...drum tips
Drumsticks
When I started playing
(in the 60’s) there were not that many models of drumsticks
to choose from compared to today. There was a code that all
drumstick manufacturers used. If a stick had a “B” (as
in 2B or 5B), the stick was designed for “band”. If it
had an “S” (as in 2S or 3S) it was used for
“street” (marching drums). If it had an “A”
(as in 5A or 7A), it would be an orchestra model. So the
“S” were the heavier sticks, the “B” were the
medium weight sticks and the “A” were the lighter ones.
Well, a lot has changed, especially with the “artists”
having their own models. Most of these artist sticks are just
variations of the standard models with some minor modification.
Well, this choice can be confusing to the young player (and even
some of the older ones, as well). So I will give you a few tips
(pun intended). The tip of the stick is called the
“bead” and it comes in various shapes and sizes. The
most common are “oval” beads. There are
“acorn” beads that are a little pointier at the tip and
“round” beads which are just, well, round. There is a
company that produces “diamond” shaped sticks, the Joe
Porcaro Company, I believe. This shape is rather new and not
every store carries them. The shape of the tip is basically
designed to give you more or less stick surface hitting the
cymbal. Rounder beads tend to be a bit more bouncier on a snare
drum as well as on a cymbal. Acorn or diamond tips have a little
less wood hitting the cymbal for a bit of a crisper, sharper
cymbal sound.
The most frequent question I am asked with relation to the beads
is “Which is better the wood tip or the plastic tip?”
And the answer to that is Yes! or, No! or whatever....this is the
story. First of all the plastic tip is actually a
“nylon” tip. The purpose of the nylon tip is that when
you continually strike a wood tip stick against a cymbal, the
wood will soften and will eventually splinter or break. This will
not happen with the nylon tip stick (well once in a while they
will crack and some companies use an inferior glue whereby the
tip goes flying off of the stick, but they have made glue
improvements.) The sound of the nylon tip stick is much brighter
on the cymbal, in fact for some drummers, it is a bit too bright
and not as natural sounding as a wood tip model. At the beginning
stage, if you are on a pad, either tip will work.
The tapered part of the stick right after the bead is called the
shoulder. Some of the taper are shorter than others. The thinner
the taper, the weaker the stick can be. So, if you play loud,
stay away from thin tapered sticks. The other end of the stick is
called the butt end and we’ll leave that as it is.
If you are a beginning student working on hand development, I
would suggest a medium weight stick (2B, 5B, SD1 Generals, etc.)
Stay away from those skinny sticks (7A, etc). They are totally
useless for hand development. Give those to ma to use in her
plants, so the vines grow up straight. Also, until you develop
some technique, stay away from the real heavy sticks. Later on
you can use them to build more power and endurance, but for now,
stay with a medium weight stick. NEVER USE THOSE SOLID METAL
STICKS AT THE BEGINNING STAGE....unless you need something for
self defense. They can do damage if you do not use them properly.
All of the main drumstick manufacturers make a fine stick. (Stay
away from those 10 pair for $10 models. They are very light,
unbalanced and not very good.) The main stick companies are:
ProMark, Vic Firth, Regal, Vater, Zildjian, Ludwig, Mainline,
Malletech, etc. They all use either Oak or Hickory or some other
fine, hard wood. Which wood is better? Why, of
course...definitely.
If you are a loud player and playing in a rock band, use a medium
to heavy stick. If you are playing in your jazz band, then for
pete’s sake, (who is this pete anyway?) get some light
sticks (5A, Erskines). If you are in marching band then use Corps
sizes (3S, Dennis deLucia, Ralph Hardimon, Corpsmaster or similar
sizes.) Use the stick that is right for the job, which means that
you may have several different sizes in your stick bag if you are
playing several different styles.
As you progress as a drummer you will develop your OWN likes and
dislikes for sticks and you will find yourself trying different
models until you find the ones you like. So which stick should
you buy? Buy the ones that feel the most comfortable in your
hands and paying attention to how you are going to be using the
sticks.
Grab several pair and roll them on a flat surface to see if they
roll straight. Then make sure that the grains are long especially
in the are starting from the bead to the middle of the stick.
Then take the sticks and tap them on a wooden counter, lightly,
to see if they make a nice solid sound. If you are buying only
one pair of sticks (for hand exercises), make sure that the
sticks produce the same, or close to the same sound, when you tap
them on the counter. If your sticks cannot produce the same sound
then there is no way you will achieve an even sound from both
your hands.
