Vic Firth Practice Pads

[jversluis88]

I've seen several Vic Firth practice pads at my local music shop, and I've become quite interested. Basically the situation is: my step-dad hates the drums, or any "intrusive" noise (he even finds my paradiddling on the arm of a soft cushion annoying) and I end up only getting to practice when he's at work (which works out to be an hour or so somewhere between 3:30pm and 10:30pm taking into consideration that I work a full-time job). I thought it would be a great thing to have a virtually "silent" drum pad, so at least I can practice my rudiments and other hand workouts whenever, and save my actual drum kit time for things that you can only practice on a drum kit (which will ultimately enhance my drumming).

In short: how silent and useful are these Vic Firth practice pads (feedback on the single- or double-sided is welcome)? Thanks in advance.

[The Chemist]

They're actually quite loud.

Try a Hugh Cameron Practice Pad, Soft Material.
http://www.scottishlion.com/prdrpadhuca.html

[Retarded Chipple]

I have the single sided 6" one.

Usefulness: Its a pad. They're essentially all the same thing. The results it will give your playing and its usefulness depend on how you use it and practice with it.

Volume: I can't really compare to other pads but I'd its fairly quiet. I know there's louder but there's probably quieter too. I can play on mine and still easily hear the TV over the top :p. As long as you don't practice in the same room as your step-dad you'll be fine. I've found that some tips/sticks produce louder sounds and different pitches than others.

One thing to keep in mind is that pads can be real loud if you practice them upstairs on a snare stand. I was practicing once and my dad came and asked me what all the banging was. Turns out the sound of the pad vibrates through the stand and through the floor. Kinda the same concept as a drum resonating. The vibrations of me playing the pad upstairs came through as the sound of a bomb downstairs! The way to sort it is to put the pad on something soft, like a bed or a pillow.

[oliv_da_skinmasher]

They're actually quite loud

Not as bad as Billy Hyde ones.

[Josiah]

The gum rubber pads are not loud by any means. Though I personally feel the vicFirth is a bit too bouncy. Check out the ReelFeel or Xpads.

[The Chemist]

Not as bad as Billy Hyde ones.

Or as fragile as the Billy Hyde ones, either.

[oliv_da_skinmasher]

Or as fragile as the Billy Hyde ones, either.

Enlighten me

[Retarded Chipple]

Yeah, as Josiah mentioned, I do find mine to have a kind of unrealistic rebound when on a hard surface like a table. I put mine on a pillow which absorbs some of the shock giving it less rebound and making it more snare like.

[The Chemist]

Enlighten me

I had mounted my BH on a cymbal stand for practice, and I performed some fairly simple rudimentary stuff, but I noticed that the press board bottom and the metal screw receiver had split apart. This eventually caused the metal piece to come out completely, causing a "dead zone" in the middle of my pad. It's happened to other people I know.

[oliv_da_skinmasher]

Damn. I never use it on a cymbal stand tho so ya know

[CARMEN77]

vic firth pads defy physics...

They are so bouncy that it bounces the stick higher than where you let it go!

Def not a good pad for practicing. I use the remo pad now and ive never been more happy.

[Whimsikill]

realfeels are good.

[M@xwell]

Yep, the realfeels are the best I've tried.

[Undisco Kidd]

I have the double sided one. It does have a lot of bounce, but I quite like it. The black side is great for evening out stickings.

[stevensonmat2]

I like the xpad, has a nice solid feel.

[eatsleepandblink]

12" HQ Percussion double sided pad.

http://www.musiciansfriend.com/product/HQ-Percussion-2Sided-Speed-and-Workout-Pad?sku=445396

size is perfect, just sit it in your lap, don't have to worry about vibrations traveling through snare stand, though you can still put it on one. has the gum rubber side, which feels great, and has a special, "feel" on top to prevent it from wearing down. This side is also, very quiet, probably the quietest you'll find I imagine. The neoprene, or workout side, gives much less bounce, which is where the name comes into play, but is also much louder, and each stroke is more defined. It allows you to really nit-pick on the even-ness of your strokes.

I love this pad, like serious.

[Retarded Chipple]

12" HQ Percussion double sided pad.

http://www.musiciansfriend.com/product/HQ-Percussion-2Sided-Speed-and-Workout-Pad?sku=445396

size is perfect, just sit it in your lap, don't have to worry about vibrations traveling through snare stand, though you can still put it on one. has the gum rubber side, which feels great, and has a special, "feel" on top to prevent it from wearing down. This side is also, very quiet, probably the quietest you'll find I imagine. The neoprene, or workout side, gives much less bounce, which is where the name comes into play, but is also much louder, and each stroke is more defined. It allows you to really nit-pick on the even-ness of your strokes.

