Have you ever gone to bed at night after your indoor percussion rehearsal and had an incessant ringing in your ears? If you have, that is your body telling you that you’ve done some damage to your hearing. Please know that hearing loss is irreversible, so you need to start protecting your ears NOW! How, you ask? There are a couple of great ways to do so.

• Earplugs – These should be essential to your playing and performing. Many of the percussion instruments used in an indoor show are played at a high volume for long periods of time, so you need to be protecting your ears. Do yourself a favor and start using earplugs now. Tell yourself that ear protection is just as essential as the sticks and mallets you use to play. If you’re a cymbal player and execute many loud crashes at ear level, this advice applies to you as well.
• Headphones – Not so great if you’re trying to make a fashion statement while playing, but hearing is way more important than looking cool! These are great if you have hypersensitive ears and they allow you to hear the music you’re playing while cutting out all of the dangerous frequencies. A great option if earplugs are uncomfortable for you to wear.

A gym is a very tough listening environment for percussionists, so hearing protection not only safeguards your hearing, but it may allow you to hear more of what you need (the music that you and your group perform) and less of what you don’t (the unwanted high frequencies associated with loud music).

You can buy your earplugs here: https://www.chopspercussion.com/run?id=8
Feel free to e-mail us at chops@chopspercussion.com or call 877-900-DRUM if you have more specific questions regarding hearing protection.

You only get one good set of ears in your life, so take care of them!!!   

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New Products for 2015

Continuing with our series of new product highlights from our recent trip to the NAMM show, here are some great new items from Pearl, geared specifically for outdoor use.  The new Pearl Field Percussion, designed with the elements in mind, features a protective, textured black lacquer finish, and outfitted with all-weather Remo NuSkyn and Fiberskyn heads, great for any environment. 

See below for our hightlights, but be sure to visit the Pearl website for more details:
http://pearldrum.com/products/marching/field-percussion/field-percussion/

PJF350FP649 Field Percussion Djembe  

• 14”
• Weather resistant fiberglass body

WST20FP Field Percussion Shime Taiko

• 10”
• Thai Oak stave construction for cut and clarity

PFC202EDU649 Field Percussion Congas

• 10”/11”
• Weather resistant fiberglass body

PGA60FP Field Percussion Shaker

• 21” length
• Large, hexagonal body produces massive sound

We just got back from the NAMM show in Anaheim, where there were quite a few exciting new products unveiled. Over the coming weeks we’ll highlight some of those items we are most excited about. We’ll start with some great new products available from our friends at Vic Firth and Innovative Percussion.

See below for our highlights, but to see all the new products from these two great companies, please visit:

Vic Firth: http://www.vicfirth.com/exchange/2015/01/16/new-products-for-namm-2015/
Innovative Percussion: http://www.innovativepercussion.com/2015_new_products

New Products from Vic Firth

http://www.vicfirth.com/exchange/2015/01/16/new-products-for-namm-2015/

Split Wire Brush – Two separate rows of medium gauge wire to help produce a unique and varied weighting of sound with different qualities of articulation.

Universal Practice Tips –  Add these to any sticks!  Each package contains 2 pairs of rubber tips, providing the player with a pair and a spare!

High Tension Drum Key – A new key designed for marching percussion applications, with clip.

VicGloves – Specially designed to unique features to protect the player’s hands while improving grip.

New Products from Innovative Percussion

http://www.innovativepercussion.com/2015_new_products

Chad Wackerman Paintbrush – An innovative new brush giving the player a number of different choices of timbre color.

Pedro Carneiro Series Mallets – Five models built with heavy synthetic cores, and featuring the PC-TT Tri-tone mallet.

Paul Rennick Tenor Sticks – Features a “Taj Majal” large wood bead and a latex sleeve on the butt end.

Mike McIntosh “Mizzle” Tenor Sticks – Features a smaller nylon tip and a removable synthetic sleeve.

Practice Pads – Two new models, both with black rims.

To see all the new products from Innovative Percussion, please visit:
http://www.innovativepercussion.com/2015_new_products