anyone know how to tune a drumstick. you can get pitches out of them right? i keep hearing about pitch match drumsticks but how do you get the pitch?

You're kidding right? :confused:

I think it has to do with just how tight your wrap is tapped so all I CAN SAY IS
WRAP IT RIHT HOLD ON TIGHT HINT IT HARD AND ROCK THE NIGHT.

all i know is you want to get drum sticks that when you hit one drum stick with the other it makes the same pitch as when you hit the other drum stick with the drum stick you hit last time... thats what i've heard idk people are weird...

I think it has to do with just how tight your wrap is...

...or how tightle youre wrapped. ...or not :laugh3:

Let me get this straight....

If you hit the stick with the stick, then the stick you hit should sound like the stick you hit it with, if you had hit that stick with the other stick. :icon_eek:

Anyways, I use Vic Firth sticks that are pitch paired and weight matched. Pitch paired really only means that both sticks are the same density of wood. It's just a cool way of saying "All our sticks are made the same".

The only way to tune a stick is to cut part of it off.

ok if your sticks are at the same pitch when you hit each of them it means their a good pair of sticks who told u that u can tune them what is there to tune don`t take anymore advice from them

ok if your sticks are at the same pitch when you hit each of them it means their a good pair of sticks who told u that u can tune them what is there to tune don`t take anymore advice from them

u cant tune a drumstick... can u? i think u mean tune the snare drum?

If you hit the stick with the stick, then the stick you hit should sound like the stick you hit it with, if you had hit that stick with the other stick. :icon_eek:



the funny thing is... it makes sense! :clap:

Blink Plus is on the right track. Heres what I do. First I make sure they are the same lengh and feel the same in my hand. Then I roll them on a flat surface to make sure there straight. As long as they feel the same in weight to you then there good. But yes, You can have different pitched sticks because they are not exactly matched. Some serious drummers do make sure of this. For me Im not as picky.

oh come on DAVE, what your saying is true but some times I think a person can go just a little overboard don't you.

As long as the stick is'nt broken, it's good enough! ! !

Buy Vic Firth drum sticks. They go through the steps of matching, by pitch, a pair of sticks.

Here is a link (http://www.vicfirth.com/product/manufacturing/manufacturingmain.html) on how they are made. Take note on step 9.

Great sticks. Love 'em.:listen:

Dont really think it matters after beating them off the Rim or cymbols and
high hats.lol..

anyone know how to tune a drumstick. you can get pitches out of them right? i keep hearing about pitch match drumsticks but how do you get the pitch?


Use your tuning key. :icon_mrgreen:

yeah my sticks are destroyed i`m surprised they haven`t broken yet

Just duct tape 'em together. LOL

The way I'm understanding this, I think the phrase "drumstick matching" is the better way to describe it. Most drummers I know make sure the sticks are straight and pretty much the same weight (even two sticks from the same batch and weight can vary slightly).

Truth is, if you thrash with your sticks, they're gonna be out of tune pretty quickly anyway...

Anyone remember (or use) those Ahead drumsticks (the metal-framed ones on which you could change tips, shafts, etc. to personalize them to your own specs)? They never seemed to sell in the St. Louis area, and the drum shop I hang out at most has only sold a handful at most...

:think:

Buy Vic Firth drum sticks. They go through the steps of matching, by pitch, a pair of sticks.

Here is a link (http://www.vicfirth.com/product/manufacturing/manufacturingmain.html) on how they are made. Take note on step 9.

Great sticks. Love 'em.:listen:
Most of the big stick companies pitch match their sticks: vater, zildjian, promark and vic firth are all matched if u buy a decent pair, its only if ur pickin them outa a big bin that u hav to do it all urself

lol i think a pair of sticks is a pair o sticks, soon enough there gonna change!

Let me get this straight....

If you hit the stick with the stick, then the stick you hit should sound like the stick you hit it with, if you had hit that stick with the other stick. :icon_eek:




i understood that perfectly!

