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Snare drum sticks Snare drum sticks are usually made of wood, often hickory, oak or hard maple. Other used materials include aluminum (covered with a PVC sleeve to avoid damage to cymbals) and fiberglass. A typical drum stick is around 1.5cm in diameter and 41cm long, although drummers have a wide range of shapes and sizes to choose from. Many drummers are very particular about the exact shape, size, weight, balance, density, and grain of their sticks. All of these qualities attribute to the "feel" and sound of the stick. Snare drum sticks may be designed for use in particular performance contexts. Sticks that are smaller in diameter or balanced farther towards the tip may be intended for orchestral playing that requires fine control and soft dynamics. Sticks for street playing (e.g. drum corps and marching bands) are almost always thick and weighty, to promote extended production of sound at extreme dynamics. Sticks used for drumsets are typically thin and light to allow the drummer more speed and control. Anatomy of a snare drum stick
Mallets A mallet comprises a head connected to a thin shaft. Unwrapped mallets, used on glockenspiel, xylophone and other instruments with keys made of durable material, have heads made of brass, kelon, nylon, acrylic, wood, or other hard materials; wrapped mallets, used on marimba, vibraphone and other instruments with softer keys, have heads of kelon, nylon, acrylic or other medium-hard materials wrapped in softer materials like yarn, cord or latex. Mallet shafts are commonly made of rattan or birch. Different mallets are used primarily to alter the timbre of the mallet instrument being played. Typically, softer or thicker mallets are used on an instrument's lower registers and harder, thinner mallets used on higher registers. Mallet choice is typically left up to the performer, though some compositions specify if a certain sound is desired by the composer. Players frequently employ two mallets in a matched grip or four mallets in a four-mallet grip; however, use of up to six mallets is not uncommon. More than two mallets may be used even when no chords are called for by the composer so that the performer has a wider range of timbres from which to select or to facilitate performance of music that moves rapidly between high and low pitches. Brushes
Timpani sticks See Timpani. | ||||||||||||||
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