DIY Drum Multi-Rods

Drums can be loud. Drums ARE loud. Churches put up plexiglass shields, conductors shove drums in the back, and jazz groups use brushes.

I usually play in a greenhouse where our group meets. Picture a greenhouse. Nothing but glass, metal, and concrete... ... ... That makes me laugh out loud. LOL When I think about how loud it is. It's dumb.

I like to use multi-rods.

A "multi-rod" is a type of drumstick, that plays a little softer and looser than a typical hickory stick.

All these multi-rods are make of is a bunch of dowel rods. I like playing with these, but they can be a little fragile, and at $15 a pair, breaking them breaks my heart and my wallet.

The point of them is to keep the level low. But, when the dynamics of a song start taking off and you need to take it up, they get hit harder, and sometimes break. One dowel rod at a time, they snap apart.

Since these things are $15 a pair, and I can't stop breaking them, I need to find a solution. Time for a DIY (do it yourself) project.

These dowel rod things are sold in any Arts & Crafts place, and run about one cent per inch. Drum sticks run about 16", so depending how thick you're aiming for, (3, 7, 12, or 19), you can make these suckers for about $4 a pair.

I own a pair of 12's and 19's that I'm extra care not to break. I wanted some little babies, a 3-rod pair.

These babies would be the quietest pair of sticks out there, perfect for quiet worship and jazz.

I cut the dowel rods down to 18" and taped them together. Then I sawed the excess off to make them nice and even.

The main thing that I would like to emphasize here is the customization available by doing this myself.

I placed the Gaffer's tape on one end, and in the middle. By gripping the taped end, I get a loose, brush sound. By gripping the loose end, I get a tighter, pop sound.

They turned out pretty nice.

I ran over to the MBSF to get in an hour or so of practice, and to try them out.

They held up REALLY well, until I started seeing how robust they were. WHO CARES HOW ROBUST THEY ARE? What was I thinking? I don't know. I popped on stick up about 45mins in. DANG. Well, I feel GREAT knowing it cost me about $0.48. If I would have done that with store-boughts, I'd have to buy a whole new $15 pair.

I like them, and I think I'm going to make a whole bunch over Spring Break and stock up. It was a cheap, customized solution, that I'm really looking forward to using.

I took quite a few photos of the process and posted them on my Flickr. Click on one of the above images, and it will take you to see it's friends.