by Steve Weiss Music on September 2, 2010
Vic Firth has recently introduced some new products, and we thought it would be a good time to feature some of the new Corpsmaster® sticks.
Scott Johnson recently parted ways with Vic Firth and his popular signature models, SSJ Snare Drumsticks, SSJ2 Indoor Snare Drumsticks (Scooters), SSJ3 Practice Sticks, SSJTS Vega Tenor Sticks, and SSJTSW Vega Tenor Swizzle Sticks have all been discontinued. However, the same sticks are still available from Vic Firth, only without Scott Johnson’s name attached.
- SSJ Scott Johnson Snare Drumsticks are now Vic Firth MS5 Corpsmaster® Snare Drumsticks
- SSJ3 Practice Sticks are now Vic Firth MS6CO Chop-Out Drumsticks
- SSJTS Vega Tenor Sticks are now Vic Firth MTS1 Tenor Sticks
- SSJTSW Vega Tenor Swizzle Sticks are now Vic Firth MTS1SW Tenor Swizzle Sticks
Two other recent new products in the Vic Firth Corpsmaster® line are the Vic Firth SBBTS Bill Bachman “Billy Club” Tenor Stick and Vic Firth Lee Beddis Snare Drumsticks.
by Steve Weiss Music on August 18, 2010
With marching season fast approaching, we thought it would be a good opportunity to create a comparison chart of the current marching bass drum heads from Evans and Remo. Experimenting with different thicknesses, dampening systems, and coatings will help you achieve your desired marching bass drum sound. When you increase the thickness of the head, you increase the articulation and get a more focused, lower fundamental tone.
1. Remo Smooth White Ambassador Marching Bass Drum Heads come stock on marching basses from most manufacturers, including Pearl and Yamaha.
2. External/Internal Dampening can be added using Yamaha MA200 Tone Foam or Pearl TS14 Tone Foam.
We would love to hear your opinions on the different types of marching bass drum heads available. Please post in the comments section below.
by Steve Weiss Music on June 11, 2010
The OffWorld Percussion Invader V3 Practice Pad has been taking the percussion world by storm since its introduction. The OffWorld Invader V3 features the most realistic feel to a marching snare on any pad that we’ve tried. The Darkmatter™ playing surface and realistic rim make this pad a must-have.
The OffWorld Invader is the only snare drum practice pad that we know of that features a realistic, marching style rim. The rim is made of high pitched plastic to accurately replicate the sound of a rim shot. We believe that this pad will help you develop your hands more then traditional gum rubber pads, because of the lower amount of rebound from the playing surface.
This is a fairly loud pad, so we wouldn’t suggest it for silent practice. However, it is very articulate and allows you to really hear what your playing. Placing the pad on top of a marching snare drum allows your drum line to practice at lower volumes, while still developing their hands as they would on a kevlar style drum head. A great pad that is definitely worth the price.