Need help designing drum stick storage.

For a school project I am designing a system that will dispense drum sticks if and when needed. I don't want to know opinions on this idea, just would love people to answer some of the following questions to help me.

1. How many sticks would you need being stored?
2. Would you prefer to have a single stick dispensed or a pair of sticks?
3. Would you like it to be able to dispense different types of sticks, e.g. brushes?
4. How would you like the product to be positioned.

Do you mean for sales/display purposes or something that would go on a kit and present sticks in case you drop one?

Toolate said:

Do you mean for sales/display purposes or something that would go on a kit and present sticks in case you drop one?

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It will be something that would go on a kit and present sticks in case you drop/break one. Although I am interested in seeing whether people would like something like this that could act as general storage, and dispense things like brushes etc.

How many sticks would you need being stored?I think Something that held a few pairs of 5B's would be fine for me, but then to be able to accomodate brushes at the same time. It depends on the gig your doing.
Would you prefer to have a single stick dispensed or a pair of sticks? Option for pair or single stick.
Would you like it to be able to dispense different types of sticks, e.g. brushes? Various sticks would be good, mostly 5B's and brushes for me.
How would you like the product to be positioned. On my stool between my legs so I can get one out with either hand

I am actually making my own stick holder at the moment because I dont like the ones on the market. Get out the grandma's sewing machine and test my skills, haha.

How many sticks would you need being stored?

6 or 8 (3 or 4 pair)

Would you prefer to have a single stick dispensed or a pair of sticks?

Single

Would you like it to be able to dispense different types of sticks, e.g. brushes?

No

How would you like the product to be positioned.

That's the tough one, because sometimes I need to grab a stick with my left hand, sometimes with my right. the only possible spot would be directly between my seat and the snare, where both hands have fairly equal accessibility the the stick.

I have a real world observation though, what about drummers who play the butt end of the stick on their snare? Can a single dispenser make the correct stick orientation available for the particular hand? Keep in mind that drummers who have 2 stick holders - one for the left hand, one for the right - pre-position the sticks to their taste.

There's another aspect to such a device - what is required to dispense the stick? Is there some action that must be done in addition to grabbing the stick, and to what extent might that interfere with or further delay grabbing the stick? What I mean is, does the action of dispensing then grabbing the stick take longer and require more coordination than simply grabbing a stick from a traditional holder? Don't forget, drummers typically need to get a fresh stick while they're playing and trying to focus on the song. Dropping/breaking a stick is distracting enough, without adding to the method for procuring the replacement.

I know you didn't ask for opinions or practicality, but certainly the real-world workability will count for something on the project, whoich is why you're asking us, right? Otherwise you could just invent any device that claims to do anything, yet isn't actually usable... and what would be the point of that?

Bermuda

How many sticks would you need being stored?
1 - 2

Would you prefer to have a single stick dispensed or a pair of sticks?
Single

Would you like it to be able to dispense different types of sticks, e.g. brushes?
Just sticks

How would you like the product to be positioned?
I already use a stick holder mountied to either my HH or snare drum stand for the left hand. So one that offers a stick in the center of the BD, Floor tom and snare drum - about knee high.
This would give my right hand access and also my left hand if I'm in the middle of a roll going around the toms from left to right.

Anything mounted on the bass is going to drop out or rattle if not insulated or held snug. Too snug and you fight with it.

Every single one of your posts are about product research,under the guise of a school project.Really?

Steve B

Steve, you're such a cop lol, believe nothing, question everything lol. If it's a school project cool, but if this is for a real life application...I think it's overthinking and overcomplicating things a bit. Back pockets work just as good, and you don't have to set them up, plus they come with most pants free. They are positioned conveniently and are never in your way. To really combat stick dropping, a strong thumb goes a long way, that's the weak link. You definitely need something on the right and something on the left though, that's why I use my back pockets. Has anyone ever dropped a brush while playing? I would think that would be a pretty rare occurance.

I've dropped everything. Brushes, mallets, sticks, dignity, genitalia...

Oh wait.

