Dropping sticks and recovery

JT1

JT1

Silver Member
Hi Everyone

Well now here is a problem that faces gigging drummers all of the time, dropping sticks. Even more of a problem is recovering them without missing a beat.

How do all of you out there recover from this? Do you play a couple of beats with one hand first to keep the rhythm going and then go for the other stick?

Also

Where are the best places to keep your spare sticks (for each hand) in order to recover quickly and accurately.

I really find it difficult to recover well from these things as i often panic and make a mess of it and i don't want it to happen anymore when it rarely occurs.

All of your advice would be fantastic thank you!
 
ive luckily never done this
although its strange as my hands get really sweaty lolz

i would think u continue to play the main groove with the hi hat hand placing the snares in

then get a spare stick


i would think this would be pretty good:

stick stand clamp things on the hi hat
stick bag placed around the floor tom

mainly id just keep it to the hi hat one as id be picking up with my left most of the time
 
I rarely drop a stick, but when I do, it's always my right stick. I always keep several pairs of sticks in handy holders that clip to my cymbal stands. I play with different weight sticks, so I have an extra pair of each sticks just a short grab away. A lot of the problems come about when the drummer is startled or "mini" panicks when they drop a stick. Experience will help in those matters. No one will ever know if I drop a stick or one should split, unless I'm doing intricate hat work.

You can see by the pictures that my "extras" are only a couple inches away.

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Dennis
 
audiotech said:
I rarely drop a stick, but when I do, it's always my right stick. I always keep several pairs of sticks in handy holders that clip to my cymbal stands. I play with different weight sticks, so I have an extra pair of each sticks just a short grab away. A lot of the problems come about when the drummer is startled or "mini" panicks when they drop a stick. Experience will help in those matters. No one will ever know if I drop a stick or one should split, unless I'm doing intricate hat work.

You can see by the pictures that my "extras" are only a couple inches away.

Dennis
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Thanks Dennis and hellohal (you're lucky).

I like what you have going on there, i do have one of those stick clamps for my hi hat however I like what you have going on there. I may purchase another in order to compensate for my right hand as i believe this is the hand that you will lose the stick from most. I never thought about attaching it to the cymbal stands before. Thank you both! A simple solution.
 
When I drop a stick, it seems to take on a life of its own. It never happens during a fill, only while playing the ride cymbal, I'm not sure why. After I let go, it kind of rolls off the ride cymbal, somehow hitting the bell of it once or twice, then proceeds on to hit a crash cymbal. From there ut plays a series of 16th notes on both of my floor toms before jumping off and clanging around in the hardware for a while. It is always the same and it seems to last forever. I have NEVER been able to grab it back either, I dont know why. I do have one of those clams on my hi-hat so grabbing a new stick is done quickly and I just play the beat with one hand for a second or two.
 
This is going to sound dumb, but practice. When you are spending time practicing, do a few intentional drops every day. You will get used to the motion of following the drop, learn how your sticks bounce, etc. I rarely drop, but when I do, the stick almost never makes it to the floor, because I am so used to watching the motion, grabbing it, and keeping going with my other limbs while doing so. If you practice it, it won't panic you. I actually think working on stick tosses also helps with you understanding how sticks move when you drop them.

As far as where to put extra sticks, I put mine on a crash cymbal stand immediately to the left of my high tom (I play a 4 piece), in the gap made between tom, snare, and hi hat.
 
I would aslo practice playing one-handed. They key to making a stick recovery is not just not panicking, but also keeping the song going. It's one thing to just keep time while you grab another stick, but if you can keep the beat sounding full and in your style, people may not even notice a stick was dropped. People usually notice not from the stick flying, but from the noticeable change in playing.
 
PreppieNerd said:
I would aslo practice playing one-handed. They key to making a stick recovery is not just not panicking, but also keeping the song going. It's one thing to just keep time while you grab another stick, but if you can keep the beat sounding full and in your style, people may not even notice a stick was dropped. People usually notice not from the stick flying, but from the noticeable change in playing.
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Very good point as well. There was one time when I bought what was apparantly a defective pair of sticks. I had them in my stick holder as back-ups. My left hand stick broke, so I reached for the first one. No joke, on the second hit, it broke COMPLETELY in half, down the length of the stick. I tossed the two halves, grabbed the second stick, and it lasted maybe 4 hits before breaking in the same way.

At the end of the song, I asked my bandmates to hold up for a second and talk to the audience, so I could quickly grab another few sticks from my bag. Afterwards, when talking to them, I found out that not even my own band knew I was having issues, because I just kept playing one handed, fills and all.
 
Yeah, the beauty of those stick clips is you can attach them just about anywhere. Below is a shot of my kit with the stick clip attached to the floor tom leg. This places the sticks right next to my right hip, so grabbing one is kind of like drawing from a holster. Very easy.

