round or square?

[ccrdrums]

ive never seen this topic before so whats better in your opinion round beaters or square beaters




round for me...

 

[dwtoast72]

ive never seen this topic before so whats better in your opinion round beaters or square beaters




round for me...

oddly enough, I don't know what the purpose of the beater being square is...... It just looks different. Round, it's the shape you can trust!!!!! hehe

 

[HEVY KEVY]

I would think square, due to , more surface to surface contact. Next you want to choose between hard and soft. That would go to how hard you play, and what sound.
I use a hard plastic(?) beater with a hard surface stuck to the point of impact, (currently another piece of plastic) to save the head from wear, and give a little more attack sound.

 

[xdoseonex]

i dont know who thought a round beater was a good idea, but if yuou put it up against the head you'll notice theres very little surface area accually touching, so you dont get good attack with round beaters. beaters are usually meant to be alighned with the head to maxamize surface areah so you can get a nice attack. i prefer trick beaters, axis sonic hammers and slug beaters, because they are all ajustable to ensure your beater is hitting flush wit the drum head and getting the fullest sound possible

 

[llllarry]

I've only used round and it sounds good to me so I'm sticking to it.

 

[anavrinIV]

i dont know who thought a round beater was a good idea, but if yuou put it up against the head you'll notice theres very little surface area accually touching, so you dont get good attack with round beaters. beaters are usually meant to be alighned with the head to maxamize surface areah so you can get a nice attack. i prefer trick beaters, axis sonic hammers and slug beaters, because they are all ajustable to ensure your beater is hitting flush wit the drum head and getting the fullest sound possible

wouldnt trick beaters and sonic hammers be round faced though? i like my iron cobras and i would call them round. if youre talking cylindrical, however (perpendicular to the shaft), i suppose its all preference. a soft felt beater with a little less contact on a wide open drum would make a great jazz bass feel, so its just in what you like.

 

[xdoseonex]

yeah, im talkin like a marshmellow on a stick

 

[dwtoast72]

i dont know who thought a round beater was a good idea, but if yuou put it up against the head you'll notice theres very little surface area accually touching, so you dont get good attack with round beaters. beaters are usually meant to be alighned with the head to maxamize surface areah so you can get a nice attack. i prefer trick beaters, axis sonic hammers and slug beaters, because they are all ajustable to ensure your beater is hitting flush wit the drum head and getting the fullest sound possible

nahhhh, less touch=less choke, maybe

 

[SGarrett]

I use a DW beater. I've never heard of anyone using sticks with square and adjustable heads to get a more full contact with any other drum head.

 

[drummer912]

i just carve the bottom of a drum stick and put it in the pedal...lol jk.

 

[SGarrett]

i just carve the bottom of a drum stick and put it in the pedal...lol jk.

I did that once, well somewhat. I broke a cheap-ass pot metal footboard. So I cut a broken stick to size and duct taped it to the bottom. Kept using that pedal for a while, too.

 

[sonny]

It's really just a matter of opinion and personal preference........which is better??? Depends who you talk to.

 

[Rob the Drummer]

A bigger beater will give you a fatter sound. For instance, hit a snare with a small tip. Then hit it with a big tip. You get a fatter sound with the big tip. It goes the same with kick beaters. If you want a punchier stroke, use smaller beaters or rounded beaters because a round beater will not have the same surface area as a flat headed beater. Also, the rounds or smaller beaters will wear through a bass drum head faster, if you have no protection on your kick head! It's really all about preference.

Rounded or smaller beater- punchier but not as fat.

Flat or bigger beater- fatter without as much punch.

 

[xdoseonex]

a flate beater will accually ghive you much more punch and attack because of the increases surface area

 

[Rob the Drummer]

a flate beater will accually ghive you much more punch and attack because of the increases surface area

I disagree. A smaller area will give you more punch than bigger area. The more area, you get less punch, but more boom. Also, you gotta factor in weight and whether it's plastic/wood/felt etc...

It's physics. For instance, when I taught drumlines, the bass drum line had two different types of beaters for different sounds. The smaller hard felt mallets were used when I wanted a nice clean, staccato punch. This was when you wanted them to be clear to the audience or judges to make out the runs. The bigger mallets, which were softer, were used to get a softer mellow sound instead of punch.

**I think you are referring to even distribution of power throughout the beater which will give you more attack, not surface area. More surface area of that particular beater is connecting flat against the head. If you get a big square beater with more surface area, that will give you a mellower attack with more boom. :wink:

An example of this- You get more attack from an Iron Cobra beater than a Pearl beater for the simple fact that the iron cobra's beater heads are smaller and are flat. Pearl's have more area to distribute the power, so they aren't as punchy.

 

[SGarrett]

a flate beater will accually ghive you much more punch and attack because of the increases surface area

I disagree. A smaller area will give you more punch than bigger area. The more area, you get less punch, but more boom. Also, you gotta factor in weight and whether it's plastic/wood/felt etc...

It's physics. For instance, when I taught drumlines, the bass drum line had two different types of beaters for different sounds. The smaller hard felt mallets were used when I wanted a nice clean, staccato punch. This was when you wanted them to be clear to the audience or judges to make out the runs. The bigger mallets, which were softer, were used to get a softer mellow sound instead of punch.

**I think you are referring to even distribution of power throughout the beater which will give you more attack, not surface area. More surface area of that particular beater is connecting flat against the head. If you get a big square beater with more surface area, that will give you a mellower attack with more boom. :wink:

An example of this- You get more attack from an Iron Cobra beater than a Pearl beater for the simple fact that the iron cobra's beater heads are smaller and are flat. Pearl's have more area to distribute the power, so they aren't as punchy.

There we go.

Anyone ever think about the fact that your tires make very little contact to the road but are responsible for acceleration, braking, and handling? You increase this patch by running a wider and/or fatter tire. It's the exact same principle for bass drum beaters. Change the size of the beater and you change the surface area that comes in contact with the drum head. Round beaters worked just fine before mic's when drummers had to be heard over orchestras.

 

[xdoseonex]

i just switched from a hard plastic round axis beater, to a hard plastic round sonic hammer beater. the sonic mammer has more attack because of the increased surface area. if you punch somones bare skin how much soud does it make? now open your hand to increase the surface area thats connecting when you hit, and open handed slap someones bare skin. the slap makes more noise on contact (attack) because of the increased surface area

 

[SGarrett]

i just switched from a hard plastic round axis beater, to a hard plastic round sonic hammer beater. the sonic mammer has more attack because of the increased surface area. if you punch somones bare skin how much soud does it make? now open your hand to increase the surface area thats connecting when you hit, and open handed slap someones bare skin. the slap makes more noise on contact (attack) because of the increased surface area

If you use that analogy, the slap will produce less volume (impact).

 

[xdoseonex]

thats not true

 

[seandude]

the diffrance?