INSTRUMENT INFORMATION The Snare Drum Drumsticks Alternative Grips Physical Loosening Up Exercises
The Snare Drum There are three main providers of High Tension drums for Pipe Bands. They are Premier, Pearl and Andante. The end product is similar across all the manufacturers with the main components of the drum being: The Shell Laminated birch plywood with a high gloss lacquered finish. Metalwork Mirror anodised aluminium alloy Snare Head Clear plastic. This is 10mil single ply Mylar Batterhead These have gone through a varied development as higher and higher tensions were demanded. From the original skins which were actual animal skins to plastic, woven nylon (which didn t really take off), heavier duty plastics and finally woven Kevlar which usually has a plastic or clear waterproof coating. Below is an exploded view of a HTS drum:
Drumsticks There are many types of drumsticks from beaters to mallets to brushes. Although different types of objects to beat drums have been around for centuries, drumsticks, as we know them today have only been around for five or six decades. Most drumsticks are made out of wood. Maple, hickory, and oak are the most popular wood types. Of course there are also specialty drumsticks made out of various types of plastic, aluminium or carbon synthetics. The drumstick is made up of 4 basic parts. The bottom is called the BUTT of the drumstick, the long middle part is called the SHAFT, the taper is called the SHOULDER, and the bead is called the TIP. The shoulder can be further divided as detailed below. The TIP is also sometime known as the HEAD or BEAD of the drumstick and come in various shapes. Pipe Band drumsticks are predominantly made from maple with a larger butt than normal kit sticks. There is no specific shoulder to the stick with the shaft tapering down to a large, acorn or ball shaped tip. On average the stick is 400mm long with a 20mm butt tapering to a 10mm neck. Weights can range from 42 to 70g.
Drumstick choice is as important as any other part of drumming. The weight of the stick, density of the wood and moisture content affects the pitch of the stick and this in turn affects the pitch of the sound produced by the drum. Modern manufacturing techniques have standardised the quality and consistency of the drumsticks currently produced. The days of searching through a pile of drumsticks to find a matched pair are thankfully past although you should always check before you buy in case of a mix-up on the shelf. There are almost as many stick types as there are Grade 1 drummers. The drummers below have all put their names to their preferred style of drumstick: Jim Kilpatrick KP1, KP2 & KP3 Eric Ward Alba Percussion Barry Wilson David Farquhar Andante Alex Duthart Matt Connell Zildjian Reid Maxwell Vic Firth Etc. The sticks are all very similar but with variations in weight, butt thickness and shape and size of the tip. There is no one correct stick and the final choice is a matter of personal preference or sound requirements for a particular event, venue or even weather conditions on the day. You can also get display sticks, which are made of transparent plastic which light up when they strike the drum. I personally have found the sound and the response of these sticks to be poor but for show they give a great visual effect. It is also important to keep an eye on the current set of sticks that you are playing with. As sticks are used they may go out of tune with each other, may bend out of true or the like. Old sticks can be comfortable to play with but if they cease to become matched then they should be replaced.
Alternative Grips for the Sticks There are various ways of holding the drumsticks. The common grip for Pipe Band is the Traditional Grip but there are others, such as the German grip, French grip, American or Matched grip and the Double Trad. For information these are illustrated below. German Grip In this grip, the palms should be essentially flat to the ground. The angle of the sticks to one another is quite large (about 90º), while the fulcrum for this grip will be more the thumb and middle finger, rather than the thumb and index finger. In fact, it is common to see the index finger completely relaxed off the stick in this grip. Also, the angle of the stick to each forearm is not straight, but rather curves in slightly. If you raise your right hand and place a drumstick in your hand without changing anything, the stick sits in the hand at a slight angle to the forearm. This is a good thing for our purpose here! The motion of each wrist would be straight up and down with a small tendency toward rotation, given the angle explanation just above. French Grip In the French grip, the hands are turned to the side with the thumb on top of the stick. The fulcrum is back to being between the thumb and index finger (rather than the middle finger). The angle of the sticks to one another shrinks substantially in French grip, as the hands are brought in towards one another. The motion is akin to that of turning a doorknob. American Grip or Matched Grip The American grip seems to be the most commonly used grip, as it represents a middle ground between the French and German variations. The hands are tilted slightly at about a 45º angle, and the fulcrums of both the index and middle fingers are available to use depending on the player s preference. In general for this application, using the index finger fulcrum is probably best. The stick is a more straight extension of the forearm, and the motion is straight up and down.
