The future of drum sticks?

If you read various chat boards (Reddit, DrumForum.com, etc.) you may notice a lot of griping about two things:

1. The increasing price of wood drum sticks; and

2. The decreasing quality of wood drum sticks.

There’s some truth to both points.

1. Stick prices have slowly risen for years. Inflation is out of control these days, so that should surprise no one. Some makers have managed to hold off raising prices for quite awhile but had to bite the bullet this past year. Others have been slowly and steadily raised their prices little by little over time.

2. Drum stick quality and consistency from the big major brands (Vic Firth, Promark, Vater, et al) has been declining for some time now. Drum stick makers that once sold their pitch- and weight-matching as marks of excellence have grown quieter about that as consistency has suffered. 

There are some salient reasons for both, and they are mostly beyond any company’s control.

A. Increasing scarcity of quality wood stocks due to deforestation and climate change. People don’t like to talk about climate change. Either they refuse to believe it’s real (though I don’t see how they can with today’s weather extremes), or they insist that it’s simply not a factor that affects wood quality. But the truth is that increased deforestation (to meet higher demand for wood in all industries) has helped speed up global warming, and the market’s impatience for mature raw wood has meant cutting trees before they have a chance to become “old growth.”  That makes for a lot of naked, unshaded earth, and that means the weather gets hotter, faster.  The global marketplace also adds climate pressure because of the increased carbon footprint required to harvest and transport raw materials from their source locations to the manufacturers for processing.

B. The lack of mature, old growth wood stocks has lent itself to cutting second-growth timber that is less dense and less stable, meaning a wider variance in wood grain and hardness. Both of these mean that as the wood dries, it can warp or crack more, which in turns means lower consistency in the quality and feel of sticks — and less durability — from pair to pair.

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When I was a young drummer in the early 1970s, the big stick manufacturers didn’t match for pitch or weight. Instead, you pulled all the sticks out of the bin labeled with the desired size at the music store. You rolled them across the countertop to check for warping, pulled out the eight or ten straightest sticks and then tapped them lightly on the counter to check for pitch. On a good day, you might go home with two or three pairs of decent sticks that way. On a bad day, you’ll be lucky to get one decent pair. When I was a kid, that’s the way things were and I simply accepted it.

Only when the big stick makers started doing this at the factory did sticks become consistently better. And of course, because they were taking this labor in-house, sticks also started costing more. That’s not necessarily a bad thing. Nothing is free in retail.

But in the last ten years, wood consistency and quality from the big stick manufacturers began to suffer noticeably. Some people complained, and others went looking for another brand. European stick manufacturers began shipping their products overseas more, using European hardwoods that maintained a higher standard of quality. Higher-end shops like Steve Weiss began carrying those brands, making them available to a larger group of consumers, and the sticks caught on.

Add to this the rise of American craft makers like Cooperman and Reamer, with their beautiful hardwood sticks, and eventually we arrived at a time when American drummers got, to be honest, a bit spoiled.

And that’s when things began to fall down.

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During the pandemic, while we stayed at home and chopped on practice pads and waited for things to oen up again, we also continued to buy drum sticks. Demand remained high. But makers could not keep up. Towards the end of the lockdown, first Cooperman and then Reamer announced that they would stop offering their sticks in Persimmon, because their old stocks had run low and the second-growth stocks on the global market were not up to their standards. Vic Firth began running out of favorite models regularly, and by early 2023 some models could not be found at any price in shops or online. Vic Firth and Promark began discontinuing their lowest-selling models. Vater simply ran out of select models and didn’t respond to my requests as to when they might return. At one point, the Big Three’s budget brands — Nova (Vic Firth), LA Special (Promark) and Goodwood (Vater) — also ran low at online dealers, a sure sign that bigger issues were affecting the global economy even among drum stick manufacturers.

The bottom fell out when the rumblings about quality grew louder on multiple online chat boards, and many of my drumming friends had given up on at least one or two of the Big Three in search of smaller, craft-oriented stick makers. (You can follow my adventures along the way in earlier posts on this blog, notably my testing of Harlan, Cooperman and Morgen sticks.)

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Today, the drum stick market is not struggling — sales continue to hold steady — but it has changed.

