DIY Drummer: Anyone can make a practice pad out of almost anything

While rehearsing music for Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur (in my other musical identity as a cantorial soloist in synagogues), my brain fried and I needed to take a break.

So I made another homemade practice pad from, literally, stuff around the house.

Here are the materials used:

— corrugated cardboard 

— rubber exercise band, approximately 1.5” wide x 1/4” thick

— mousepad/Stackpad material

— plumbers’ tinfoil tape

— gaffer’s tape

— bicycle spokes, saved from a taco’d wheel

— wood glue

— super glue

1. Cut layers of cardboard to desired size (I chose a size of 10” square for easy transportability).

2. Apply and spread wood glue between layers, stack and weight with books and let dry overnight.

3. Apply plumber’s tinfoil tape to top side and smooth thoroughly. Buff the tape gently with sandpaper and set aside.

4. Measure and cut the exercise band into equal lengths, enough to lie side by side on top and create a playing surface.

NOTE: this stuff can be VERY hard to cut, even with sharp industrial scissors. I used an Exacto knife with a brand new blade, and applied a thin dribble of TriFlow chain lube every couple of cuts, using a steel straight edge (and gloved hands!) to keep things even. Still, I struggled and my strips are not perfectly uniform. But they’re better than they would be if I’d used scissors. 

5. Lay the rubber strips across the top of the cardboard platform so they lie flush next to each other, and mark the corners with a pen.

6. Buff one side of each rubber strip lightly with emery cloth or sandpaper. This will help the glue to adhere.

7. In a well-ventilated space, apply super glue gel to the underside of each rubber strip, and pay it glue-side down on the tinfoil taped side. Hold it in place for 10-20 seconds to allow initial bonding before moving on to the next strip. As you add each strip, make sure it lies totally flush beside the previous one. The goal is to use these strips to create a near-solid playing surface of uniform height. It’s not perfect, but it’s close and it works. But you have to work quickly, and immediately wipe away any glue drops that poke above the surface between strips! (Use a rag for this so you don’t get it on yourself or your clothes.)

When all the strips have been glued down, weight down and let dry for 2-3 hours. (Some super glue compounds may take less time. Follow the instructions for the glue you choose.) 

8. Cut mousepad material to a size roughly 1/4” to 1/2” smaller than the size of the cardboard, and apply to the underside of the cardboard platform with super glue. Weight and let dry. (Tinfoil tape on this side is optional. I chose not to use it here, as it’s expensive and because there was a lot of ink used on this piece of cardboard, which I hoped would hinder absorption of the glue gel. It seemed to work fine.)

At this point, the basic pad is essentially done, in that it’s playable.

However, if you leave it in this state it won’t be very durable, even if you only use it at home. The exposed edges of the cardboard will get knocked around, dented or torn. 

The other reason for going a little farther is that in this state, the pad is rather light in weight. I decided that I wanted to add some weight to the pad. But it was already glued together, so inserting a thin metal plate in the center would be impossible.

Instead, I decided to insert bicycle spokes in the holes provided by the corrugated cardboard. I trimmed a bunch to the desired length, getting rid of the heads that would fit into the flanges of the hub (and which wouldn’t fit into the corrugation), and slid one into each hole until I had filled most of two layers of cardboard.

Then, I poured some Elmer’s glue into the holes, with the idea that it would dry and keep the spokes from moving around.

It didn’t work. The glue didn’t reach all the spokes, some of which I’d cut a little too short. When I played the pad in this state, I could hear spokes rattle inside. Along with the extra ounces of weight, I had unwittingly given my practice pad a fake (and admittedly cheesy) “snare” sound. Did I want to try and apply glue at the opposite end?

I decided against that, and sealed up all the sides with heavy-duty gaffing tape. This would protect the edges as well as seal in the spokes. Then, I added some tinfoil tape for additional stability and a bit of bling. So it rattles with a cheesy, fake snare sound. Considering how little it cost me to make this pad, I can live with it.

As homemade practice pads go, it’s certainly one of the cheapest I’ve ever made, in terms of both materials and time. The only things I had to pay money for were the tinfoil tape and the super glue. Everything was a byproduct of something else, like a case of cat food, or an exercise band I’d found in a local “free” box at the curb.

Here are two very short videos of the pad before and after I added the spokes.

Will I make one of these again? Maybe. If I do, I might used corrugated plastic, the stuff that campaign signs are made of; I have a few of those lying around in the shed. I might need to use a different sort of glue in that case, but I’ll burn that bridge if I get to it.

Meanwhile, if you’re interested, there’s a new Facebook group that showcases homemade pads. 

I LOVE to #makestuffoutofstuff because besides promoting sustainability, it stretches my personal creativity and cites me to consider new possibilities in the way I approach a thing.

Try your hand at making a practice pad from stuff that’s just sitting around at home, and see what happens.

Have fun, and happy drumming.

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.