Percussion
instruments produce sounds by being hit with a stick/mallet, shaken,
scraped or rubbed. A stick isn’t required to play a drum–for
instance, bongos and conga drums only require hands–but many
manufacturers insist that their sticks improve a drummer’s performance.
The two most popular types of drum sticks have heads made from either
wood a synthetic material, like vinyl, plastic or carbon fiber. Many
jazz players prefer to play with nylon-tipped sticks because they
can evoke more sound from the cymbals having to strike them hard (compared
to rock drummers, jazz musicians don’t typically hit their drums
as hard). Nylon-tips are easier on electric drum sets because they
don’t splinter and damage drum pads. Rock players prefer wooden-tipped
sticks because plastic tips have been known to damage cymbals when
played too hard. Wooden tips also create warmer sounds.
Jazz players use smaller sticks to perform faster, intricate beats,
while rock drummers use thick sticks for powerful playing without
breaking them. Stick size is assigned through a letter and number–a
“B” after a number will mean that the stick is larger,
and an “A” means that it’s smaller. 5As are standard
sticks used for playing all types of music, but most jazz musicians
prefer to play with 7As. Conversely, rock drummers often use 5B sticks
to get the durability that rocking out requires. “S” sticks
stand for street, or marching band–S sticks are very thick for
projection and volume needs.
The wooden types of drum sticks are either made of hickory, maple,
and sometimes oak. Maple sticks tend to be lighter, but they’re
more susceptible to breaking. Hickory is a very strong wood, and the
majority of sticks are made from it. For this reason, most beginning
and rock musicians who are used to rigorous drumming use hickory sticks.
The head of the stick (the tip) can be acorn, barrel, oval and round.
While the difference between shapes is very subtle, expert drummers
will swear by their preference. For example, orchestral percussionists
like to play with round-tip sticks when playing the snare. The round
head gives the sound a very subtle, crisp feel that sounds excellent
paired with auxiliary percussion. Generally, those who play on a drum
set like acorn-shaped heads because they are the most versatile and
work well on any striking-surface.
Mallets are not sticks in the traditional sense, but they are used
to produce sound from percussion instruments. Timpanists use mallets
with soft heads to make thunderous sounds and there is a wide variety
of mallets used for key instruments like xylophones, marimbas and
Glockenspiels–each with a different hardness. Glockenspiels
require hard plastic mallets to make the ding sound, but marimba requires
soft, cloth mallets to produce the muted bell sound. Percussionists
can choose between hard plastic and rubber when playing a xylophone
depending on how pronounced they want their strikes to be.