I would also reiterate what was said in the last couple of posts: practice stick dropping and recovery, and practice playing one handed. If you get used to playing one handed, you won't panic if you suddenly have to do so.
 

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Because I play with a relatively 'loose' grip, occasionally hitting the ride from the underside or clicking off a tom rim, zing, the stick sometimes launches somewhere out to the stages extreme netherlands. To allieviate the mishap I've discovered the use of Zildgens (no, I don't own their stock) drum stick wax to be an inexpensive, green, and extremely useful tool. A quick swipe of the wax block along the stick before playing is all it takes. The sticks just seem to stick to your hands. Bingo, problem solved! Good luck...
 
I sit on a few extra sticks. Just keep playing while you grab one.
 
i always have a stick shoved down the back of my jeans so that the but end is just near my right elbow. sometimes when i feel a stick breaking (you know that spongy feeling you get when the tip starts to crack) i chuck the stick up on pupose to make it look like i`m catching it behind my back but really i` yanking the one from my jeans. audience response is usually something like oooooooooooo aaaaaaaah!
 
I can't believe you guys use those old fashioned stick holders. Get with the program fellas! I have a 5A titanium stick surgically implanted in both forearms that pops out like a stiletto when I drop a stick. It's really cool.
 
larryace said:
I can't believe you guys use those old fashioned stick holders. Get with the program fellas! I have a 5A titanium stick surgically implanted in both forearms that pops out like a stiletto when I drop a stick. It's really cool.
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I wouldn't pick my nose if I were you, lol.

Dennis
 
Practice one-handed for a while. If you can keep beats going and produce interesting fills with either hand, sans the other, dropping a stick shouldn't be a problem. Most of the time, it's the nervousness and trying to recover the stick or a new one, that messes you up, not the actual dropping of the stick.

But yeah, keep your extra sticks within easy reach and practice "losing them" as well. Play some beats and randomly toss a stick, try to keep going and practice grabbing another one.
 
i rarely drop sticks, but i have done before. I think the best thing to do is to practice drumming with one hand. get comfortable with drumming with just your right hand then with just your left. that way, it wont matter which stick you drop, you will be prepared. As for recovery, dont panic. keep the groove with one hand and compose yourself. you're a lot less likely to miss a beat, and chances are no one will notice. Don't scramble for the stick, if its gone its gone. I usually keep sticks around me, on the floor. a few by my hat stand and a few by my floor tom. im ok reaching to the floor for them because i have long arms, but there are stick holders out there if thats easier for you.

On the occasions that i have dropped a stick, its usually been the result of sweaty hands, then loosing grip. So for the long 3 hour function sets and things like that ill wear sweat bands around my wrists to try and prevent that.
 
intheruff said:
Because I play with a relatively 'loose' grip, occasionally hitting the ride from the underside or clicking off a tom rim, zing, the stick sometimes launches somewhere out to the stages extreme netherlands. To allieviate the mishap I've discovered the use of Zildgens (no, I don't own their stock) drum stick wax to be an inexpensive, green, and extremely useful tool. A quick swipe of the wax block along the stick before playing is all it takes. The sticks just seem to stick to your hands. Bingo, problem solved! Good luck...
Click to expand...

I do actually use such a wax although i don't think it is Zildjian. It does give tremendous grip however accidents like this still happen so you need to be prepared in other ways rather than thinking 'it's not going to happen' but i'm glad to see i'm not alone in the wax using department =)

I have started playing one handed and it's quite ironic whilst trying not to drop the stick i dropped it... twice! So thanks for the good advice guys/gals, keep it coming!
 
At various times I have sanded down the lacquer on the grip portion of my sticks, it makes the grip a little tackier when the sweat begins to pour. I tried Pro-Mark Naturals (unfinished) but for some reason I had a worse time with those. I also don't much care for the rubber-dipped sticks, as they caused me blisters and eventually the dip wore through in places. One stick mod I do like is the grooves that RimShot, Headhunters, etc. put in the butt end of their sticks.

And for whatever reason, 95% of my dropped sticks are in my right hand. So I have my stick bag on my right side on a floor tom for a quick pickup. I usually drop to bass and snare just to keep stuff going. Occasionally I am quick enough to snatch the dropped stick out of the air and keep going as if nothing happened, but that is usually when I am all by myself, never at a gig!
 
I have had this problem many a-time in practises but never in gigs (lucky for me !) but how i deal with this big drummer problem is i just keep the bass drum beat going so when i re enter i can come in perfectly in time, while im keeping the bass drum beat going i reach down for my dropped stick or my other spare stick that is on the floor near the hi hat stand and then re entered in time and then bobs ya uncle and off you go !
 
I think the most important is, to make no drama with this.

Just take another stick - which should be in reach - and give a smile. Bassdrum and Hi Hat keeps groovin - that's key.

Can happen - will happen, nobody really cares - except yourself.... it's live and life. Keep rockin....

Bernhard
 
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