I used to try and pitch mine when I bought them but I really can't tell anything when I'm playing. I think its overrated.

basically pitch matching is just so that you know you`re gonna get the same sound from the drum wether you hit it with the left or right hand .When you by a pair of pitch matched sticks they will be identical in every way .weight ,length ,girth, the whole 9 yards .but like bongo said if you`re like me and your sticks are chewed up in a couple days anyway it don`t matter .

i also find that i play better if i have a heavier stick in my left hand .i`m very slightly lazy in that had and with a heavier stick it rebounds a little better and is slightly easier to throw .

in answer to bongos question .i`ve used those ahead sticks on a couple of ocassions (larz ulrich ones) and they were like tree trunks ...very fat ...they were pretty light concidering their size but i think i prefer the old hickory !!

dave

i was aware of the pitch,weight,and length factors but honestly besides them needing to be straight and the same length, how does this affect the drummers playing overall? ...just wondering

it doesnt 0724359724t697u24t

i was aware of the pitch,weight,and length factors but honestly besides them needing to be straight and the same length, how does this affect the drummers playing overall? ...just wondering

well..overall not that big of a deal..the strange thing about drumming is human drummers strive to perfection in every beat...and yet no one likes when robots play it perfectly.
my point is..to make sure both your hits sound PERFECTLY the same you need to have equal sticks

vic firth does it well Says I...

<_< arg..

A teacher once told me to strive for perfect but don't worry about being perfect because we're not as humans. He said that the guys that sound like robots when they play are few and far between and that striving for perfection with time is necessary to improve our internal clock. I think its safe to say that most of us never have to worry about sounding too perfect, or at least I don't.

basically what he says is true...humans do need to strive for perfect..but they never will sound perfect and thats what makes it so good.

#1 you never ARE perfect at drumming...you only go on to the next level

#2 like i said..if it was PERFECT we would go insane cuz perfect sounds like sh*t...hence why we dont use robots :)

you can tune a drumstick but you can't tuna fish!

GET IT??!!!

Pitch matching is simply tapping one stick with the other, listening to the noise they make, then doing the same with the other. If they make the same noise, then they are pitch matched.

Some drummers swear by it. I'm not too concerned with it.

i was aware of the pitch,weight,and length factors but honestly besides them needing to be straight and the same length, how does this affect the drummers playing overall? ...just wondering

I'm not entirely sure what the pitch of the stick is meant to do. Maybe affect your rim clicks, or make different sounds on the toms.

As for weight, if you have a heavier drumstick, you need to use more effort to move them around. Plus because they are heavier, with the added speed you can give them more momentum, which alters the volume of whatever you're hitting. Heavier sticks tend to be less maneuverable thus Jazz drummers tend to use lighter sticks (i.e. 7As).

Length tends to just affect how much effort you need to put in to move it as well. As well as giving yourself some extra reach.

HB58

Ahem...hate to be a wet blanket here, but has anybody, in the whole history of drumming, ever listened to a band and gone, "sheesh, that poor guy needs to match his sticks 'cause they really clash"? I mean, about a 1/3 of the poulaton can't even clap in time, you think they can notice a variance in stick weight by the sound of the drums?

about a 1/3 of the poulaton can't even clap in time, you think they can notice a variance in stick weight by the sound of the drums?

hahaha. Boy, is that true! If you watch people at a show (not a concert) and watch them clap along to the music, everyone's clapping at different times. It's funny to notice, knowing where the beat REALLY is.

Ok, I'm gonna go off on a tangent here...

This brings up one of my things. While most of you know, I'm not a drummer, although I'm a drummers dad. I am, however, a huge drum enthusiast. Unfortunately, most folks don't share my passion in this regard. Not only that, but most people are incredibly ignorant of all things musical. It's my hope that one of the concrete goals we can accomplish here is to foster a mindset among ourselves to serve as ambassadors and educators to our friends & family about music and drumming/percussion in particular.

As musicians, we talk so much about time signatures, counting, key, phrasing, tone, dynamics, etc. that I think we sometimes forget that your average joe is not even aware that fills, or crescendos, or solo's even exist, even though they've listened to music all their lives. Non-artists don't listen to music whith the same ear we have. They take it for granted, especially drumming.

The good news is that this is largely simple ignorance that can be overcome. I would like to humbly suggest that all of us look for opportunities to teach and impart to those in our own personal circles a greater appreciation for what we do.

