Welcome back to the Chops blog! Today I’d like to address a concern we frequently hear at this time of year: uncomfortable carriers. As the marching band season begins, students often suffer through the first several weeks when they are commonly out of shape, and unprepared to carry the weight of a marching drum. Combine that with the intense, all day schedule of a band camp and you quickly have a miserable student. Weak shoulders, backs, and legs are punished by the weight of the drum. After suffering the shock of a heavy drum, concerned parents often contact us seeking relief for their student. However, before investing in expensive alternatives, I recommend that your student endure the first weeks of the season and develop strength in their back, shoulders, and legs. The more time your student spends marching and wearing their drum, the more their body will be accustomed to the weight. By the end of the season your student will barely notice the weight, and will be able to wear their drum for hours at a time. However, if your student is still suffering a month into the season, contact us and we’ll discuss options that might work for some

Welcome back to the Chops blog! In our last post we discussed several popular practice pads. Today we’re going to focus on practice pads designed specifically for marching drummers. Vic Firth Heavy Hitter Pads Vic Firth offers a complete line of practice pads for marching drummers with their Heavy Hitter pads. Last time we introduced the Stock Pad, which we recommend for all drummers, and the Slim Pad, which we recommend for marching drummers. The thin rubber surface of the Slim Pad is designed to imitate high tension marching snare drums. For tenor (or quad) drummers, the Heavy Hitter Quadropad is a popular choice. Like the Slim and Stock Pads, the Quadropad features gum rubber pads on a durable wood surface. Two sizes, small and large, are available to match common tenor drum configurations. The small Quadropad mimics 8, 10, 12, and 13 inch tenor drums, while the large pad replicates the more common 10, 12, 13, and 14 inch sets. Both sets include two unattached, adhesive backed pads for the “shot” or “spock” drums that the player can set according to their preference. Each set also includes a complete set of laminates, an adhesive backed piece of plastic that

Welcome back to the Chops blog! Today we’ll be discussing practice pads. A practice pad is a device that replicates the feel and sound of a drum, but is much quieter. They make practice easy, quiet, and most importantly, bearable for others. You have many different options when selecting a practice pad, but with so many choices it can be difficult to select an appropriate pad. Choose a pad based on way it will be used, or the type of music you play. Some pads are versatile and can be used by all percussionists, while others are designed for specific activities such as marching music. We offer many different practice pads, each with their own features and design. Today we’ll highlight a few or our favorites. Remo Tunable Practice Pad Remo has been making their Tunable Practice Pad for several decades. Available in six, eight, and ten inch diameters, it features a real Remo drum head over a foam surface. You can easily adjust the tension on the plastic rim with a flat head screwdriver to change feel of the pad. The bottom of the pad is covered with rubber for use on surfaces and includes a nut for mounting

Welcome back to our series on snare drum maintenance. In the last post we discussed how to properly remove worn drum heads. Today we’ll address how to replace them with new heads. After you’ve removed worn heads and cleaned your drum, it’s time to install new heads. Begin by placing the new head on the shell, and the rim on the head. For aesthetics, most drummers align the logo on the head with the badge on the drum. Before putting tension on the head you should consider lubricating the tension rods. Many products are available, but I recommend lithium grease. It’s inexpensive, effective, durable, and can be found at any auto parts store. To lubricate the tension rods, simply dip the threaded end into your lubricant. With the tension rods lubricated, insert them into the lugs. Following the same cross pattern we used to remove the heads in our previous lesson, use your fingers to draw the tension rods tight to the rim. Done correctly, this will apply a consistent level of tension across the head and prepare you to tune the drum with a key. With the top head installed, use the same technique on the new bottom head.

Welcome back to our series on snare drum maintenance. In the previous posts we discussed how to identify and replace worn snare wires. Today we’ll address the first step in replacing drum heads: how to remove worn heads. Believe it or not, all drum heads will eventually wear out. Fortunately, it’s fairly easy to remove and replace them. Follow this procedure to replace the heads on your drums. Before we begin you’ll need to know the name of your drum’s parts. Your drum heads are held in place by the rims, the circular metal or wood pieces. Tension is applied to the rim and heads by the tension rods, the bolts with a specialized square end. The tension rods are screwed into lugs, the metal pieces attached to the drum shell. You will need a drum key to remove the heads. Keys are inexpensive, and readily available, but I recommend the larger keys designed for marching drums. They are more expensive, but the extra leverage makes changing heads much easier. Begin by gradually releasing the tension from the rim. Using the pattern illustrated below, loosen all the tension rods a quarter or half turn. Repeat this pattern several times until

Chops Percussion made the trip to Dayton, OH this past weekend for the WGI World Championships. We’re very lucky to have the support of many schools and independent groups that made the trip as well. Without these groups, our success would not be possible. Congratulations to the following groups for making WGI Finals in their respective classes:   Scholastic A Decatur Central HS (7th Place) Zionsville Community HS (10th Place) Greenfield-Central HS (15th Place)   Independent A Ferndale Independent Percussion (Silver Medalist)   Scholastic Open Victor J Andrew HS (7th Place) Franklin Central HS (10th Place)   Scholastic World Avon HS (4th Place) Center Grove HS (6th Place) Goshen HS (8th Place) Clinton HS (10th Place) Forsyth Central HS (13th Place)   Scholastic Concert World Goshen HS (Silver Medalist) Congratulations to the following groups for their participation at the WGI World Championships: Norwell HS (PSA); Minooka Community HS (PSA); Carroll HS (PSA); Tri-West HS (PSA); Pike HS (PSO); Plainfield HS (PSO); Lambert HS (PSW); Ben Davis HS (PSW); Legacy Indoor Percussion (PIW). We’ll see you next year in Dayton!!!!