Rudiments

Hello all,

I don't post often - I like that old adage about keeping your mouth shut and risk being thought a fool, as opposed to opening it and eliminating any doubt...

Anyway, I'd like your input on what is to me a curious problem... I spend probably on average 5 hours or so a week on my practice pad doing rudimental exercises and generally noodling around to help keep my aging forearms, wrists and fingers supple.

I seem to have fairly good facility and speed with respect to the basic rudiments, double and single stroke rolls on the pad, but not so much on the snare - oddly though, this improves with the strainer off...

I'm wondering what I can do to improve this situation... I can't spend more time practicing on the snare and kit due to logistical issues I won't bore you with. Just wondering if I'm 'unique' in some sad sort of way or if this phenomenon is more common than I thought...

what kind of practice pad are u using? the real feels? if so, check out the aquarian tru bounce, or maybe use the old-school remo ones. The remo one is the closest thing i've played to a real drum, second being the aquarian. But the aquarian is way quieter than the remo.

Maybe you got your snares on super tight? Try loosening up your snares a little so that theres some play in them.

if you are using a rubber practice pad, then it will bounce alot better than your snare. my snare is tuned fairly loose, but has a great sound, but has less bounce. the tighter the snare is tuned the more bounce you get.

hope this helps

That is odd that you seem to get more action and bounce with the strainer off. Crank your batter in 1/2 turn segments till you get a better response. When was the last time you changed your batter and reso? they maybe worn out. Just a guess.

I've notice he same thing. kinda seems to me that playing on the actual drum not only changes the feel but the sound is so different that it is almost becomes confusing. With the strainer off it comes closer but still not the same. Having the strainer on it becomes harder to hear the individual hit of the stick, no strainer closer to the pad. I may be way off base here but it's just my 2

Practice on a pillow

just as long as you practice...

I've never found a pad that really feels like a drum head. The closest is the really old Remo ones with the white head and the gray outside. I would recommend practicing on your drums whenever possible and save the pad for when you really can't make noise/don't have access to drums.

And don't forget earplugs if you're going to go with my suggestion.

Thanks everyone for the comments! I probably should have stated in my original post that I've been playing for many years, and that this is something I've experienced from the beginning. No pad I've ever used feels anything like any snare I

Yeah, practicing on a pillow has gotten me only so far. I too am looking for that practice pad that is most realistic.

I have a lot of pads. The new Aquarian one is really nice but I don't have that one yet.

It's really hard to duplicate the actual drum head so I use two types of pads: One a soft rubbery one that has much more bounce than most heads. This helps make the motions easier to do and gets you going in the right direction. Then I use a hard pad that makes you work more and rely less on the rebound. So you're using two extremes and gets your hands used to working in any condition IMHO.

Practice on the surface that gives you the worst reponse.

It's like putting one of them donut thingys on a baseball bat when "on deck". You're not going to swing at a pitch with it, but it sure does help for when you DO take the swing.