Benevolent Bill

From the old Nard Solos book, so beloved by rudimental drummers that it’s still in print ninety years on.

On my Rudimental Control pad, which I enjoy more every time I chop on it, with Cooperman #10 sticks. A great combination.

Full Review: Rudimental Control practice pad

My Rudimental Control pad arrived a couple days ago, and I have been putting it through its paces. My pad is custom-made to my specs, with a 13-inch head and eight tuning bolts.

Rudimental Control is the brainchild of drummer and teacher Nissan Ballard, who makes each pad himself here in the USA.

Here are my thoughts:

Construction. The pad is constructed very similarly to pads by Rudimental Drummers and Drumslinger, utilizing a wood platform, a real drum hoop and head with whatever padding or muffling material is placed underneath the head.

As with Drumslinger pads, the tuning bolts are topped with Allen heads that require a 3/16" Allen wrench. I'm not sure why SAE was selected over metric, but perhaps outside the world of bicycles (with which I'm most familiar) SAE is more commonly used. If I were building these pads I might favor actual lug bolts with a head that takes a standard drum key instead (like the ones found on Rudimental Drummers pads), but that's a personal preference and not a huge deal.

The bolts thread into nuts whose teeth sink into the wood from underneath. Each nut is covered with a thick felt pad for protection and so that the pad sits nicely on a tabletop. (I pulled back one of the felt pads, which are adhesive on one side, to see this for myself. The adhesive was fine for this brief peek and stuck back in place with no problem.)



One note: I found that the length of the nut's threaded portion is shorter than those used on my Rudimental Drummers Chop pad. (See photos for comparison.) I hope there's enough thread inside the depth of the wood to hold the tuning bolt steadily, and for now I'll assume that's the case. (I didn't want to disassemble the pad that much.)

I also noticed that the holes on the Rudimental Control pad don't appear quite as finished as the holes on my RD Chop pad. There are a few spots where a wood shaving was still stuck on an edge of a couple of the bolt holes. A carefully applied Exacto knife should sort that out.

Below: comparison between Rudimental Control bolt hole (top) and Rudimental Drummers bolt hole (bottom), showing finish of the hole and the threaded sleeve visible length.

The metal hoop is a standard, basic rim. I suppose if you wanted something fancier you could ask for it, but I saw no need for it here.

Appearance. I had inquired about a custom pad, personalized to my specs. In addition to my choice of paint (I opted for solid dark green with a white head, my college colors), I could also have my college crest incorporated into the design, by way of some sort of photo process that would imprint the design (also dark green in this case) onto a white surface that sits underneath the clear drum head.  My design was simple and clear enough for the photo process to come through clearly and cleanly. The design and its background do not seem to impede the sound or feel of the finished pad in any way, and it looks quite nice and centered.

Nissan had suggested that if I wanted to further customize my pad, I could have another design included on bottom. I chose to include my signature, and was able to send him a very clean copy to work from. Again, using some kind of photo process as a guide, he was able to incorporate my signature by leaving the green paint off that part. Is it "engraved"? It doesn't feel like it, so I'm guessing that the colored paint was excluded by a reverse stencil of some kind. The finish is very clean and neat and it adds an attractive touch to the pad.

The pad arrived in a box, wrapped in brown paper (both reused; thank you, Nissan, for thinking environmentally!). When I unwrapped the pad from its paper, I could see a few tiny spots(1/8" or smaller) where paint had either been nicked off or had not been fully applied. I believe it was something that probably happened in shipping. Since this is a pad that I intend to use anyway, those spots won't bother me. For future shipments, though, I would suggest wrapping in additional layers of paper and using crumpled paper in the corners to wedge it in the box more securely, to avoid this possibility.

Another thing I noticed is that the wood finish on this pad is more rough to the touch than the finish on the RD Chop pad. My feeling is that this is mostly a matter of personal preference, though an especially rough edge may catch and snag on something in transit, causing splinters to pull away and expose bare wood. Some sanding prior to applying the paint could reduce this risk.
Further, a more finished feel might be more in line with the price range on the market for this style of pad.

(Full disclosure: I paid full price for my pad and was in no way granted any perks by Rudimental Control.)

The other thing I noticed was that the plywood used as the base of this pad had been bumped on one edge of the round, resulting in this:

I can't say how this bump might have happened, but it is noticeable and may actually be an imperfection in the original round after it was cut. I was surprised to see this blemish pass through and get painted. If it happened during shipping, more packing material should help prevent this in the future. If it was a blemished board to begin with, perhaps better to use a different base (and cut the first one into a smaller round for a different pad).

Again, I won't quibble since it doesn't affect the function of the pad. But for the cost, someone else may squawk and it's worth slowing down the process a little to ensure consistent quality control.

How does it feel and sound? In a word, marvelous. Nissan and I are of the same generation, and we both came up playing on Mylar. When I told him I wanted a pad that felt like the drum I played in high school -- a 15-inch snare with a Remo Emperor head -- he knew exactly what I was talking about, and made a pad that matched my specs. The pad has a Remo Emperor head and a standard, basic rim that provide the feel I'm looking for. The head came a little more taut than I like and I was able to relax the tension a bit to suit my taste. It plays easily and beautifully, providing a very satisfying feel and sound.

Note: my Rudimental Drummers Chop pad was designed to be a quiet pad for use at home, and it does that job well. The Rudimental Control pad is MUCH louder, and the volume difference surprised me at first.

Here's an example of the sound and feel.



