Welcome back to the Chops blog! Today we’re going to continue our series on holiday gift ideas.

As you’re well aware, drums and percussion can be very loud. Fortunately, there are many products available that limit or reduce their volume during practice. For family, friends, and neighbors, these products are essential for maintaining sanity. Today we’re going to highlight some of our favorite volume-reducing practice tools.

#1 – Practice Pads

A practice pad is a device that replicates the feel and sound of a drum, but is much quieter. They make practice easy, quiet, and most importantly, bearable for others. Every drummer and percussionist should own a practice pad.

Many styles of practice pads are available, but they normally fit into two categories: general use, and marching.

General use pads work well for concert, drumset, and marching use. They normally feature a gum rubber surface, but might include a plastic rim and real drum head. For more information on our favorite general use practice pads, please see our previous blog entry here.

If you are purchasing a practice pad for a student that participates in a marching activity, such as band or winter drumline, you should consider a marching pad. These pads feature playing surfaces that replicate the feel of a high tension marching drum. For more information, please see our previous comparison here.

Price:
General use pad – $18-35
Marching pad – $35-160

#2 – Practice Sticks and Tips

Practice sticks and tips are recent inventions that are similar to practice pads.

Practice sticks are normal drum sticks that have soft rubber tips. They allow the drummer or percussionist to practice quietly on any hard surface, such as a table, countertop, or the floor. Pictured here are the ProMark TXXB3 (Scott Johnson), Vic Firth Ralph Hardimon Chopout, Vic Firth MS5 Chopout, and 5B Chopout.

You can also purchase practice tips, which can be used with any stick. Pictured here are the Vic Firth Practice Tips, Innovative Percussion Practice Tips, and B. Rad Percussion Uglytips.

Before purchasing practice tips, be sure to know the type of stick on which they will be used. Most practice tips will not fit on marching sticks.

Price:
Practice sticks – $10-25
Practice tips – $5-10

#3 – Mutes

For the concert percussionist and drum set drummer, mutes are available for quiet practice. They are thin foam disks that set on top of drums and cymbals to limit their volume.

Mutes are available in sets and individually. The sets include a complete set of mutes for a drum set, including drums and cymbals. Pictured here are the Evans Soundoff mutes, and Vic Firth Vic Drum Mutes.

Mute sets are available in several different sizes, so be sure to know the sizes you need before making a purchase.

Price:
Individual – $12
Set – $65-120

Like we discussed last time, giving a gift to a drummer or percussionist doesn’t have to be expensive. Practice pads, sticks, tips, and mutes will allow your drummer or percussionist to practice quietly for a modest price. Please contact us to purchase any of these items or help finding another gift!

Welcome back to the Chops blogs! Today we’re going to begin a brief series on holiday gift ideas. With the holidays rapidly approaching it’s time to think about a gift for the percussionist or drummer in your life.

Today we’re going to look at some of our favorite accessories that are cheap and practical.

#1 – Sticks and mallets

Believe it or not, a drummer and percussionist can never have too many sticks or mallets!

As we’ve discussed here many times, every drummer and percussionist will have their own stick and mallet preferences, so ask them before making a purchase. Different brands often use the same or similar model names, so be sure to ask for a specific brand and model. For instance, while every drum stick manufacturer makes a “5A” model stick, your drummer might prefer brand X’s model over Y.

If you are purchasing mallets for a percussionist, consider expanding their collection. Consult our guides for the beginner and intermediate percussionist.

Price:
Drum sticks – $5-$20 per pair
Mallets – $10-$50 per pair

#2 – Drum keys

Drum keys are a crucial tool for drummers and percussionists, regardless of their experience or area of specialty. We carry many different models, including standard, ratcheting, and marching keys.

Pictured here are (left to right):
Pearl marching key
Gibraltar drill bit key
Ludwig ratcheting key
Pearl standard key

Price: $2-$20

#3 – Stick or mallet bags

Every drummer and percussionist also needs a bag to carry their sticks and mallets. We carry bags that are small and simple, to bags with many pockets that can carry dozens of mallets.