Custom stick makers are suffering. Cooperman is blowing out the last of its old Persimmon stocks, and has switched over to mostly hickory. Reamer is using hickory only. Rick Dior, one of the finest craft stick makers in the country, suffered devastating losses to his house and his home-based workshop during recent catastrophic flooding in North Carolina. He was able to salvage a number of ready-made sticks to sell online, but has advised his customers that new sticks won’t be available for quite some time, perhaps up to a year depending on how quickly the mud can be cleared out and extensive repairs can be made. Frank Kincel at LaBckbeat has had a difficult time sourcing local mature hickory stocks that are up to his standards, as well as facing health challenges and mechanical issues with his lathe.

I still enjoy my Vic Firth sticks, though to be honest I mostly like older models that I find as NOS (New Old Stock) at online retailers. I also look for deals from select eBay sellers, and occasionally I find nicer used sticks in good shape on various secondhand sale sites.

Since I don’t play drumkit these days, I don’t really need a great quantity of any size. I’m content to keep a few pairs on hand of the pairs I use the most. 

I suspect that students will have to settle for whatever they can find locally and make the best of it. Serious professionals will have to be a bit less picky, or guard the sticks they have a bit more carefully to make them last longer. 

Younger drummers reading this post may scoff. I can’t really help them, sorry. They will have to find their own way forward to a more resourceful and sustainable drumming future.

To be honest, I’m glad I’m no longer playing professionally on a regular basis. It takes the pressure off having to be properly and fully equipped, and invites me to be grateful for what I have.

Happy drumming.

Pedestaled drumstick tips

Pedestaled tips. Often found on Japanese sticks of the 1960s through early 80s, also seen on turn of the 20th century sticks, especially in ebony and rosewood. They show up a lot on student sticks, especially in the 2B size, and I love them.

My friend and drumstick scholar Eric Harris adds: "I find that the pedestal acts like a compressor (sound) or muffler (as a scarf, moreso) by reducing how much bead material is attached to the central core. I find that with a pedestal, the tendency is towards producing less stick resonance. In terms of tapers, that's strong and durable compared to conical ones. (It tends to be more common in a classic 2B style with a curved taper shape.)"

I would agree about the slight muting effect. Perhaps that's why it showed up so often on student sticks of this era.

Sadly, the major stick makers stopped doing this years ago, removing a layer of the production process and makings it more cost-effective.
But you can still find this treatment in some craft-made sticks, like certain models from Cooperman. And artisanal stick makers will happily add the feature to a set of custom sticks if it makes sense to do so.

Vintage Corner: Promark XBeats practice sticks

Practice sticks: Promark XBeats, Matt Savage signature models. XB1 for general/concert work, XB2 for marching.

Made for Promark by Xymox in the early days, 1999-2002.
Xymox also sold these under their own brand and called them Deadbeats (an unfortunate choice considering later Xymox history), and they’ve recently been resurrected by Xymox 2.1.

Original Deadbeats are extremely scarce.
The Promark XB2s show up now and then, the XB1s less often.

These play far better than similar models offered by Vic Firth, and so much better than sticking rubber tips onto existing sticks, which in my experience is mostly a joke.
I’m happy to have both sets in my collection, and I’m still looking for a pair of the original Deadbeats.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Why do I need/want SO MANY sticks?

I got into boutique and specialty sticks in a big way during lockdown, with some help from the guys over at the Boutique and Collectible Sticks group on Facebook. Since then, I've had the opportunity to try many, many different kinds of drum sticks, and was able to narrow my focus to sticks designed for rudimental and marching applications.

I didn't go as crazy as I'd done with practice pads, as I didn't have the space or the budget. But over the last three years I've managed to set myself up with some really excellent sticks for those purposes.

My ultimate goal is to keep one or two pairs of my favorites on hand for regular use, and display the most special sticks on my little wall rack. Some of these sticks have seen some use, while others are in new condition and I don't plan to play with them all that much.

The variety of sticks just for my purpose is staggering. Larger factories produce an astonishing number of rudimental models every year, in the tens of thousands. Craft makers who turn sticks a few at a time can produce hundreds in a year if everything goes right. Here are some of my favorites, in no particular order:

Ingrained Instruments 1S. A great all-around rudimental stick in hickory. Strong, thick and yet lighter in weight than one might expect. My heaviest pair weighs 75g per stick. These are shaped very similarly to the "Air Force" style of rudimental sticks, but with a shorter taper.

