SELECTING DRUMSTICKS

Its one of the most important tools we use, yet there are far too many drummers out there who don’t know (or don’t even care to know!) how to choose a good pair of drumsticks. Having a good pair of drumsticks is the foundation in allowing you to get the right feel volume and tone out of your playing.

With the price of good quality drumsticks these days, durability is also a big concern – You don’t want to be spending top-dollar on a pair of sticks and then have them only last five minutes. The trend that is now running rampant amongst manufacturers is to ‘pre-package’ pairs of sticks with cardboard sleeves. The uninitiated merely take the pair believing they are matched, when the reality is they can be far from it.

Remember that wood is a natural product, and as such there is never an absolute, guaranteed way to ensure your sticks will last a long time. Technique also plays an important part and if yours isn’t so good, choosing a great pair wont matter – You’ll still be going through them like butter.

So how do we match a pair of sticks such that they will give us the best balance and durability? Well, I have written the following instructions as a guide to selecting a good pair. There is no mention of which weight to go for, which brand or whether to use wood tips over nylon, etc – THAT is all up to the individual and we’re all different. These following guidelines will work on any size stick. So choose a size that feels comfortable to you, then do as follows…
 

Step 1 – checK you have the correct model

For the sake of the exercise, we’re going to search for a good pair of 5A Nylon tipped Vic Firth sticks. Grab a whole bunch of them from the rack and lay them out on the nearest flat, level, solid surface. (carpeted floor works great!) Remove the sticks from their cardboard sleeves and ensure that all the sticks are the correct model. In the following batch (pictured) we have our 5A’s, but also a lot of other sticks of different models. Some have nylon tips, some are a different brand and/or have different shaped tapers or tips. Check that the group of sticks you have chosen are all the same brand

Dont assume sticks are pairs just because there is cardboard wrapping them!

Remove a whole bunch of them from their sleeves and start sorting!

STEP 2 – REMOVE DAMAGED STICKS

Some of the sticks you have chosen may also show visual signs of damage. Carefully inspect the sticks and remove any that have knots in the wood or look as though they have cut-marks from being tested on cymbals or drums.

STEP 3 – TEST FOR STRAIGHTNESS

If you’ve ever been unfortunate enough to find yourself playing with stick that isn’t straight you’ll know only too well how much this affects your playing. Balance is thrown off, the feel of the stick changes completely, or your dynamics are also affected. Testing for straight sticks is relatively simple. Lay the stick on the ground and roll it across the floor. Watch the tip – In the clip below, the first stick is reasonably straight, but the tip on the second stick wobbles about. Clearly, stick #2 is not straight and should be discarded.

*** View the clip (1.72MB) ***

STEP 4 - TEST FOR PITCH

This is the most important step. As I explained earlier, wood is a natural product and as such, the density of each stick is going to differ, sometimes by a great margin. If any of your remaining sticks feel overly light compared to the others, throw it back. It makes sense that sticks with a higher density (more wood fibres inside the stick) will generally last longer than those with a lower density, so that’s what were aiming for here.

Pick up a stick and either drop it onto the floor or tap them with a loose hand and listen to the pitch that is given off (a carpeted concrete surface is ideal for this). Now do it with another stick – Hear the difference? Pitch test all the sticks remaining in your pile and start laying them in order from highest pitch to lowest pitch.

*** View the clip (2.33MB) ***

STEP 5 – MATCHING THE PAIR

Once your sticks are ordered in pitch, start with the sticks that gave the highest pitch and work backwards until you find the highest pitched pair that ALSO match in pitch. Congratulations! You’ve just chosen yourself a matched pair of sticks, but more importantly you’ve learned a technique which will maximise your odds of getting a good sounding, long lasting pair every time you enter a store.

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