Pictured here are (left to right):
Chops stick bag (small, for drummers and beginning percussionists)
Innovative Percussion mallet bag
Vic Firth stick bag and backpack combo (stick bag attaches to the backpack)

Price: $10-$80

#4 – Drum heads

Just like drum sticks or mallets, every drummer and percussionist will appreciate new drum heads. Even the best, most durable head will eventually wear out and need replaced.

Unfamiliar with drum heads? Here are couple terms you should know:

Batter – top head, struck by the stick or mallet
Resonant – bottom head, not struck by the stick or mallet
Size – the diameter of the head, measured in inches (14”).

Like we discussed with drum sticks and mallets, be sure to know the specific brand, model, and size of drum head. If you are unsure of the size of the drum, measure it with a tape measure, or bring it with you to the store.

Price: $15-50 per head

Giving a gift to a drummer or percussionist doesn’t have to be expensive! Drum sticks, mallets, drum keys, bags, and heads are important, but inexpensive items that every drummer and percussionist will appreciate. Please contact us to purchase any of these items or help finding another gift!

Welcome back to the Chops blog!

Over the weekend marching bands from across the nation gathered at Lucas Oil Stadium to participate in Music For All’s Bands of America Grand National Championships.

On Wednesday evening the competition began with the Indianapolis Marching Band Tournament. The following schools from across the city participated:

Arlington Community H.S.
John Marshall Community H.S.
Northwest Community H.S.
Crispus Attacks Community H.S.
Broad Ripple Magnet H.S.
Shortridge H.S.
Emmerich Manual
George Washington Community H.S.
Key Learning Community H.S.
Arsenal Technical H.S.

The Marian University Marching band also performed the national anthem, and closed the evening with an exhibition performance.

The championship competition began on Thursday morning and continued through Saturday evening. Indiana was well represented with the following schools participating, in order of Prelims performance:

Monrovia H.S.
Homestead H.S.
Southwestern H.S.
New Palestine H.S.
Avon H.S.
Ben Davis H.S.
Carmel H.S.
Triton Central H.S.
Lawrence Township H.S.
Center Grove H.S.
Lake Central H.S.
Goshen H.S.

Congratulations to the following bands who made Semi-Finals:
Ben Davis H.S.
Lawrence Township H.S.
Homestead H.S.
Center Grove H.S.
Lake Central H.S.
Avon H.S.
Carmel H.S.
Goshen H.S.

Congratulations the following bands who made Grand National Finals:
Avon H.S. (2nd)
Carmel H.S. (5th)
Homestead H.S. (12th)

For full results, please visit www.musicforall.org.

We’d like to congratulate all the schools that participated. We enjoyed your performances and look forward to seeing you again next year! Enjoy some well-deserved time off!

The team at Chops Percussion would like to congratulate the students, staff and parents of all the participating schools on another exciting marching band season!   It’s amazing to witness the hard work and dedication that goes into putting a marching show on the field, the organization of getting to contests (or hosting contests) every weekend, and the teamwork of working together to improve week by week to be the best they can be.  State finals is where the hard work pays off, coming from the field in the form of incredible performances of energy and emotion.  One of the best things to see is the display of emotion in the tunnel after a great final run!
Congratulations to everyone involved with performing and constructing these shows, along with all the support staff who made it possible for the students and staff to do what they do!

ISSMA State Championship Results – Lucas Oil Stadium, November 7, 2015

Class D
1) Forest Park
2) Springs Valley
3) South Spencer
4) Triton Central
5) (tie) Crawford County
5) (tie) Paoli
7) Monrovia
8) Mater Dei
9) Woodlan
10) Tell City

Class C
1) Western
2) Fairfield
3) Lewis Cass
4) Beech Grove
5) NorthWood
6) Concordia Lutheran
7) Edgewood
8) Scottsburg
9) Vincennes-Lincoln
10) Twin Lakes
11) Angola

Class B
1) Concord
2) Greenwood
3) Northview
4) Jasper
5) Floyd Central
6) North Side
7) F.J. Reitz
8) Northridge
9) Bloomington North
10) Munster

Class A
1) Avon
2) Carmel
3) Homestead
4) Castle
5) Lake Central
6) Lawrence Township
7) Penn
8) Center Grove
9) Ben Davis
10) Goshen