Vic Firth IMS10 (no longer made). A terrific marching stick for smaller hands, which still has enough heft to work outdoors and a fine enough balance to work as an indoor stick. Some drummers use this as a heavier concert stick when the score calls for a "field" drum. I was able to procure ten pairs of these and I use them almost exclusively with my HONK! band on a 13" marching snare. If you find some, get them.

Promark 2B in oak. A classic concert and student stick, a little shorter but still well-balanced and with enough weight to use in a middle school marching situation. My favorite application for these is as an affordable student stick for woodshedding rudiments. I have several pairs from different points in their history, including a pair in golden oak that feels heavier and more dense than the white oak models. For the size and shape I tend to favor the vintage versions from the late 1970s through mid-80s.

Cooperman marching sticks, several models. Cooperman has largely stopped making sticks from any wood other than hickory due to diminishing stocks. But even in hickory their sticks feel amazing. In particular I'm a fan of #10 Petrella General (for concert work), #21 Connecticut Drummer and #24 Fastick.

John Crocken Moeller model. A very distinct stick made by one of the oldest stick craftsmen in the buisiness, made in your choice of hickory, persimmon, jatoba or purple heart. I have a persimmon pair and I love playing these because of their size, thickness and balance. There's literally no other stick like it for rudimental work.

Craft drum sticks made in small batches can be very expensive, but you're paying for the maker's time and experience. If you live far from the craft makers, as I do (most are located in the eastern half of the US), you'll need to be pickier about when to invest in a more expensive stick.  On the plus side, many of these small-batch makers are happy to talk with you about your possible choices by phone or email, and they will work with you as much as they can.
Choosing sticks for rudimental work can be almost as personal as choosing a bicycle saddle. What length of taper do you like? How thick a diameter is the most comfortable in your hands? Will they feel different if you play traditional versus matched grip? Which woods give you the response you're looking for? Do you want to be able to use them on a pad as well as a drum?
There are LOTS of possible answers to these questions.
Take your time, ask other players for their thoughts and try a LOT of sticks before you buy.

Below: My Ingrained 1S on a Rudimental Drummers practice pad.

Below: Chopping with a pair of Cooperman Fasticks that have been taped.

Enjoy the exploration and discovery, and Happy Chopping!

Practice Pad sticks: real, or just hype? A small group for comparison.

Here's a comparison I'd been wanting to do for some time.
What makes a stick a bonafide "Practice Pad" stick, or even just a "Practice" stick?

Of course, the answers vary widely. But I wanted to take a look for myself, so here's a comparison of five different sticks that have all been recommended as appropriate for use on a practice pad.

Below, top to bottom:

Dom's Pad Stick (Vater)
Shedder (Vater)
Concert One (Promark)
Connecticut Drummer (Cooperman)
Parley (Cooperman)

All sticks are made with hickory except Dom's Pad Stick, which is made of maple.

If you take a good look at the differences in tip shape and size, you'll see that there's little consensus on what makes a good pad stick. However, most of the tips have a round shape, which does rebound well on both pads and drumheads.

The tapers are different too, with some considerably longer than others. A very long taper can throw more of the weight to the rear of the stick, making for something that feels lighter in the hand. A beefier and/or shorter taper will have the opposite effect, throwing more of the weight up front depending on the size and length of taper and tip. The length of the overall stick and thickness at the grip area also make a difference.

So one should not expect a one-size-fits-all solution here.

Also, these are five of over a dozen or more sticks that have been advertised as being intended or ideal for practice situations. Depending on your playing style they may or may not work for you.

With the disclaimers out of the way, let's examine each stick more closely.

1. Dom's Pad Stick, now made by Vater, was originally made by Vic Firth over thirty years ago. The dimensions haven't really changed, nor has the wood of choice. Designed by drummer and teacher Dom Famularo, they are really meant for practice pad work and not for much else. If you're primarily a kit or concert/orchestral drummer, you may like these a lot, as they are nicely balanced front and rear. Maple makes them the lightest stick by far in our group, which may not be to everyone's liking.
Dimensions: not available at Vater's web site, but 16.25" long by roughly .660" diameter.

