Julia

I suppose this club wouldn't be complete without this gem I just found.

On 8/3/2022 at 10:10 AM, chantale said:

When a stick is too heavy, like VF's metal, they "buzz"  in my hands. So I know they are not appropriate for me. When they are too light, like 5 or 7, they runs away. But I'm not sure that's the buzz you're talking about.🙂

I have heavier sticks that don’t buzz. It’s mysterious…maybe these sticks are just possessed by an attention-seeking spirit 👻 

On 8/3/2022 at 2:04 PM, Juan said:

This calls for a recording (video please 🙂 )

I see what you did there 😉 

On 8/3/2022 at 9:48 AM, Stephen said:

Buzz how? In your hand? Buzz on the pad when you hit it? The stick reverbating in your hand (buzzing)?

They reverberate in my hand. It’s bothers me a bit - it takes a while for me to stop noticing it and “get into the zone”. They’re otherwise nice sticks. Could it just be the manufacturing batch the pair happened to come from? 

Well the base wages better be good then 😉 

This is one kind of stick I have not experimented with -- If I do, though, it should be on my loud kit at Mom Sound Studios (TM), not on my delicate little Silentstrokes at home.

I'm thinking they sound weird on cymbals though -- true or no? 

I’m going to need some of those to open up my Drumstick Museum 😆 

Oak laminated over bamboo…I’m trying to imagine the feel and the sound.  May be overkill. 

@chantale j’ai débuté ce nouveau club avec les défis qu’on a posté et pour le tien je t’ai présenté avec le compliment « extraordinaire » mais pour celui de @Bob je n’ai dit que « SDS member » (ce n’était pas exprès) et il est devenu jaloux le pauvre, il m’a taquiné 😄 donc je prends ma revanche 😉 

50 minutes ago, Bob said:

The reason I asked is that @chantale and I are actually the same person.  We just dress differently.  She could be extraordinaire and I'll settle for ordinaire.  @Julia is a sweetheart and I was busting her chops in jest.  

Uh oh @chantale your evil twin is acting up again, can’t help but like him though 😆 

Ok @Bob for that I’m adjusting the challenge: now you have to play AND sing Billie Jean backwards. Video or it didn’t happen 😉 

19 minutes ago, Bob said:

Shed Head Extraordinaire @chantale.

I believe there is some bias here. I wonder why. 

None intended, @Bob, thank you for pointing out my uneven descriptors. It was at the end of a long work day I came up with the idea of the new club and I was running out of steam. Apologies, I will change it up 🙂 

Shedheads are geniuses at finding new ways to hone skills while entertaining and inspiring themselves and each other.  A common theme in the forum threads is "Hey, I tried this, it's cool, see if you can do it!"  

Now we have a place to keep all of these ideas so they're perpetually browsable and discussable.  You are invited to try what's been posted here, link to interesting ideas other members have suggested in the forums (there are many, please help gather them here as you find them), or post your own new ideas.  Come back and test your skills, see what others have experienced when they tried a challenge listed here, and cheer each other on.  Have at it!  

Amazing what you hear when you play a song backwards -- try this one from distinguished SDS member and money-beat-reverser @Bob (original post below):

From Shedhead extraordinare @chantale, see her original post below:

Bucket o’ sticks, bucket o’ sticks

before and after the Bob treatment:

Well hey, if that’s lame then I admire the genius of lame things! I could never wear those bands in my hair, it busts them right open. Drumstick holder has got to be their true use kept secret from us until now. 
 

I used to use a lovely big glass mosaic cookie jar to hold my sticks but that’s now in my kitchen holding utensils that don’t fit in the drawer.  Now my sticks are in the stick bag but as I rotate through each pair in the ongoing challenge, I put it on a shelf.

Thank you for the clever tip!

My most recent forays to play the drums at the music store have been purchase-less, but the time before last I indulged in a pair of neon coral pink Zildjian 5As.  

I like the paint coating almost as much as taped or grip sticks.  The color is cheery.  I wish these came in 7A but I can do 5A.  As you may be able to see in the photo, the paint suffers wear and tear easily, but I figure they will be a testament to all my practice after long enough 🙂

They play fine on both my muted and my loud kit — nothing remarkable, but I wasn’t looking for anything but a bit of zing to add to the stick collection.

Copeland’s soundtrack to the movie Rumble Fish (1983) is worth a listen not just for “Don’t Box Me In” with Stan Ridgeway but also for variations on his inimitable style.  

The Challenge saunters on -- I'm really having fun with it.  Today, Mr. Selector chose the Promark Forward Balance sticks for me.  His explanation was that he had chosen Promark's Rebound sticks yesterday, and he wanted me to have a contrasting experience.  

Contrast it certainly did.  My practice exercises included grooves with 16th note hihats, which the sticks had me pushing to achieve smoothly.  Due to that and the fact that I was working on these exercises towards the end of my practice session, I really started to feel it in my right hand, which is my non-dominant hand.  (I'm a lefty who drums on a righty setup.)

This was a good experience to discover limitations.  I need to develop more strength and endurance using maple sticks and more normally balanced hickory sticks before attempting this daredevil feat again.  

That said, my right hand has come along way since my early drumming days when it would entirely miss the 6" practice pad more often than it hit it 🤪  I often felt like that hand was being remotely operated by someone else who was trying to mess me up.  

I was glad to be able to keep my first kit.  It’s an older version of the SPL Unity that I got used for very cheap.  I thought I’d get rid of it as soon as I upgraded, but when I did, I had a hard time parting with it.  After paying off some bills I’m going to replace all the heads and really see what it can do. 

