Transitioning from Pad to Snare...

MaryO

Platinum Member
So my teacher has really been pushing the rudiments and a lot of pad work lately. I do my practicing on the pad and for most exercises I see my speed and coordination increasing and I feel great. Then I turn around and attempt the same exercises on the snare and it feels like hitting quick sand. I have to slow the tempo down and sometimes feel like starting all over again. So now when I practice I start out on the pad and then always transition to the snare for at least a few minutes at the end of my practice to get the feel.

Just wondering how the rest of you practice these things and if you experience the same type of thing? I wonder if I should be spending more time on the snare as opposed to the pad so I can get better accustomed to the feel? What's your opinion?
 
just understand the pad is just a tool and will not respond as a drum will

you can get a pad that will respond more like a snare than gum rubber will but still the only true drum response is ......well a drum

just don't become too reliant on the surface and make sure you are using your technique no matter what surface you work on

a pads rebound can do great things for your technique development as long as you understand that a drum is not going to respond that way

I tell my students constantly....... use the rebound don't rely on it

the transition will get easier as soon as you stop comparing the two and see them as two completely different things

you may be interested in a workout pad like this one .....I love their line of pads...

they feel great and don't fool you with excessive rebound

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m1Md9KBdRf4

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uol_E-dGF20

http://www.prologixpercussion.com/products.asp?CatID=13&ID=40
 
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you may be interested in a workout pad like this one .....I love their line of pads...

they feel great and don't fool you with excessive rebound

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m1Md9KBdRf4

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uol_E-dGF20

http://www.prologixpercussion.com/products.asp?CatID=13&ID=40

Thank you for posting that. I am ordering one of the middle-rebound versions. Never seen a pad with a cool rubber rim like that either. All around looks perfect. Being able to practice rolls including rim accents at the TV will be nice.
 
Holy cow. 56 bucks! I hope this thing holds up for a loooong time!
 
Thank you for posting that. I am ordering one of the middle-rebound versions. Never seen a pad with a cool rubber rim like that either. All around looks perfect. Being able to practice rolls including rim accents at the TV will be nice.

Watso I have the Logix, Red storm, and Blue Lightening .....they are great

I highly recommend the red and blue

the red storm is a less rebounding rubber surface that feels really nice....doesn't throw the stick back at you ....makes you work a little....very nice

the blue lightening is kind of like a mouse pad type of material that feels really great

and the hoops are fantastic

you will love them
 
unless you plan on throwing it off a cliff....they are pretty indestructible

You joke, but one of my pads did fall down a cliff by the beach one time, had to go all the way back down and get it. Damn thing fell off my pack and rolled like a tire almost all the way back down after I had climbed 2/3 of the way up.
 
Watso I have the Logix, Red storm, and Blue Lightening .....they are great

I highly recommend the red and blue

the red storm is a less rebounding rubber surface that feels really nice....doesn't throw the stick back at you ....makes you work a little....very nice

the blue lightening is kind of like a mouse pad type of material that feels really great

and the hoops are fantastic

you will love them

Do you actually switch between them? What pad in your whole arsenal gets used the most?
 
Do you actually switch between them? What pad in your whole arsenal gets used the most?

sometimes I'll play on one for a while then switch to another ....yeah


I probably use the red storm pad most .....and I have an Ahead pad that I really like the feel of....and of course the old model Real Feel
 
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Not sure what pad you are using or how tight your snare head is but it will help if they are close in rebound amounts.
 
sometimes I'll play on one for a while then switch to another ....yeah


I probably use the red storm pad most .....and I have an Ahead pad that I really like the feel of....and of course the old model Real Feel

Cool, the red storm is the one I'm getting. I think it will be good enough. I do the pillow-pad thing somewhat often, so I'll hold off on the blue one. Thanks again for the links.
 
So my teacher has really been pushing the rudiments and a lot of pad work lately. I do my practicing on the pad and for most exercises I see my speed and coordination increasing and I feel great. Then I turn around and attempt the same exercises on the snare and it feels like hitting quick sand. I have to slow the tempo down and sometimes feel like starting all over again. So now when I practice I start out on the pad and then always transition to the snare for at least a few minutes at the end of my practice to get the feel.

Just wondering how the rest of you practice these things and if you experience the same type of thing? I wonder if I should be spending more time on the snare as opposed to the pad so I can get better accustomed to the feel? What's your opinion?

Mary,

As always, great discussion. I know what you mean, the drum head feels gooey, or wet, then I get out the tuning key trying to equal them out, it doesn't work.

I too have been cruising g along on the pad, a lot. Living in an apartment at the moment is sort of self limiting.