 

 2. Shedder by Vater, designed as a practice stick for concert and rock drummers, is a nice hickory stick for warming up on a pad or a drum. It has the same dimensions and taper as my go-to marching and practice stick, Vater's MV-20, and feels almost the same. The difference is the shape of the tip (see photo at left).
Dimensions: 16.25" long by .650" in diameter. I'd consider this as both a very nice, quick pad stick, and also as an alternate marching stick for smaller hands, or as a very useful heavy metal stick.

3. Concert One by Promark, meant as a purpose-designed stick for concert use, also makes a very nice practice stick on a pad or a drum. I was unsure of these at first blush, but after ten minutes with them on a pad I found I liked them. Tips are on the large side, as big as the tips on Dom's Pad Stick.
Dimensions: 16.88" by .650".

*4. Connecticut Drummer by Cooperman, among the most expensive sticks in this group, is also not meant to be a "practice" stick per se (it's usually a favorite of rope-tension drummers), but it wouldn't be a bad choice. The large, oval-shaped tips (the largest tips by far in this group) bring out a big sound from a drum without too much effort, and the elegant medium-long taper makes this a well-balanced stick with presence and power. Smaller hands will probably not be as comfortable with these as with some other models in the group.
Dimensions: 17" long by .688"

*5. Parley by Cooperman, again at over $30 a pair, is not going to get into everyone's hands. But for the discerning advanced drummer, this might become a favorite warmup stick. The round tips are just slightly larger than Dom's; and the very long taper makes it a very fast stick, giving lively rebound with a rather light feel.
Dimensions: 17" long by .688"

(*Note: on the Cooperman sticks: Cooperman sort their sticks by weight as well as pitch, meaning that one pair of a certain model will weigh a few grams more or less than another pair of the same model. #4 weigh 78 grams, while #5 weigh 70 grams. That's a noticable difference in the hands, and something to bear in mind should you buy a pair of either of these sticks.)

I don't know how helpful it will be, but I've made a video of each pair of sticks in action on a practice pad, so you see how they look in the hands.
(You can see it here: https://www.facebook.com/beth.hamon.9/videos/1002648790575377)

There are other makes and models of sticks that are meant to be ideal for practice, which I didn't include here because they're mostly not readily available in the USA. You can order them online, but be prepared to pay a small fortune in shipping (and VAT where applicable).
Obviously, the best thing to do is to try them out yourself.

Have fun and happy drumming!

Product Review: Prologix Green Method Pad -- and the pitfalls of redundancy

I'd been wanting to try one of the Prologix pads for several years, but the price of their early models was a little steep for my budget back then. Last week, an old college friend with some money reached out to me. Her son plays in a school band program and she wanted to gift the drumline with a matched set of practice pads. The school's band director isn't a percussionist and couldn't decide which pad to order with this lady's generous gift, so my friend read my reviews and got some info that way. She'd heard about Prologix pads and noticed that I hadn't reviewed them, so she arranged for me to buy one and put it through its paces. ("It's the school colors, green and black," she enthused. "Perhaps this would be a great way to go!")

It arrived a few days ago and I've had some time to hang out with it.

Prologix Percussion makes pads with different densities of rubber compound, and the idea is that you select the density you need based on your playing style and goals. The green compound is designed for "light" resistance, meaning it will provide more of a rebound and allow you to approximate the feel of an actual drum. (They also make compounds with higher levels of resistance, meaning you mjust work on "pulling" the strokes out of the surface, a great workout for hands and wrists. Check their web site for more info.)

I ordered the 12" Method pad, a two-sided affair which Prologix calls their "base level" pad, suitable for drummers at all experience levels. One side has the green rubber surface; the other side uses recycled tire rubber to achieve a feel that's harder and closer to a modern marching drumhead. Both sides have their purposes and both work well.

The pad is heavy enough to stay out on a tabletop, and large enough to work in a standard snare drum stand. At 12 inches it's also portable and will easily fit in a backpack or book bag.

The feel of the light green surface is quite similar to what you'd find on the Evans Real Feel gray chop pad.
The subtle difference in hardness between the two means that on the Prologix you will still have to work a little more to achieve good technique.

The reverse side of recycled rubber is harder and less forgiving in terms of natural rebound, so that you still must use good technique but will get a sound and feel that is tighter and more like a high-tension Kevlar head.

