Call it an identity crisis of sorts, but my bag was chock full of odd-sized drum sticks to the point where I just had to purge them the other day.
I used to prefer playing the skinnier, lighter and shorter 5A nylon tips, which were invented by Joe Calato, by the way. Then, dear wife gave me custom drum sticks with 5B wood tips for Christmas with my website address laser written onto them. Sweet! They just sounded better on cymbal bells, produced stronger shell resonance, and created more bounce while playing buzz rolls on the snare.

By simplifying what I own for models, however, I am slowly rediscovering the best types of drum sticks in terms of weight, length, finish, taper, durability, color, and tip in order to match my particular needs.

Like highhats, drum sticks are one of the most important elements of your drum set. Take the time to experiment with various types, though one challenge you’ll encounter is a growing number of local music stores don’t carry a great diversity of brands these days.

What should you look for? In my opinion, the top five drum stick manufacturers in the world include Vic Firth, Zildjian, Pro-Mark, Vater and Regal Tip. If you get the chance to test drive some pairs, roll the sticks on a flat surface before using or purchasing them. Like 2X4s at the lumber store, drum sticks are not all cut perfectly straight. The more warped they are, the less efficient they perform around your drum set.

There are specific wood types and outer coatings to consider as well. The most common drums sticks are made from Maple, Hickory, and Oak – Maple being the most apt to break and Hickory drum sticks being the most popular. I have never liked synthetic sticks such as aluminum. Drums are meant to be played with real wood.
Varnished or lacquered sticks are important considerations as well. If you sweat a lot, you will want to avoid slippery coatings, or sand them down after purchase. There are a growing number of sticks with tacky surfaces embedded over the butt ends now. You can even buy sure grip wraps for them. I stay away from painted sticks, as they tend to taint my heads with that particular color.

As for drum stick tips, I still prefer wood, though nylon is the standard today. The problem I have with nylon is they tend to sound too pinging and brilliant on certain cymbals where wood produces much warmer tones. There are actually four types of tip designs and tonal qualities to consider, including: rounded (focused for cymbals), pointed (triangular shaped for medium tones), teardrop shaped (diverse sounds), and barrel (larger area for bashing). I have found the most success in playing distinct patterns with teardrops.

Size and taper wise, traditionalists will tell you that 5Bs and 2Bs are intended for hard rock drummers while 5As and 7As are best suited for jazz and funk. Though originally designed for such uses, I use 5Bs during practice to build my endurance for live gigs employing 5As. I have even used a 5B in my left hand for more punch on the snare while playing a lighter 5A on the ride and vice versa.

Choose the drum stick best fit for your hands and drum set positions, not just the musical style you are playing. Stick selection is an often-overlooked process to being the complete drummer, and is actually a critical ingredient.

Written by Tim Kane
Tim Kane is a professional writer, editor and drummer of 30-plus years residing in Massachusetts. Read and comment on his blog at www.dixondrums.net.

I’m sure you’ve spent hours listening to and learning the drum beats, rhythms and epic solos of your favorite jazz, rock and funk drummers.

Without a doubt active listening should always be a part of your drumming regimen. Developing your ear for music is a vital skill all musicians, especially drummers, need to have in their training arsenal.

Though it’s important, actively listening to your favorite drummers isn’t the only skill you should rely on to improve your craft. Using your eyes to drum is one way to start performing like a pro.

What Is Drumming With Your Eyes?

Most drummers would agree that it would be impossible to drum without your hands. But if you think about it, it would be equally impossible to drum without your eyes.

Put simply, drumming with your eyes means going to a live show with the specific purpose to watch the drummer and truly studying how he works from start to finish.

Like active listening with your ears, drumming with your eyes involves paying close attention to how another drummer sets up his kit, how he plays, how he interacts with his band mates before during and after a set.

In their own way, the best drummers use their eyes to study everything around them, especially the habits and behaviors of other drummers. And by doing so, they pick up little things and work those insights into their own style to hone their craft.

So whether you’re at a show watching as a fan in the audience or checking out a video at home, whenever you don’t have your drum sticks in your hands you should always be using your eyes to study, soak up and evaluate the habits and nuances other drummers.

One of the benefits of drumming with your eyes is that you don’t always have to watch the best drummers in the world to learn something or pick up an inside tip.

And once you get used to actively watching drummers of all skill levels, you’ll naturally become more aware of your own strengths and weaknesses. And when your drumming skills plateau, drumming with your eyes can also help to get you out of a creative rut.

