I’ve just added 7 (wow!) 19th century manuals, with publication dates ranging from 1853 to 1891, to the Historical Documents page. That brings the total number of period manuals to 10, covering drum beatings, playing styles and notation used during the War of 1812, the Civil War, and beyond! Check it out and discover a bit of our rudimental drumming history. Happy drumming!
First, you will need the paint and a lacquer. Next, you’ll want to tape the beads and any other part of the stick you do not want painted.To paint the sticks, I hung them from a hook with twine on my porch. You may have a better method.I applied 2 coats of paint, then 2 coats of lacquer, allowing each coat to fully dry.The finished product.For comparison, the sticks on the left I purchased already painted. The sticks on the right I painted.I use show sticks with my group. This is after 2 shows. The paint holds up pretty good. Can you tell which sticks belong to my senior?
And that’s it. Pretty simple right? The stick logos were not fully covered by the paint but no one is going to notice that from the stands. Of course, you can always apply additional coats of paint if you like, but I wasn’t trying to spend a lot of money on this. Hope this has helped and good luck!
After getting my new-to-me iPad set up, I began searching for a solution to view my percussion scores. Since my scores are all saved as PDF’s, it just made sense that I should look for a good PDF viewer. I had a few basic requirements that a viewer would have to meet.
First, a useful PDF viewer for my intended purpose would have to include the option to scroll pages horizontally, like a book. Bonus if the scroll animation mimics an actual page turning. Secondly, the viewer would have to offer the ability to make notes right on the PDF score and save edits. This is commonly called annotating or markup. And finally, it must be able to access cloud storage. That’s it. Nothing fancy. Basic features right?
A search of the most popular/best PDF viewers for iPad yielded a starting point for apps to check out. Among those were Acrobat’s Adobe Reader and PDF Expert. Along the way, I also discovered PDF Viewer and decided to test Apple’s native Files app, as well.
The table below shows the main features I looked for and tested within each app. A few notes about the listed features: Intuitive 1 and 2 page view refers to the app displaying a single page in portrait mode and 2 consecutive pages in landscape mode automatically based on screen orientation; shapes refers to the apps ability to insert shapes, like a circle around a given count of a measure; arrows added to point out something specific in a measure, typically with a note attached to it; text – could a text note be added to the PDF; highlighter – freestyle like an actual highlighter to highlight specific musical notation and the ability to highlight printed text within the PDF.
PDF Viewer
PDF Expert
Adobe Reader
Files
Horizontal scrolling
yes
yes
yes
no
Intuitive 1 page view (portrait)
yes
no, must select
no, must select
no
Intuitive 2 page view (landscape)
yes
no, must select
no, must select
no
Page turn animation
yes
no
no
no
Score annotation
yes
yes
paid upgrade
yes
Apple pencil/finger
yes
yes
no
yes
Shapes
yes
yes
no
yes
Arrows
yes
yes
no
yes
Text
yes
yes
no
yes
Highlighter freestyle
yes
yes
no
yes
Highlighter text
yes
yes
no
no
Cloud storage
yes
yes
yes
yes
As you can see, PDF Viewer checked all the boxes for me. And a bonus feature with this app is the ability to save a signature for signing documents, which most PDF apps charge for, but PDF Viewer includes with its free version. So if you’re looking for a reliable, feature-rich PDF reader that has a great free version, great for viewing and making notes on your sheet music and scores, you can’t go wrong with PDF Viewer.
My self-published book “Rudimental Solos for Snare Drum for the Advanced Drummer” is once again available for purchase. The book contains eight original solos for snare drum and has been expanded to include five traditional rudimental solos every snare player should know. Print version is $12.95 and the e-book is just $7.00.
Technology can be an unwanted distraction in the learning environment (ex. – teenagers with cell phones during rehearsal). But it can also be a great tool to enhance the learning experience. I want to highlight two of my favorite (and most useful aps) for percussionists.
The first is an absolute must, not only for percussionists, but for all musicians. This indispensable app is, of course, a metronome. I’ve tried numerous metronome apps, but the one that I keep coming back to is The Metronome by Soundbrenner. Some of the many features included are: set any time signature up to 16/8, a full range of preset subdivisions, a wide and varied selection of sounds, the ability to tap the tempo on screen, and the option to save settings for songs and setlists. One con of this particular app is it’s availability only for Android devices. There are tons of other options and best of all, it’s completely free! To find out more, visit the site or download at the Google Play Store and see for yourself why this metronome is superior to others.
The second app is specific to rudimental percussionists. It’s called Drumate and is available (unfortunately) only for Android devices. This great little app aids in the learning of 39 rudiments. It does not include the buzz roll, nor any hybrids. For any rudiment, you can choose a constant tempo, progressive tempo in set steps, or an open-close-open progression. The audio quality is very clear and sounds like an actual snare drum. You can mark your favorites and also sort by type (rolls, flams, etc). It’s available in both free and paid versions, but both versions are the full version. The paid version is $2.99 and goes to support the developer and future updates. It’s available on the Google Play Store so check it out and start learning/improving those rudiments today.
Both apps can aid in the teaching/learning process and can be particularly helpful to band directors with weaker percussion skills and only a basic knowledge of the percussion family. Of course, nothing can replace the human element needed for a successful Teacher/Student environment, but these apps and others can be a great way to supplement the teaching/learning process.
I’ve added a new page and new downloadable resources covering the vast world of Hybrid Rudiments. Additional resources will be added to this page throughout the year.
Hybrid rudiments are the combining of two or more rudiments to create a new rudiment or rudiment pattern. This is not always the case as there are instances of hybrids containing only one rudiment, but have become universally recognized and adopted as a common rudiment pattern. Since there are an infinite number of combinations and stickings, there is no official list of hybrid rudiments, and new hybrids are no doubt created almost daily. Even the names can vary for the same hybrid. There are currently 500+ more widely accepted hybrid rudiments.
The first resource includes the hybrids Hertas, Grandmas, Choo-Choo, Alternated Pataflafla and Cheese.
For anyone interested, I’ve added a page listing my percussion library with links to most of the material. A lot of useful studies, solos, method books and more for the new and experienced percussionist. My Library
I added a downloadable PDF of the Stick Anatomy page. Band Directors, I have other PDF’s that are specifically for beginning percussionists. If you use them, I would love to hear about it and any success stories, as well.
Rudimental Learning Sequence – breaks the 40 International Drum Rudiments into a suggested order for learning years 1-4
Drummin' Around 