(Nissan tells me he is also able to construct a pad that will take greater tension, for modern drum corps players who need that tighter feel. If that's you, talk with him directly for the best results.)

Overall, I am pleased with the pad and will use it regularly and often.

Basic pads are available at the Rudimental Control web site.
Customized pads will cost more; reach out to Nissan with your questions and ideas.

Happy chopping!

DIY stick bag

Simple pattern for making your own stick bag from an old pair of jeans. 

 

When we ask where or how something is made it's because we care.

When I research makers of finer drum sticks, mallets and accessories, one of the things I want to know is where and how a thing is made, and by whom.

It's great if the thing is made by the person who designs it, because that means it's more likely a small-batch, craft-made thing, like drum sticks by folks like John Crocken and the guys at LA Backbeat.

When a thing is very fine quality and high-zoot in design and price, but is not made by the designer, finding out who makes it can be a LOT harder and sometimes impossible. AND if I ask too pointedly or specifically, a designer can get downright nasty about it. (See my article from earlier this year about Revolution practice pads for an example.)

Looking at manufacturing practices tells me if the thing is sustainably and humanely produced. And that in turn tells me something about the mindset of the designer of said product, and where they stand on such things as a businessperson. I have the right as a consumer to ask these questions, but they also have the right to withhold information.

Well, I reached out and asked the designer of a very fine line of sticks, mallets and percussion accessories how, where and by whom his designs are made. I can’t say I’m shocked by his response but it is a bit of a bummer. “Hi Beth, I know who you are and have seen some of your posts on FB collecting vintage sticks. What you are asking is pretty sensitive proprietary information of me and I prefer to keep it that way. I hope you understand.”

In short, it’s my experience that anyone who won’t say where their products are being made is probably having them made in China, or any other country where workmanship is high but work itself is low-paying and manufacturing practices largely unsustainable.

Years ago when I managed inventory for a bicycle shop, I asked similar questions at an industry-only trade show, and got similar responses. I finally pressed someone at the booth for Rickshaw Bags, an up-and-coming messenger bag maker, and he admitted that the sub-assemblies -- the inner pockets and zippered compartments and such, are made in China and sent to the US for final assembly into bags.
"No one else can sew those sub-assemblies as consistently well and affordably," he told me. "At the volume that most bag makers are working with, almost no one is still making their bags entirely in the US anymore."

Because if you have to charge the real cost of making a messenger bag in the US, the price will kill your business. Americans are addicted to paying as little as possible, even for something that a high price justifies by its quality and methods.

"Cheap" manufacturing and high volume output are killing the small craftsman, especially in the drum business.
And so the next step is to design something that looks and feels high-zoot, price it accordingly, and keep quiet about where and how it's made.

(Rapha did this in the bicycle industry, and was fairly successful at it for awhile — with slick designs in bicycle clothing and accessories, all being made in countries where there are few laws regarding living wage or workers’ rights in general. In the beginning, no one cared because Rapha was based in the UK and the high price was part of the line’s allure. Eventually, the company got sold to a subsidiary of the Walmart empire, prices came down only a little, and it became the subject of a very big bike industry joke. People still wear Rapha, they’re still willing to pay a fortune for the branding — because Rapha is very, very good at branding and peoples’ egos respond accordingly because no one wants the illusion shattered  — and they’re still a moneymaking brand for someone. I have never owned or worn Rapha on my bike rides, and never will.)

This is a big part of why I decided to try and make my own stuff, either original ideas or versions of mass-produced things I couldn't justify the cost of. Because how badly do I want to support a company's bottom line by paying for things they didn't make themselves, things they happily have made overseas under less-than-transparent conditions?

I'm happy to save my pennies and pay full pop for something the designer makes themselves:
John Crocken, Artifact Percussion, LA Backbeat, Beetle Percussion, GB Manufacturing, Cherry Hill Drums, Cooperman. The price and wait are worth it when a craftsman takes the time and care to make it good, and they should be paid accordingly. Craft matters.

I'm not so willing to pay similarly high prices for designers who don't make their own stuff AND are cagey about where and how their stuff is made, and pass it off as craft.

When consumers ask where or how something is made, it's because we care.
We care about best practices in the workplace, in the sourcing and preparing of raw materials, and in the expertise and care taken by the craftsman to create a fine product.
As a consumer, I think it's not only okay to ask, it's our responsibility as consumers to participate in the buy-sell exchange by asking.
A designer or retailer who knows the answers to our questions and won't give them is treating us like idiots or children, thinking that it's better if we don't press too hard, don't look too closely. They worry that if we see how the sausage is made we won't buy it; or worse, we'll find a way to make our own.
That's the risk you take in making and selling things. Accept the risk and don't worry about our questions.

Tonight, I'm going to finish recovering a pair of timpani mallets so I can use them.
Happy drumming.

(Note: photo removed by designer request.)

Product Review: Cherry Hill Drums drum keys

If you need a new drum key, and you want it to be your last one, stop looking.

I’ve found it for you.

Run, don’t walk to Cherry Hill Drums and order a drum key from a real craftsman.

I got the Junior in solid brass. It’s formidable, and perfect in my hand.

Being solid brass, it’s going to see me out.

Not cheap, but a good price for the durability and beauty of the thing

Worth every penny.

Homemade timpani mallets

 

Timp mallet repairs, an ongoing project

Replace worn mallet heads on Duff-style threaded handles with felt cymbal washers and leather cut into washer rounds. Probably better for drum kit and concert toms than for timpani, though they will "break in" and soften with use.

I like how they turned out.