GV, thanks for the pad info

J
 
Mary,

Have you thought about (or tried) the rubber mute pads? Actually, I use them more for volume control. They will give you much less rebound than a pad and even less than an acoustic drum.

I've discovered that after I take them off - all my rolls and rudiments are easier on the kit. They really give you a workout. Some people will tell you to only practice on the drum itself, since that is what you actually will play. To keep things peaceful in my house, I've used the drum mutes and oddly, they've sharpened skills on the kit.
 
Actually Mary, if you live in a house and it doesn't really bother anyone, you should play the drums all of the time. As a teacher once told me, you're never going to get hired to play a pad. So as a kid, with very supportive parents, I drove them up the wall practicing all the time and they never complained. I did have a pad and worked out stuff from time-to-time, but the real practicing always took place on the real snare drum and the kit. In my own home nowadays I still workout on the drumset when I can and my neighbors are pretty understanding. Usually I practice during the day when they're at work and I work most evenings - so it's working out for now ;)

Pads have their place. But your hands need to be playing the drums.
 
No practice pad will ever get the feeling of a snare drum. I have an old worn out Remo powerstroke 3 head that I place over my practice pad when I'm working with it, just to maybe get a pinch more realism out of it.

As Bo said, you should practice on the drum kit as much as possible. The practice pad for me, is just something I can use when I want to practice and spend time with my family. My daughter is two, and I think her ears are a bit sensitive for the powerhouse Sonor kit I use. But she watches me quite intently when I'm on the practice pad, and loves to tap on it herself when she sees it laying around.

Oh, and a quick tip; I'm sure this may have been posted earlier, but it is also quite obvious. But putting your practice pad on a pillow so it moves a bit freely tends to generate a bit more of a "drum" feeling, or at least I think it does.
 
Mary,

Have you thought about (or tried) the rubber mute pads?

I don't know if BigDin is talking about this pad made by Moongel.

Products33244-1200x1200-156213.jpg


I received one as a gift years and years ago, it's very quiet and has no to little rebound, I have other pads too, but I like this one a lot, it helps developing my fingers and when I go the the kit, it feels really good as the snare and toms have a more natural rebound.
 
Practice practice pracitce, obviously haha.

Vic firth sells two sided pads, I have one of my own. Look for the one with the grey side and a black side. The grey is supposed to be more like a traditional practice pad, while the black is supposed to be one with considerably less rebound. By playing on the grey normal side, you'll have the same thing you are experiencing now. But, by practicing on the black, you'll hate it so much that when you get to the snare drum the opposite effect will happen and your hands will fly!
 
Practice practice pracitce, obviously haha.

Vic firth sells two sided pads, I have one of my own. Look for the one with the grey side and a black side. The grey is supposed to be more like a traditional practice pad, while the black is supposed to be one with considerably less rebound. By playing on the grey normal side, you'll have the same thing you are experiencing now. But, by practicing on the black, you'll hate it so much that when you get to the snare drum the opposite effect will happen and your hands will fly!

I have the two sided pad, I'll try that, I'm also going to start working the kit more with the rudiments I guess I just assumed since we were doing those things on the pad at lessons instead of the kit, that that was where he wanted me working on them. (He has 2 full kits set up so it's not like we can't do them on the kit if we wanted to). I might look into some of these other pads as well.

Thanks guys! Invaluable advice as always :)
 
The issue is that we get spoiled by pad rebound and we all know this. My practice on the pad consists of slow rudiments practice mostly and every note is an actual wrist movement. All fingers are in contact with the stick at all times, even with push pull practice on the pad. Any rear fingers off the stick on the pad will not translate well on the drum kit from my experience especially on toms.

Slower disciplined articulate non-rebound practice on the pad will always translate well to the drums.

Really owning your rudiments is what will lead to relaxed playing on any surface...and the pad loves to give false results especially when we mis-use all that rebound.

The pad can be your best friend away from the kit or it can be the devil in disguise.

All fingers on sticks at all times translates to a thicker sound on all drum voices, and this is probably best for rock, hard rock, funk and even blues. This might seem off subject but I think you must think in practical terms when practicing on the pad.
 
Not to dis' the elder statesmen among the group but I would like to say that when it comes to learning to count and timing, the pad has been my best friend.

I used to play 16th notes on the kit and there is always a slight reverberation, the cymbals ring, the wood dances and that noise clouds my hearing.

But on the pad, I can hear the distance between each drum strike. I was all over the place and the pad has tightened that up much more than the kit. My hope and understanding is the pad is a great tool that will improve my sound on the kit.
 
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