I think the sticks should be held in a magazine type thing connected to a tube between you and the snare.

The tube would be powered by air compression and would shoot up the stick at a height where you can grab it in the air.

You would activate it by a foot pedal or a button somewhere.

larryace said:

If it's a school project cool, but if this is for a real life application...I think it's overthinking and overcomplicating things a bit.

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Actually, if it's for a real product, it hasn't been thought through enough. I raised just 2 simple real world points, and could certainly think of more that would keep this product - albeit based on what little we know - from being accepted by retailers or drummers. But, opinions were specifically not requested, so I'd tend to believe it's not for a real product. It does seem like a very odd project, but they're just exercises in... I don't know. They're just exercises I guess.

In this case, I get to think about why something like this hasn't been invented, and the potential pitfalls if it did exist. I break/drop sticks routinely, yet something like this has absolutely no appeal for me. This has to be a project, I see no realistic application for it.

Except possibly as a gag in a drum shop! For prople who want to test drums or cymbals, the clerk can say "there's the stick dispenser, grab one." HAHAHAHA

Or not.

Bermuda

topgun2021 said:

I think the sticks should be held in a magazine type thing connected to a tube between you and the snare.

The tube would be powered by air compression and would shoot up the stick at a height where you can grab it in the air.

You would activate it by a foot pedal or a button somewhere.

Click to expand...

There's actually a stick holder that does flip the stick in the air! Of course it's designed more for effect than to make grabbing a spare stick convenient.

Bermuda

I think it would have to be on either side of the snare, hold 4 pair of sticks making one on each side butt-in-the-air grab-able. So it would have to be at least spring-loaded. No brushes or otherwise required.

For some reason I can't get the image of a giant toothpick dispenser out of my head....

So you have to activate the spring and then grab the stick? Unless it's thought controlled, that's 2 motions. This is a situation where simpler is better. Being that a drumstick is 16 inches or so, I wouldn't want it too close because of the length. I think it would be easier to grab when it's not so close that you have to contort to get the whole length clear of the snare drum. I'd stumble just getting the stick from it's holder. I put a stick in the middle of the double bracing of my hi hat stand. On my right side, I lean one against my floor tom leg. Plus I have my back pockets. I require nothing more than that, it's the fastest, easiest, least expensive, and IMO best way to deal with a broken or dropped stick. There are zero downsides. I see all kinds of downsides with a dispenser. A better solution would be a stick that is somehow attached by a short string to a ring on your finger so dropping it would be an impossibility. Even that creates problems. Color me simple on this issue.

No, it would have to be automatic so that it was at-the-ready. More like a Pez dispenser, I guess....except automatic. Like a ticket machine in a garage.

The whole idea is wh-wh-whacky.

I would make something that looked like an upside down gun clip that would show one stick at the bottom and as you pull it out the spring mechanism would feed the next one down in case you needed it.

What I did (and I'm going to stop overthinking this post) is attach the Vater single stick holder on my cymbal stand that holds a crash above the floor and right side floating tom.
It perfectly holds one stick in the center of the snare, BD and Floor tom. Perfect for the left hand to grab as the butt end is 2 inches from the top of the bass drum hoop.

But I'm having to figure something else out as that cymbal stand now holds the floor tom, ride and crash as I trim down my gigging kit. The tubing is hidden behind the floor tom.

Here's a question - do you actually practice retrieving sticks in order to be ready for when the time comes?

It's hard to practice retrieval, because the need can come at any time during a performance, and to always be at the ready adds a lot of anxiety to playing. I simply make sure before a show that my sticks are at my fingertips when I reach down (on either side.) It's the one adjustment I make myself, so I am completely confident that I can reach down without looking, and a stick will be right there. I keep 2 stick at each side, and immediately after the song in question, I replace the missing stick(s) so I'm always stocked.

Bermuda

I use one of these on my bass drum.



Holds the sticks easily and relatively firmly, but still easy to grab one. It's good for at least 3 sticks--any size.
Goes on/comes off the bass drum quickly, and easily.

The back pocket is the option I use when I use a back line kit.