Something Odd.

baz

Silver Member
Last night I went to practice a couple of songs that me and my jam buddies have been working on.

Something did not feel quite right with my sticks. I have been playing with a pro mark rock knocker in my left hand, and a 737 in my right. I started using this combo some years ago, as I thought a heavier stick in my left would help me to develop a little more strength in it. Since then, I have become so conditioned to the feel of this combo that using a matched pair of sticks , or another model or size just does not feel quite right.

Last night, I could not help but notice how different my rock knocker/737 combe felt, so much so that it really threw me off. For some reason, my sticks, the same pair that I have been using for some weeks now felt heavier, fatter, and the balance was way off. I checked to make sure that I had not inadvertantly switched out the 737, but I had not. As I said, this was the same exact pair of sticks that I have been using for the last couple of weeks. If anything, I would have thought they should lighten up, the way they have been chewed up.

My style and approach to drumming has always been kind of set and forget. I will expirement with different head, cymbal, size configurations untill I find what to me and my oatmeal filled ears sounds and feels "right", then I tend to stick with it. An example would be almost any picture that I have posted of my drums from the past ten years or so. The kits might change, but the majority of the pics I have posted all show that same 4x4 configuration. Same with my "favorite" cymbal combo. I have been playing them for almost ten years, and once again, to my oatmeal filled ears, they just sound right.

I like set and forget because it helps me to get around my kit without having to think too much about what I am doing. Quite often when I am playing, I tend to overthink what I am doing, or need to do. Sadly, my thinking is usually out of sync with my timing, so that is when I start rushing fills, throwing in the Tourettes fills, and generally screwing up. I have noticed that the less I think, the smoother my playing is.

I just found it very strange. This is the first time that this has ever happened to me, and it really threw me off. I wish I had an explanation.

Barry
 
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I have had that experience as well, I have experimented with all sorts of sticks and finally settled on good old 5a like I always played but with the nylon tips; I hated spending money on sticks that chip easily on the tips. Anyway I'm fine for awhile and then they started feeling heavy and it was bugging me since I bought a whack of them and these were going be the ones I use all the time. I went back to playing the Steve Gadd sticks for awhile but when I changed heads and wires on my secondary and fairly inexpensive snare the 5a's were loving it, lots of dynamics and bounce when I wanted it. I guess what I'm saying is that maybe that is also something that might work for you; I am getting bored with trying out different sticks and just want the ones that work for me and one less thing to have to worry about. Of course changing heads could also lead to frustration but I find changing both and tuning up to the nth degree makes a lot of difference in the feel. Hope it works out for you.

Cheers
 
Interesting, I'd never heard of playing with different sized stick in each hand before.

Just a thought as the sticks are really chewed up now - maybe the drag that is being created through the air by the chewed up surface on the stick is giving the illusion of a heavier stick?
 
I've never really played different sized sticks, but I have two 5A sticks from different makers and they have different shaped nylon tips. One is more VF style and it is better for the cymbals IMO. and the other is classic egg shaped (Zildjian), which seems to do better on the snare drum.

Wouldn't know why all the sudden your stick combo all the sudden feels odd to you. You can't be married to one thing, though. Maybe it's a natural thing in your drumming progression to alter your style when you feel a need to. I don't know if you can call it evolving your style, but maybe your progression on the set requires a new feel to it. Just a thought.
 
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