The thickness of each surface is evident from the side view. Both surfaces are mounted to a standard compressed wood platform that looks sturdy and durable for most purposes.

 

 

 

 

 

 Here's a very short video demonstrating the difference between the playing surfaces.

Below is a photo that explains my quandry: All three of these pads -- early Xymox (Promark), Prologix and Evans -- utilize a very similar rubber compound that is designed to offer a high degree of natural rebound while also remaining quieter than a real drum.



But the difference in feel between the three pads is SO subtle that I have to ask:
At what point does all of these different models become redundant?
And at what point should manufacturers take a step back and begin to ask this very question of themselves? The photo above demonstrates just three of the many pad makers out there who are creating pads using similar rubber compounds. Other pads using a silicone base and achieving similar results should be asking this question as well.

..::ducks to avoid flying debris from people who love free market capitalism::..

To be honest, there are already perfectly good pads out there that serve the same purpose as this one by Prologix. And they are similarly priced, which only serves to make things more confusing.

The Method pad is a nice pad. It costs $35 from Prologix, placing it in a similar price-point as the Even Real Feel pad. A smaller 6" version is available for $20. But to my perspective it doesn't really break any new ground from a technical standpoint. And since the Evans Real Feel pad has been around a bit longer, it's easier o find used pads at a considerable savings, something I generally encourage for individual students on a budget. There really isn't enough of a difference between the Real Feel and the Prologix Method pad for me to say one is unequivocally better or worse.

Because of all the redundancy in modern pad design, I've decided that, going forward, I will probably focus more of my attention of pad designs that truly count as breakthroughs, rather than re-hashes of similar designs already out there.  Nothing against any of these brands; but in a world where environmental and financial concerns are only increasing it makes sense to focus on that which is truly innovative.

Happy drumming!

Practice Sticks, part two: Evolution

A closer look at specialty practice sticks: Signature models.

In my previous post on the subject, I showcased a pair of practice sticks designed by Matt Savage, made by an off-brand some fifteen years ago. Since then, Savage has joined the Promark artist roster and re-designed his stick in conjunction with Promark. It looks a lot like the earliest generation of Xymox' "Dead Beat" sticks. When I can get my hands on an original from Xymox I'll take a closer look.

Meanwhile, here's a comparison of two different generations of the "SCOJO" practice stick, as made by Vic Firth and later by Promark/System Blue.

Upper: SCOJO sticks made last year by Promark with guidance from System Blue Percussion.
Lower: SCOJO sticks by vic Firth, made over a decade ago.

Note the subtle differences in size and taper of the stick, and in the size and shape of the rubber tips.























Playing both pairs of sticks, I could feel the differences immediately.

The Vic Firth sticks are heavier, and pitch-matched, with more heaviness at the front end of the stick (which matches up with the feel of his regular signature stick from the same maker and era).

The Promark stick is not pitch-matched (you can hear the difference between sticks). The weight overall is lighter, with a lighter feel up front due to the slightly skinnier taper. I like the feel, but the oversized rubber tips and mismatched pitches are a a bit of a distraction.

I got the Vic Firth model used, and you can see cracks in the rubber tips from age and use.
It will be interesting to see how well the Promark version holds up to use.

Vintage sticks: Promark 3S Japanese oak

Back when I marched in my high school band, the stick of choice for the snares was a traditional, heavy 3S stick with a medium taper and an acorn-shaped tip. Fat as my father's thumb, and seventeen inches long. Usually pretty heavy -- too heavy for my still-growing hands, which is why I used 2B's until my senior year.

Promark came out with sticks made in either American hickory or Japanese oak. The hickory sticks were predictably comfortable -- they had a "spring" and "flex" to them, and absorbed the shock of accented notes so your hands wouldn't have to take the full impact. Hickory remains the first choice for drummers today for that reason.
Oak was another matter. Oak sticks were noticeably heavier, and harder. They were harder to break unless you played like Sesame Street's Animal. My section leader, a handsome boy who came from one of the wealthiest families in town, could buy any sticks he wanted, and he did, trying out various brands and models to find the sticks that worked for him. He tried the Promark 3S in both oak and hickory, ultimately opting for the hickory for its ease on the hands. The hickory also cost less than the oak model, so you could buy many more pairs and always have spares on hand.