I love this pad, like serious.

That will still happen no matter what pad you have.

If you're upstairs tapping a pad on something that is directly touching the floor (like a snare stand) you're going to be able to hear it in the room downstairs underneath it...unless you have majorly thick walls/ceilings.
Try it if you don't believe me.

[eatsleepandblink]

i was talking about when it was in my lap, which i cant do with my 6" pad, that one has to go on a snare stand or table or something, when the 12" can sit on my lap comfortably. If ya wanna say the vibrations travel through your legs, then fine. But your not going to hear them as much at least.

[mabba]

I have one of the 6" vic firth practice pads that came with 6 pairs of sticks or something. Had it for about a year. Tons of bounce, but just fine for what I need it for.

[jversluis88]

Thanks so much for all the feedback, dudes. Bottom line: what's the most quiet practice pad?

[iamjoe2]

you could use vicfirth scojo sticks, rubber tips, pratice ANYWHERE

[M@xwell]

That's a MINT idea! Were they intended for practising on random surfaces (lol) or actually playing on kits?

[Josiah]

Thanks so much for all the feedback, dudes. Bottom line: what's the most quiet practice pad?

any Gum Rubber pad, X-Pad, RealFeel, VicFirth, etc

That's the quiestest you are going to get. Wich is, barely, if at all, audible from the other side of a door. Depending on your wailing habits of course.


From there, this don't really get any more quiet, just different sounds.

Marching sticks on a pad tend to have a softer/rounder tone. You should be using them anyway though.


If finding an area to practice is an issue, move yourself. Sit in your closet. Go to afriends house. Sit in your car. Etc etc

In college I had a friend who marched, who had an entire practice set in his vw bus. He'd be out inbetween classes shedding in his bus!!

[Schmudiments]

That's a MINT idea! Were they intended for practising on random surfaces (lol) or actually playing on kits?

They were meant for practice on surfaces (very quiet I must say, they were almost silent on the middle of a cheap folding table, where most practice pads would vibrate the entire thing)

They CAN be used on drums, but they have a weird-ish feel. They make a cool sound, though.

[M@xwell]

Josiah, should you practice with marching sticks even if you don't normally use them? :O

I always thought you'd probs just injure yourself or something.

[Josiah]

Josiah, should you practice with marching sticks even if you don't normally use them? :O
I always thought you'd probs just injure yourself or something.


Yes.


Why would you get hurt? There's *insert really big number* amount of guys marching 5-8 hours a day with out issue.

[oliv_da_skinmasher]

Indeed. I switched not too long ago, and i've noticed an improvement in my work outs

[M@xwell]

I dunno, must have heard it from somewhere. Probs some noob on this board :P Anyways I'll give it a try.

[Iron Caterpillar]

In college I had a friend who marched, who had an entire practice set in his vw bus. He'd be out inbetween classes shedding in his bus!!

hahaha that's gold. I want a VW bus so bad!

[Undisco Kidd]

In college I had a friend who marched, who had an entire practice set in his vw bus. He'd be out inbetween classes shedding in his bus!!

Something tells me there was also a bong in there.

[Josiah]

A wha..? A bong? In a VW Bus? Nonsense!

[jversluis88]

I've never taken notice of the differences between regular and marching sticks, besides the name. What's different about marching sticks that'll help my practicing?

[Killtacular]

They're BIG.

[iamjoe2]

get like some really heavy stick for practicing(like vic firth magnum 4's if you not using scojos obviously) the heavier it is the more work on your hands= the better you get.

[Retarded Chipple]

You mean I gotta get me some marching sticks?!

I always use Thomas Lang sigs. on the pad and although they're heavier than what I normally use (5B oak) they don't feel THAT heavy...maybe I just got used to em?

Should I get marching sticks or will me Langs be ok?

Was thinking of getting Ralph Hardimon sticks or something...

[Josiah]

Ralphs are swesome. The MS2's are awesome.

There's tons of really great marching sticks out there. Grab a few pairs and see what you like. Some are fast, some make you work harder, etc VicFirth is pretty much the dominating brand for marching sticks.

[Retarded Chipple]

Thing is, I can't try em out cos as far as I'm aware, the stores around here don't sell marching sticks. The only way I can get em is buying em off the net.

So you reckon I should lose the Thomas Lang sticks and go with some fat marching sticks?

[Seafroggys]

In my experience the MS2s are the best chop building sticks, so you might want to go with those in the beginning.

[iamjoe2]

if you cant try em out definetly go with ms2's great ballance and feel. they pretty much standard marching.