later this week.
I'll be happy to contrast and compare, and I may even try to make my own larger tilt pad from scrap lumber and some gum rubber, just for fun.
Stay tuned, and happy drumming.

NARD solo -- DeMolay, by Joseph Soistman

Some of the solos in the NARD book are hard. Some are moderate in difficulty. And some are fairly easy, like this little gem from Joseph Soistman. DeMolay requires you to be comfortable with flam taps, flamadiddles and 5-stroke rolls. The challenge is figuring out which sticking provides the smoothest transition between figures, and that is left up to the drummer. FUN!

Dialed in suitcase kick

Today, I finished stabilizing the suitcase kick from inside, so I can add a ride cymbal and not knock the whole thing over.

I bolted in a plumbing fixture I found for fifty cents at the ReBuild It store, turning it into a stop for an extended cymbal arm. I extended the arm using a cut-down drum stick so it would reach the stabilizer, and make the cymbal arm rigid inside the suitcase. 

I’m cleaning up a cheap ride cymbal to practice with, which I’ll swap in where the placeholder splash cymbal currently is. The last thing I want to try is a very small clamp-on cymbal arm to attach to the hi-hat stand, which will either be a 13” thin crash or the splash cymbal I already have.

Product Review: DSP Drumstick Display

 Lots of you have asked me where to find wall-mount display racks for your most prized drumsticks.

I hesitated to answer because finding one large enough to hold marching sticks.

Then I found this: https://www.etsy.com/listing/1560490013/drumstick-display-standwall-hanger

DSP is a British maker of 3D printed display racks, and he is happy to discuss modifications to his design to suit. In fact, the rack he made for me was a modification of an existing design, widened to hold marching sticks. So if you decide to order, just give him my name and ask for the ten-pair marching stick design he made for me. I’ve advised him that other folks may want to order it.

UPDATE, Dave says that if you want Beth’s Marching Sticks Rack (holds ten sets), you can order it through DSP’s Etsy page, and use code DSPBH5 to get five percent off the cost. Just ask for it by that name and use the discount code.

I’m so happy with it I may have to order another couple to complete my wall.

Happy drumming.