How? Well, not by whining about how the world doesn't recognize the importance of percussion, but by simply sharing what we love with those who haven't yet learned it's value. Example? One thing I love to do, when I happen to have some poor soul in my truck on a drive is to say, "hey, check this out. This guy is considered one of the greatest drummers ever to live. Check out how he fills in the spaces in the music and adds incredible punch". Then I play 'em the Overture of 2112, which happens to be one of the easyest to understand pieces of drumming in rock music. I've introduced several severely artistically challenged friends to real drumming in this way. Think of it as evangelical music mission, keep your sermons short and sweet, and you'll win over more converts than you can imagine.

Beleive me, we've got bigger fish to fry than getting sticks in tune with eachother.

Whew! That was long.

*steps off soap box*

I think sometimes drummers go overboard trying to make things more confusing than it is. Cause this is ridiculous. If the sticks are the same length and weigh about the same it wont make a difference when you hit a tom.
but You can get different pitches when your playing the rim of your snare. I used to find the pitch my doing rimshots at dfferent points of the stick and then put a mark on it so I know were it is.

Anyone know where is can get a replacement 'D' string for my left stick.......?
I snapped it by accident and after asking in all my local music stores, all i have got is funny looks off the employees. :(


seriously though, the high end sticks come together ready matched, save yourself the time and trouble of crappy lower end sticks, and get Vic Firth or Vater sticks, they're definately better in the long run...

Hey, I just buy the Stick Brick from GC in the 5A size (10pr sticks @ $10.) and rock on. Used to worry about sticks until I realized that, after shredding several dozen and breaking several dozen more (at $4-$5 a pair) that it really doesn't matter. Vic Firth, Vater, etc. When you're banging the drums, no one notices the difference. I'm good for at least one broken stick a gig and, the pair I use are so shredded at the end of the show, I end up tossing them in the fireplace for kindling anyway (that's why I don't use nylon tips anymore). They burn REAL good!

Stix

Hey, I just buy the Stick Brick from GC in the 5A size (10pr sticks @ $10.) and rock on. Used to worry about sticks until I realized that, after shredding several dozen and breaking several dozen more (at $4-$5 a pair) that it really doesn't matter. Vic Firth, Vater, etc. When you're banging the drums, no one notices the difference. I'm good for at least one broken stick a gig and, the pair I use are so shredded at the end of the show, I end up tossing them in the fireplace for kindling anyway (that's why I don't use nylon tips anymore). They burn REAL good!

Stix

Preach on!

why be so worried about matched sticks. What when you break one the pair is gone? I don't have that much money.

Your decision on what sticks to buy is also greatly decided by the type of music you play. I have been gigging and playing very regularly over the past 2 years and have only broken 2 sticks in this time, so paying more for sticks does not bother me at all. ( I use Vic Firth Dave Weckyl Signatures) I play a pretty wide variety of music: rock, blues, classic rock, motown, soul, and country. If I was playing metal, I most likely would buy bricks to keep the cost down of breaking sticks all the time.

SERIOSLY! Tuning your sticks to make sure they match??? Thats the nutttiest thing i've EVER heard!

SERIOSLY! Tuning your sticks to make sure they match??? Thats the nutttiest thing i've EVER heard!

I'm not sure that it's completely nutty, but I would say that at my stage of develpoment, it would be crazy. At my stage, it's not about the sticks, it's about my left hand! Now, if we talk to Neil Peart and all the other high level pros, they might be dealing with the finer details, such as perfectly balanced sticks!

I'm not sure that it's completely nutty, but I would say that at my stage of develpoment, it would be crazy. At my stage, it's not about the sticks, it's about my left hand! Now, if we talk to Neil Peart and all the other high level pros, they might be dealing with the finer details, such as perfectly balanced sticks!

im so on the same level as you bob! when we start, we dont care if we have plasitc tupperwear for drum skins, or any of that, its just getting your technique down, your feel and all that. but I have to say to all you guys, i have 2 drum sticks that sound the same on all my drums accept my ride, it makes a different sound, (quite different actually) but i think if your buying the better sticks like vator and vic firth, no ones really gonna notice at all. just like how people dont notice the details of fills, they say, "oh my, that was such a slow fill but it was so good becuase it was all slow" then your thinking, because it was quarter notes..:doh: sorry that was off topic. it just makes me mad when people say that kinda stuff.