Vintage Corner: my very first practice pad, circa 1973

In the Fall of 1973, I walked into my grade school auditorium to see about joining the band.

I originally wanted to play a brass instrument, French horn or trumpet; but the few that the school had were already out on loan, and my parents couldn’t afford to rent an instrument from a music store. So I asked the music teacher what was available on loan.

After considering Cello (beautiful, but too big for my bicycle basket), flute (too much danger of hyperventilation) and clarinet (too squeaky, no thank you), the music teacher was out of options.

Except… 

“Well there’s a drum class that meets once a week, and anyone who passes all the lessons and quizzes can join the 5th grade band at the semester.” He paused.

“What?” I asked.

He pursed his lip, and then said, “Well, right now there’s ten boys in the class, and if you join you’d be the only girl. They might make fun of you. But if you hang in there — and I think you can — then you’d be able to join the band in January, with two or three other boys. I expect the rest to get bored or wash out before then. And you’d start with a practice pad and some sticks, which would easily fit in your bike basket.”

I thought for a moment. And then, I said yes.

I went home with a pair of drum sticks, a lesson book and this practice pad.

I wrote my name on the bottom in case it got lost. I showed up for every class, and learned how to read rhythm and count and how to play long rolls and flams. Other rudiments would follow later. In January, I joined the fifth grade band with three other boys, and after just a month, I was moved up to the sixth grade band because I was making rapid progress. (The fifth grade boys were jealous, but even they had to admit that I had earned it.)

This pad went with me into middle school, high school and college. For many years, long before specialized drum pads became commonplace, it was my only practice pad. I replaced the head my freshman year of high school, and again in college. The bottom baseplate got dented and dinged in the bottom of my backpack, but the pad held up beautifully. I just stuck a new-old-stock replacement head on it today, and added a thin layer of yoga mat material under the original foam to stabilize the foam a bit. It still works as advertised, and it’s still a cool little pad.