So today’s practice sticks were my VF 8Ds.  While they are not my favorite to use at the moment, as I practiced I looked down at my hands and was suddenly caught up in emotion.  

This was the first pair I bought five or six years ago when I started my drum journey with just the sticks and a practice pad, the YouTube videos of a certain amazing drum instructor, and a brand new subscription to his online drum school.  And lots of hope beyond all reason for a drum kit, which everyone in my entourage kind of rolled their eyes at.

I could not imagine then where I’d be today with drumming - solid skill progress, confidence (and justification) to call myself a drummer, a band of brothers- and sisters-in-rhythm, knowledge about drum hardware, and not just one but TWO kits, one in an “off-site practice space” (thanks for that last one, Mom! 😄 ).

No one rolls their eyes at me anymore. They see what drumming has done for me and they tell me to go practice.

Whatever my favorites happen to be at any time, these sticks are keepers.

35 minutes ago, David said:

Plain, unbranded timbale sticks, similar to 7B's in dimension just no tips.

I think these are probably Hickory, certainly not Maple. They feel solid, dense and nice in my hands though they are smaller in diameter than my normal 5B's.   

Found playing with these really natural, would like them a with 5B diameter but to be honest it wasn't an issue.  The biggest differences to my normal tipped sticks are

• Balance point: There is no shoulder s, in theory, you'd need to move the fulcrum up a little to get maximum bounce.
• Power: related to the fulcrum the additional weight a the front makes for a easy and consistently strong hit, still able to practice dynamics though.  
• Cross-stick: no need to worry to much about turning the stick around or position, he rim click with these is consistently good, it also makes it good for playing cowbell 
• Rim shots: Great for rim shots and Latin-like quick rolls, no surprise really, it's their main use.
• Dynamics: I would say for most but the most gentle of sicking thee work fine, though I personally wouldn't use them for Jazz.  Great for laying own a strong rock or funk beat though.

Had a lot of fun with these in a short time. I will do a comparison video with my main sticks as I would be interested in how they line up.  I could see myself switching to using these a lot more f I found some a little thicker, but I could get used to these.

 

Your description makes me think they’d have a similar feel to my Promark Forward Balance sticks.  They look worth trying out sometime, but I have to admit that I like the look of a drumstick with a shoulder and tip.  I’m a sucker for aesthetics — probably made obvious as I am always going on about my signature sticks and the array of tape colors I use for grip.  

That said, the good rim shot/click potential is appealing.  

Crazy days at work for both me and Mr. Selector yesterday; I vacillated about practice but finally presented the stick bag.  Mr. S chose the Zildjian Maple Green Dip 5a sticks, again a choice based on the appeal of their color.  

I chided that he used to have a reason for his choice.  “Green is a reason!” he defended.  Looking at the remaining sticks, I realized his strategy:  he’s been choosing all of the taped or grip sticks, which will leave me with a long series of natural sticks that will have me whining to no end for several practice sessions 😄 

After a very smooth practice in which I had no picky stick complaints, I reflected on this challenge so far.  It seemed to be revealing a new aspect of itself:  motivation via gamification.  Since the start of the challenge, I’ve been following through with practice even on low-energy and somewhat stressful days.  I was curious about what sticks I’d be using.  I looked forward to the banter with Mr. Selector, who seems to enjoy the selection ritual whether his choices are backed by the science of wood composition or the whim of Green Is A Reason.   The Manboo realises this, wants this motivation for me, and gleefully participates.  The sticks themselves don’t matter as much as originally thought.  The challenge has become both a part of my practice ritual and a game that we play.  

That’s not to say we won’t get tired of it at some point, but at that time, the next level will reveal itself because of what I have been learning. 

Got to have all your office supplies to work.

My drum tech/husband/stick selector was presented with categories today which I narrowed down to obtain a choice:

Me:  Maple or hickory?

Him:  Hickory

Me:  Dip, tape, or no grip?

Him:  Tape

As it happens, that left only one choice:  the Vater 7a Classic which I just wrapped.  

This was their first tour on the loud kit at Mom Sound Studios (TM), and I quite liked them on it.  

I noticed, as did Mr. Selector, that I am playing more smoothly.  Is it the versatility cultivated by the stick challenge?  Is it my work in “Performance Readiness Practice”?  Is it that I have now worked 75% through the Warrior Way?  Is it just a good practice day?  Could be all of the above!

In related news, some of my sticks have migrated:  My Promark MJZ-3 maple are going to work (that’s right, they’ll be sitting in my pencil holder).  The extra pair of Zildjian 5A were taped in blue and brought to Mom Sound Studios(TM).  I brought my VF 8D back from the Studios to play on my muted kit at home.  Just changing things up.

Whaaaat!  I need those.  My handlers want to know if that's three years of physical age or mental age they require 😄

Today’s stick:  Promark Forward Balance, .535” diameter.

Reason Mr. Selector gave:  it was the first stick he thought about when I asked (he was out of the house and not here to look at the collection).

As the name implies, these sticks are weighted towards the tip and they have a large teardrop tip.

I ended up doing work with a lot of ghost notes/unaccented notes.  If I were to choose sticks for this kind of work, the FB are the last stick I would choose - they make for very clunky ghost notes.

However, this is the perfect example of the usefulness of this challenge, because I had to really pay attention to touching lightly to make a distinction between the unaccented notes and accented ones.

These sticks will never be taped because that would throw off their purposeful forward weight balance.  They were manageable in my hands, though — a comfortable diameter.  Though 7a is a bit thinner, I’ll consider sticks that are slightly thicker because of how this stick feels.