And when you have that complete awareness as a drummer you’ll be able to improve your playing, make adjustments and perfect your own style. Like practicing your rudiments, taking time to drum with your eyes is one way you can elevate your playing.  It’s a visual drumming tool that, when combined with active listening, can send you on your way to laying down beats, rhythms and grooves just like the pros do.

How have you been drumming with your eyes?

What nuances have you notice by watching other drummers?

By Chris Catania
Based in Chicago, Chris Catania is the author of Live Fix, a blog that celebrates, explores and examines the live music experience. Chris also interviews artists and fans, reviews concerts, festivals, events and albums for Blogcritics, PopMatters, Ink19 and other online and print publications.

What you’ll need:

• 5 piece drum kit
• Playstation 3 (or 2)
• RockBand 2 (or original RB)
• Rock Band Microphone and two guitar controllers
• 5 acoustic drum triggers, appropriate cables (cable connector types depends on the triggers and interface, just make sure they are compatible with each other)
• drum trigger interface
• Midi to USB Rock Band Adaptor
• RemO’s Tone Control Rings
• Hart Dynamics Magnum mesh heads (optional)
• Blue, Red, Green, Yellow spray paint
• polycrylic spray coating
• 3M mounting tape
• orange construction paper
• Elmer’s glue
• Pintech cymbal triggers (optional)

(see more photos here and see our post on Instructables.com)

1. Get the gear and the game

Get the Playstation 3 or 2, and the Rock Band or Rock Band 2 pack that comes with the drums, guitar and microphone, and game disc. Even through you will not use the drums, this pack is less expensive than buying the game, two guitar controllers, and the microphone separately. And if you want to return you drum kit to a normal later, you can use the included Rock Band drum kit to play the game. We used the Guitar Hero World Tour controller for our second guitar.

2. Get the Special Adaptor

Buy a USB Rock Band adaptor. We bought ours from Rock Band Forum user sethmeisterg. (This will not work with the XBox 360 because of Microsoft’s interface licensing restrictions, this is why it must be a Playstation 2 or 3).

3. Take Measurements

Measure and write down the diameter of your toms and snare (or you might already know). If you are going to use cymbal triggers also, measure them as well. We bought the Pintech TC Cymbal Package which includes a 14, 18, and 10 inch cymbal triggers. It does not matter which size you pick.

4. Get the rings

Get the appropriate quantity and size of RemO’s Tone Control Rings at a drum accessory store. They come in packs, but sometimes dealers will sell the rings individually.

5. Optional: Get the mesh heads

Buy the appropriate size and quantity of mesh heads. This is optional. Using mesh heads will be quieter than the regular acoustic heads. This will let you hear the music track of the game more easily. You will only need one mesh head per drum. You can keep the original bottom heads. Remove the top rims, then the top head, mount the mesh heads, and re-mount the rim. We used Hart Dynamics Kontrol Screen Magnum.

6. Paint the Rings

Lay out the tone rings on your kit and note which color you will need to paint each one. Then, take them outside and paint each one the appropriate colors. From left to right it should be: red, yellow, blue green. You may need to apply several coats until you cannot see the white through the paint.

7. Coat the Rings

After the paint dries, apply the polycrylic spray.

8. Mount the Rings

After the polycrylic coat dries, attach each ring to the head with the 3M Mounting Tape. If you are using the cymbal triggers, glue the rings to the them. We cut the bottom part of the rim to accommodate the foam pad on the trigger.

9. Apply the Orange Construction Paper

Apply the orange construction paper to the kick drum in some way do designate its color. We glued to strips to the bottom inside rim of the kick drum.

10. Mount and Connect the Triggers

Mount the triggers to the drums and connect them to the trigger interface. We used the Alesis DM5. You can also use the Alesis Trigger I/O, Roland TD-3 or Roland TMC-6. Connect the trigger interface to the USB adaptor, and the USB adaptor to the Playstation 3.

11. Configure the Interface

Set up your drum trigger interface to trigger the correct midi note numbers as described by the USB adaptor interface. You can start the game to test the triggers. You may want to put the game in the “no fail” mode so you will not need to keep restarting the song. Adjust the crosstalk and gain setting in the drum trigger interface.

12. You’re done! Start playing!

Invite some friends over to sing and play the guitar and bass parts, and rock out!