Vintage Corner: 2008 Blue Devils commemorative pad by Promark (Xymox)

Between 2008 and 2011, the Concord Blue Devils drum and bugle corps was on a roll, winning DCI worlds in multiple years and attracting the best musicians from across the country to come audition and marching with them. (Side note: Poaching talent, especially from smaller corps, was nothing new; in the late 1970s the Blue Devils poached regularly from the Spartans in Vancouver, WA -- the drum corps I marched in for a season -- so often and so brazenly that people started calling our little Class A corps a feeder corps for the Blue Devils.)

During this period of time, Promark and System Blue teamed up to provide the Blue Devils with the latest in drums, sticks and accessories. Promark offered marching members of the Blue Devils -- and at least one indoor percussion group I'm aware of -- commemorative drum pads with a custom laminate showing off the group's drummers. To my knowledge, the pads were primarily made for the marching members, and not sold widely to the general public. Promark didn't make these pads -- Xymox did, and simply licensed the snare bead design and the laminate process to Promark.

The pads, made between 2008 and 2011, are rare now. So when I came across one at a thrift store, I snapped it up.

This pad was played hard and often, and there are small dents in the MDF base and a couple of small gouges in the laminate. The pad itself is still quite whole enough to be played, and while laminates aren't generally my thing, it's a nice piece of practice pad history to add to my stable.

I like the feel of the laminated rubber under a pair of marching-weight sticks. Rolls are especially nice and responsive. 
However, the snare beads are packed in pretty tightly so there's not a lot of room for them to move around. This pads dates from a time before hybrid and "suede" heads, when high-tension drums were still cranked insanely high and the drums lacked any depth. So the tight response in the sound of the pad may be expected. 
(In the mid-2000's, shortly before laminated pads became a thing, Xymox was still making and selling pads without a laminate, only thick black rubber. Most of those pads had a snare bead assembly that wasn't packed quite so tightly, and these pads offer a sound that's what we could call a little more "wet." These early laminated pads came with a tighter, "drier" sound.

I'm pleased to have found this pad and it's fun to chop on. The very dry sound takes some getting used to. I would love to see examples of later issues of this commemorative pad. If you have one and want to share a photo, please get in touch.