Losing a Stick

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Pimento

Senior Member
Hey heres one i havent found on here yet.

How do you guys "practice" for when you lose a stick during a live show? Where are your extra sticks where you can reach them quickly?

If i lose a stick i find im scrambling playing one hand while reaching for my spares in my stick bag on my floor tom.
 
I don't exactly practice for it but I have a little stand thing, not sure the exact name, that I usually have slightly behind me for my brushes and mallets, there is usually a spare stick or two in it.
 
Sticks in a bag during a gig = not very helpful.

You need this. I live and die with this. You must get it. Now. :)

http://drums-percussion.musiciansfriend.com/product/Vater-Multipair-Stick-Holder?sku=443395

As long as you are ordering*** :) , this is also Extremely helpful. Couldn't live without it.
Actually have Two on my hi hat stand:

http://drums-percussion.musiciansfriend.com/product/Vater-Drink-Holder?sku=443362

________________________________________________

***I have no affiliation with Vater. I am totally unworthy of any kind of endorsement situation with them. But I do think they make great
Sugar Maple sticks, and they also make absolutely essential gig accessories like the stick and cup holders. Every player on
the planet needs stick and cup holders.
 
Wow.....you just reminded me....

I actually have one of those vater stick holders kicking around somewhere. As i remember i couldnt get it in a comfortable spot to use it though, putting it on my hi hat stand didnt work for me
 
I don't usually drop sticks and that's because I usually have many extras around my kits. If I didn't have the extras, I'd probably be dropping them all the time..Murphy's law. When I do drop a stick it's usually the right one, I don't know why. I like to use Promark stick holders. Each unit holds two pairs of sticks and I usually attach them to my cymbal stands or hi hat stands and the sticks are very easy to grab. What I also do is change sticks regularly when I play because my hands get sweaty and I can keep a better grip on the dry sticks this way. I also have different weight sticks close at hand which I swap out depending on the type of music I'm playing.

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Dennis
 
I can't say I've every practiced "dropping a stick and recovery" per se, but after doing enough live gigs, recovering from a drop becomes easy enough.

I just make sure I have spare sticks in my bag.
 
DrumEatDrum said:
I can't say I've every practiced "dropping a stick and recovery" per se, but after doing enough live gigs, recovering from a drop becomes easy enough.

I just make sure I have spare sticks in my bag.
Click to expand...

+1.

Yep. Never "practiced" it either......never thought about it for that matter. But I've dropped or broken enough to be able to recover without breaking stride. I always have a pair on my bass drum so I can grab it with one swipe.
 
In the few years that I gigged, I never dropped a stick. Amazing since I drop the all the time practicing! Just in case though, I always just sat on a stick, one on each side for each hand/cheek. I'll see if i can dig up a pic............ if it's something you really want to see, a guy sitting on his drumsticks. lol
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Sitting on a stick or two is a good idea, only I'd lose them when I get excited and jump up and down on the throne!!

I often used to lose a stick, always the right hand one, and I just got good at picking one up from the stick bag on the floor tom. Years ago, my bandmates were watching a video of us playing and only then did they realise I'd dropped a stick when they saw it go flying; they replayed that bit over and over trying to see where the new stick came from!! :eek:D

Just lately, tho, I've started losing the left stick, and I haven't had so much practice at recovering that!!!! Perhaps I need a stick bag both sides - - -

Terry
 
jayblazeff said:
...Just in case though, I always just sat on a stick, one on each side for each hand/cheek...
Click to expand...

That's what I do when someone asks me to sit in and there's no stick holder up there.
Then the sticks go in the back pockets. :)
 
I'm just thinking of what my sticks do when I Do lose them.

I used to never lose them, but after working on my grip technique a couple of years ago, and really loosening up, I now Do lose them. I don't mind - it's usually fun. :)

Anyway, the typical Loss takes the form of the stick actually staying up at the kit and kind of rolling around the drums. I typically Lose it and then re-grab it while it's rolling across the kit.
 
I have one of those stick holders on my hihat stand, and my stick bag is leaning on my floor tom. I don't really practice dropping sticks, but it has happened enough times so that it doesn't scare me. I know I have sticks available for either hand, so I'll just grab one.

Watch out for those stick holder though. They can be a bit tricky when you're in a hurry, as Greg Upchurch demonstrates in this clip:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V7RJYO3i8Ms#t=03m30s
 
I rarely drop or break sticks, but I'm not a heavy hitter. The stick bag attached to my floor tom works fine. I also keep my mallets in there which I use quite often playing in church. I can switch out sticks pretty fast using the bag. But I can certainly see the advantage of the stick holders shown in this thread.
 
I use a couple of QwikStix holders (http://www.qwikstix.com) which are extremely adjustable and put each stick right at my fingertips without having to look. A pair for my left hand on my hi-hat stand, a pair for my right at the floor tom. I just put my left arm down at the 8 o'clock position, or my right at 4 o'clock, and there's a stick there.

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No real practice involved, if I drop or break a stick, I can grab a fresh one within a 1/4 note or two. If my left/snare stick goes, I can hit he backbeat with my right while I grab a new one. Usually it's a seamless thing, often I'm the only one who knows anything happened. :)

Bermuda
 
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