Double Traditional Grip If you are a traditional grip player try using this grip IN BOTH HANDS. You will find that by doing this, you learn a thing or two about the grip by way of studying how your right hand tries to accomplish simple stroke types using a grip it may have never tried before. One suggestion for this particular variation is to not try to play very hard with the new hand. Play lightly and see if you can get the stick to bounce a little bit while maintaining a consistent fulcrum connection. Don t worry about equalling the sound of your more experienced left hand! Conventional or Traditional Grip This is the grip traditionally used in pipe band (and other marching bands). In the days of drums being carried on a sling this grip allowed the strokes of each hand to be played vertically on the sloping surface of the drumhead.
PHYSICAL EXERCISES FOR LOOSENING UP Important: Start slowly and warm up cold muscles gradually - DO NOT overstretch cold muscles. Exercise No. 1 Hold the sticks together with both hands extended, palms facing down - (Fig. 1.). Manipulate the hands up and down, moving from the wrists only. Fig. 1 Exercise No. 2 Hold both sticks in one hand, grasped at the head of the sticks - (Fig. 2). Rotate the wrist from side to side keeping elbow and arm movements to a minimum. Repeat with the other hand. Fig. 2
Exercise No. 3 Hold the sticks together with both hands extended, palms facing up - (Fig. 3). Slowly turn the wrists in and under, one following the other. Raise arms over the head. Bring arms back to the extended position and reverse the procedure, bringing you back to the starting position. Repeat, starting with the other hand. Fig. 3 Exercise No. 4 Hold the sticks together, palms towards your face. Hold one end tightly and rotate the other end slowly. Reverse hands. Exercise No. 5 Open a large sheet of newspaper on the floor or table. Place your hand flat on the paper and crumple the sheet into a ball without lifting your hand.
Exercise No. 6 Left Hand: Flick your thumb over your index and middle fingers as if trying to remove dirt or the like. Slowly increase the tempo. Right Hand: With the middle and ring fingers and the pinkie together tap the base of the thumb. Slowly increase the tempo. Exercise No. 7 Steeple hand together, pads of fingers and thumbs of each hand touching the corresponding finger of the other hand. Gently push hands together stretching the fingers. Relax and repeat.
Exercise No. 8 This stretch works your fingers as well as your wrists. Make sure your palms are facing up - with your other hand, simply pull your fingers towards your body. Feel the stretch? If it hurts, STOP. You're not supposed to feel pain, just a stretching sensation. Exercise No. 9 This stretch will work your wrists only. It is a very basic stretch. Simply hold onto your stick with both hands, and roll your stick upwards and downwards. Again, make sure you do not hurt yourself.
Exercise No. 10 Wrist Flexor Stretch Keeping elbow straight with the palm of your hand facing up, grasp the involved hand/fingers and bend the wrist do Wrist Flexor Stretch. Keeping elbow straight with the palm of your hand facing up, grasp the involved hand/fingers and bend the wrist downward until a stretch is felt in the wrist flexors. Hold for 20 seconds. Repeat 3 times downward until a stretch is felt in the wrist flexors. Hold for 20 seconds. Repeat 3 times. Exercise No. 11 Wrist Extensor Stretch Keeping elbow straight with the palm of your hand facing down, grasp the involved hand and bend wrist downward until a stretch is felt in the wrist extensors. Hold for 20 seconds. Repeat 3 times.