Drum Practise
Avoid breaking drum sticks and cracking cymbals by improving your drumming technique and drum set up
Last updated on October 22, 2009 at 1:37 pmHow to avoid breaking your drum sticks
- Play with the tip of your drum stick only when you play the top part of the high hat
- Use the shoulder of the drum stick (the fattest part of the stick that is closest to the tip of the stick) to play crash cymbals, china cymbals, the bell on the ride, and the edges of the high hats.
- Find a drum stick that suits your style of playing. See Choosing Your Drum Sticks for more info.
How to avoid cracking your cymbals
- Avoid playing the cymbals with excessive force.
- Always strike your crash, and china cymbals to the left or right of the middle (as you are looking at it). If you play it dead center, the cymbal absorbs too much shock and over time it will start to crack around the edges. This technique is kind of like a glancing blow to the cymbal, but you should also ‘play through’ the cymbal rather than just skimming the surface.
- Don’t tighten your cymbals too much because the cymbal would absorb too much shock from the impact of your drum sticks. Give the cymbal enough room to wobble after it is hit but not too much that you are un able to ‘ride’ on the crash cymbals without them flopping all over the place.
- Always ensure that there is a plastic sleeve in between your cymbals and their stands. This should also be the same if you carry your cymbals around in a hard case. In other words, never allow your cymbals to come into contact with the metal of your cymbal stands or cases. If they do, the cymbals can become ‘key holed’, where they crack from the hole in the center.
Tags: cymbals, drum set up, drum sticks, drumming technique
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