Preferred pads
- Rating
- Posted by
- Scott
- Date Posted
- 05/08/2014
This style of pad - whether Remo brand, or another of similar design - is still the best available. REALFEEL-type gum rubber pads are useful for teaching beginners the feel of Legato rebounding strokes, or for experienced players to do a relaxed warmup. But that is all they are good for, because those pads actually rebound MORE than a drum does (which interferes with development of other techniques and their application to real drums), and because they are SO quiet that there is no dynamic response. The Remo-style pad is just a drumhead with a piece of muffling foam under it. The "tuneability" is minimal, but you can go for either a loose- or tight-head feel. It is loud enough to have dynamic response, so that students can learn to control their sound and develop both large and small strokes. Remember: drums are only loud if you play them loudly! Over time, the logo and drumhead coating will wear off, just like on any other drumhead. But who cares? You are not going to play brushes on this pad, so it doesn't matter. My 6" Remo pad is 30 years old, the plastic rims are chipped, the center of the pad is worn, but nothing is broken, it still plays great, and you can see the character it has earned from a life lived. I'd recommend going with the 6" size for four reasons: a smaller target makes kids learn better control (you won't even talk have to about it); it will have less "wobble-torque" on a stand; smaller pads are more portable; and even the largest pad is too small to practice brush playing, so you don't need the size. When using the 10" pad, it is more stable on a regular snare drum stand with the basket adjusted part-closed to fit; it just needs to be positioned where the rubber grips on the basket arms of the stand are not in the way of the sticks.