Don’t Forget to Practice Pad

 

HQ RealFeel Practice Pad

Drumming is not a hobby that one can simply dabble in and expect to become proficient at.  The difference between a hobbyist drummer and a lifestyle drummer all boils down to one thing, practice habits.  The best way to become a better drummer is to commit to setting aside time in your busy life to work on your technique alone.  If you’ve got musician friends and enjoy jamming alongside a band, that’s great.  Likely your skill level will improve through that activity.  However, I can’t stress enough the importance of spending some alone time with your kit, or with a practice pad.

The landscape of independent drum practice is dominated by the rubber practice pad.  It’s a great solution for those of us who want to really drill specific rhythms repeatedly. Because the rubber pad absorbs sound so well, neighbors, roommates, and girlfriends can still inhabit the same space while you drill the same rudiment over and over and over again.  The action of getting out from behind the kit and sitting down in front of a single practice pad can be liberating and foster creativity, as well as improve playing speed.  For those of you who have never experimented with practice pads, I would suggest picking one up and working your way through Vic Firth’s 40 Essential Snare Drum Rudiments.  Once you’ve mastered these rudiments on the pad, they can be fairly easily translated to the kit.

HQ RealFeel Practice Pad

Rubber pads are not your only option for a focused practice session however.  I’ve recently fallen in love with a somewhat newer piece of drum practice technology, the “Corpsmaster Chop Out” sticks by Vic Firth.  These sticks are absolutely amazing when you’re on the road and don’t want to carry around a bulky practice pad, or when you’re just board in front of the television. They are available in a variety of different stick sizes from very light 5A twigs to the beefy Corpsmaster or Ralph Hardimon Signature marching logs.  To create these padded sticks Vic Firth has applied the same principle of shock absorbent rubber that practice pads have been using for years, and combined it with their famous corps master marching sticks.  The rubber tip allows you the freedom to play on just about any surface you can imagine without damaging it.  With these babies in hand you can chop out on the coffee table, cement walls of the venue, dashboard of the van, you name it these sticks can play on it.  The larger size and heavier weight of the wood make for a very satisfying workout too.

Vic Firth Corpsmaster Chop Out Practice Sticks

 

If fancy practice gear just really isn’t your thing or you don’t have the funds to invest in a quality practice pad, there is of course the tried and true method of working out your speed off the kit.  The good ol’ fashioned pillow practice pad.  All you need is a pillow of any shape or size and a pair of sticks.  Because a pillow offers zero rebound, this method can help build muscle and improve speed.

Today, there are a variety of pads, sticks, putty’s, gels, and electronic pads available at reasonable prices.  Each one of these quiet practice options offers a unique benefit.  However, I can’t stress enough that it really isn’t the gear that produces results.  The only way to get the results you’re after is to create a disciplined practice routine, set goals for your practice sessions, and most importantly have a good attitude.  Always remember to have fun and keep pushing yourself.

Here are few of my favorite practice pad set-ups including the HQ RealFeel pad I currently use and the Corpsmaster Chop Outs.

HQ (Evans) Realfeel Double Sided Practice Pad

Vic Firth Ralph Hardimon Signature- Chop Out Practice Sticks

Remo Putty Pad  (I can not personally vouch for the quality of this product)

 

 

How to Avoid Onset Deafness Behind the Kit

Image courtesy of Wikimedia user BruceBlaus

 

Drums can be loud, very loud.  That’s why it is so important for beginners and professionals alike to understand the very real threat of hearing loss from behind the kit. Human ears were not designed to take the kind of abuse most drummers put them through on a daily basis.

However, fear not drum brethren and sistren, we’ve found a preventative remedy so that you may hold on to your precious gift of hearing for years to come. It’s called… earplugs.

As section leader of the Douglas High School drumline and a member of the University of Nevada drumline, I’ve heard just about every excuse from young drummers as to why earplugs are “not for them.”

If you’re the type of drummer who has tried practicing or performing with earplugs in the past only to find yourself throwing them aside because they “make it harder to play cleanly,” then you haven’t tried to adapt hard enough. Change is weird especially when it comes to your hearing behind the kit.  If you’ve been playing drums for years without plugs it should come as no surprise to you that, just like any change in gear it is going to take time to adjust.

Because it does take a period of time to get acquainted with the idea of using earplugs every time you sit down at the drums I would suggest- as many other professionals have- to ease into the idea by using the cheap foam plugs you might find at any local drug store. Most of the time these brightly colored plugs come in bulk, so when you inevitably lose a pair or when they wind up in the dryer, you can just grab a fresh set.

My personal favorite brand of cheap plugs is “Hearos,” sold online for under $10 from Amazon.

If foam earplugs aren’t for you or if you think you’re responsible enough to keep track of an individual set of plugs, I would suggest buying a quality set of plastic musician plugs.  Because they can be washed and reused, they’re a good investment as long as you remember where you put them last!

My favorite lower end re-usable earplugs are again “Hearos” brand, available on Amazon for just $10.

If you consider yourself a lifelong earplug user and are looking for some higher end plugs you may want to try a set of MusicSafe Classics by Alpine.  Available for just $20, it’s worth giving these plugs a try.

If money is no object for you with regards to your hearing, then a set of custom molded plugs made by Etymotic Research may be something you should look into.

At this point in time hearing loss is permanent.  There is no replacing the Stereocilia in the inner ear once it’s been damaged by excessive drumming.  If you don’t own a set of earplugs, do yourself a favor and go out and purchase some before you’re next session behind the drums. It might take a few hours or even days to get used to having them in. But a few hours of training your ears to accept plugs is much better than going the rest of your life without hearing.

 

 

 

 

 

New Drums for Nevada Drumline

Last Wednesday the University of Nevada Wolf Pack Drumline received a much needed upgrade to their drum arsenal.  Old marching snares and battered bass drums were replaced with brand new Yamaha Sfz series marching snares.This instrument upgrade comes at an opportune time as the Nevada Marching Band and the university as a whole continue to grow. Earlier this semester the band  was outfitted in new uniforms, with the addition of new instruments, our band members here at the University of Nevada are beginning to look as good as they sound.

Photos Courtesy of Sean Van Beveren