Today, a pair of Promark 3S sticks in oak arrived, from a fellow vintage drum enthusiast who didn't need them and offered them to me. (He knows I try to find stuff from my early years of drumming, mid to late 1970s.)
I cleaned off the masking tape with some nail polish remover, and tried them out on my rubber pad.
They felt lighter than I remembered, perhaps because my hands are full-size now (and far stronger than when I was fifteen). They felt well-balanced and surprisingly not all that heavy. A longer session with them might prove me wrong later on.

They're beautiful sticks. The oak grain is luminous and almost shines in places. The gold stripe at the ends is accompanied by the numeral "79" (year of manufacture, perhaps?) and the words "Hand-made in Japan" -- and they don't appear to have been used all that much.

These will enjoy a slot in the stick display, and I may play with them from time to time (on a pad only, though).   What old sticks do you like to play with now and then, for nostalgia's sake or just for a change of pace?

"Pocket" pads: a historic comparison

The idea of a practice pad small enough to be truly portable has been with us for decades.
As far back as the late 1950s, drummers valued the ability to toss a pad into their suitcase for hotel room workouts between gigs, with enough substance to the pad to give them something that felt "real" while at the same time being quiet enough to avoid disturbing the neighbors.

I've made three videos of various examples of these smaller travel pads.

1. WFL "Porto-Pad", early 1960s.

This is a solid hunk of rubber shaped like a wedge to simulate the slant of a "side" drum and accommodate traditional grip, which was almost exclusively in use by kit drummers at the time.
The rubber is surprisingly bouncy for its age (over 50 years old!) and in a pinch would serve well enough. But it's not so bouncy that you don't have to do some of the work, which makes for a good workout. Sadly, the rubber isn't quite "grippy" enough to avoid a little skidding on a tabletop, or even when placed atop another rubber practice pad.

2. Rick Trankle "Pocket Pad", 1978.

 

In the late 70s, studio drummer Rick Trankle developed a very small, portable pad consisting of a steel plate sandwiched between two slices of pure gum rubber. The result was a pad heavy enough to avoid "creep" and bouncy enough to approximate the surface of a drum. Its small size (3" square) required greater accuracy. A 1/8" thick rubber slice and a 1/4" rubber slice could be switched back and forth to approximate the feel of either a concert or marching snare drum.

In 1979, my high school drum section leader got one of these, declared it awesome, and strongly suggested required that everyone purchase one. At nearly $20, this was not cheap for a freshman with a $4 weekly allowance, but I didn't want to appear poor (because what teen does, really?); so I scored some extra babysitting and lawn mowing jobs to pay for it faster.

It was one of those rare times that I agreed with my otherwise chauvinist ass of a section leader. The pad was amazing. It felt great on either side, was small enough to fit in the pocket of my homemade stick bag (sewn from a pair of jeans), and it forced me to be more accurate with my strokes.
I still have this very pad today, mostly because I babysat too many nasty little children to buy it. It's still a great little pad, but I no longer travel with it because if I lose it, I can't find another one.

3. Xymox "Pocket Pad", 2008.

Xymox patented a pad with a mechanism of steel beads inside that allowed the pad to sound a little like a fake snare drum. It was an interesting way to entice kids to practice more, and it worked, because soon other companies were paying Xymox for the right to use the patented design in their pads. Eventually Xymox was making their pads and stamping them with other companies' names (like Ahead and Promark). The pocket version did not include the fake snare sound.

This is a Xymox-branded Pocket Pad that I got online from a music store that was closing and had a couple left.  It's the lightest of the three pads shown here. The very thin rubber sheet on the bottom does help a little with reducing "creep" but if you hit this hard enough it WILL move. The rubber surface on top gives a satisfying bounce and diddle exercises are fun to play. It also just fits in an actual pocket. I got it to add to my collection of early Xymox pads.




Pocket-sized pads need to be heavy enough to avoid "creep" and bouncy enough to be satisfying to practice on. two of these three come close enough to fitting the bill that I'd toss either of them in a bag; the WFL gives me pause but if it were my only pad I'd use it until I could get another model.

Next time: how heavy a stick do you warm up with?
Happy playing!