Drum stick
From Freepedia
- This article is about the musical tool. For more meanings, see drumstick (disambiguation).
A drum stick or drumstick is an item used to hit percussion instruments, including but not only drums, to produce sound. Some specialized drum sticks are called beaters, mallets, or brushes.
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Snare drum sticks
Snare drum sticks are usually made of wood, often hickory, ebony, oak or maple. A typical drum stick is around 1cm in diameter and 30cm long, although drummers have a wide range of shapes and sizes to choose from. Many drummers are very particular about the exact shape, size, weight, balance, density, and grain of their sticks. All of these qualities attribute to its so-called "feel" and sound of the stick.
Snare drum sticks may be designed for use in particular performance contexts. Sticks that are smaller in diameter or balanced farther towards the tip may be intended for orchestral playing that requires fine control and soft dynamics. Sticks for street playing (e.g. drum corps and marching bands) are almost always thick and weighty, to promote extended production of sound at extreme dynamics.
Anatomy of a snare drum stick
The drum is struck with the tip of the drum stick. Traditionally this has been made of the same piece of wood as the rest of the stick, although there are several drum sticks with a plastic nylon tip, which produces a brighter sound when playing cymbals and is less likely to splinter after sustained or violent use, but is prone to cracking or flying off. Immediately below the tip is the shoulder of the stick; this is often used to strike crash cymbals. The rest of the stick is referred to as the shaft, with the butt at the opposite end to the tip.
Players use two sticks, employing either a matched grip or a traditional grip. With either grip, players keep the balance point of the stick slightly beyond their hands.
Timpani sticks
See Timpani.
