indoor battery sticks/mallets

cheeseit · Post by **cheeseit** » Fri Dec 17, 2004 10:29 pm

just wondering what you guys prefer to use during indoor. I was thinking the ralphie jrs. for the snares.

Boomer · Post by **Boomer** » Mon Dec 20, 2004 8:30 am

Ralphie Jrs are a good stick but small. If your going to go with an indoor stick try the Ralph indoor. It's a little smaller than the outdoor and in the middle of the Jrs. Vic Firth makes a lot of good indoor sticks. One year we used the Hannoms indoor and the other instructor liked them.
This year agian we are going to be using Pro-Mark indoor Jeff Moore for the snares. They are smaller than out door cutting down some sound but still feel nice.

Hope this helps you out.

Brian Almiron
Highland High School
Battery Inst.
Palmdale, Ca

xWMSxGrLx · Post by **xWMSxGrLx** » Mon Dec 20, 2004 12:52 pm

last year I marched bass drum and we were using Vic Firth's Corpsmaster "hard" mallets. This year, I don't know about bassdrums but we're using VF Scooters for snares. I think tenors are using Vega's? Correct me if I'm wrong, Steve! *aka curious188*

Scooters are nice, but I prefer Hardimons a little more.

RBSnare · Post by **RBSnare** » Mon Dec 20, 2004 7:34 pm

i dont do indoor, but are the hardimon indoors basically the same as the outdoor, only lighter? and are they labelled differently? i was buying some outdoor sticks and i got a couple pairs that were a LOT lighter than most, and someone said they were the indoors.

MinCook · Post by **MinCook** » Mon Dec 20, 2004 10:57 pm

Personally, I think indoor snare sticks are kinda overrated because they don't really make a difference if you have a balanced line. Most schools have an average of 3-4 snares and a few millimeters of bead is not going to make enuff difference. Just use good musicianship and follow your dynamics. My Drum instructor once told me that you can make the drum the softest instrument on the field (or wherever) and also the loudest. It is a good way for drum stick companies to make money though.

Boomer · Post by **Boomer** » Tue Dec 21, 2004 8:09 am

That is not always true, its another gimic to make more $$$, but I have seen schools with great control and can pull off not going to an indoor stick. Others we need all the help we can get sometimes when the line can't get in their heads when to play soft and when to play out.

Brian

geefunk1026 · Post by **geefunk1026** » Tue Dec 21, 2004 3:29 pm

Ralphie indoor sticks are a bit shorter, and have a smaller diameter.
They are great sticks and are superior for indoor playing.
It's not a money making scheme at all. There was a need for the product, so they started making them.
Greg

Boomer · Post by **Boomer** » Wed Dec 22, 2004 8:27 am

Don't get me wrong, I like indoor sticks/mallets. At Highland I have been putting indoors in their hands for the last couple of years. You can get a good response, articulation and sound control off the head.
I remember marching when we all went out on the court with the out door stuff and played with the same control.
One thing that I have to remember is now is a diff. time, set of kids and with diff. set of musical demands that some of us never had.
Sorry if I made any statements that made people mad.

Brian

Starky · Post by **Starky** » Wed Dec 22, 2004 7:17 pm

this year our line is using

snares: ralphie jr's

tenors: vegas

basses: hard mallets (one size smaller than outdoor)

RBSnare · Post by **RBSnare** » Wed Dec 22, 2004 11:05 pm

ok another question--are the Ralphie Jr. sticks different from some other Hardimon indoor model???

8-ball · Post by **8-ball** » Wed Dec 22, 2004 11:26 pm

The Innovative Percussion Indoor Bass Mallets are the best I have seen. They give great articulation and come in 4 different sizes so you can get exactly what you want for each drum. Also, for the snares, the Mike Mcintosh Indoor is my favorite stick. It's not too small, gets great response and is a good weight.

Also, the combination of indoor implements and indoor tuning really make a difference. You should always demand the best from each line and indoor products are not a "way out" of doing that. They are just expanding the possibilities.

Boomer · Post by **Boomer** » Thu Dec 23, 2004 8:17 am

Ike Jackson, Kalub Routh, I think its Tom McGrath, & Pro-Mark drum sticks came out with a brand new indoor bass mallet. I have two pairs (top and bottom end) and sound good with great articulation. If you have a line that plays with the butt end of your mallet and are playing a lot of rolls/runs this would be a good mallet to look at.
One of the big questions is if it dents the head and I can tell you unless your line are playing with 180 + degrees of turn back and are just kill the head, it should not dent the head.

Brian

quickcheeses · Post by **quickcheeses** » Thu Dec 23, 2004 7:44 pm

Ike Jackson, Caleb Rothe, and Ken McGrath.

-Eric

MinCook · Post by **MinCook** » Fri Dec 24, 2004 1:22 pm

LOL at least he spelled Ike's name right... 1/3

Quintana · Post by **Quintana** » Sat Dec 25, 2004 2:45 am

As far as indoor sticks go, I really like the Tom Aungst indoors. A few years back I was having my snares use them, but lately (due to the fact that my groups have been using sound systems in the pit) I have been able to use "outdoor" sticks without any balance issues.

As far as tenors go, if you are concerned with volume, I don't think Vegas would be the ideal choice. They were designed to produce a volume similar to a mallet, just in stick form. If you want something similar in feel, the "scooters" would be a better option.

Basses... Tried the indoor vic firth guys for a while, didn't really do much for me. They were good for the lighter volume, but didn't give me enough boom when I wanted it. Just got my hands on the new pro-mark bass stick, haven't really heard them on the drum enough to form a good opinion, except for that they look like mini baseball bats

I think a lot of things need to be considered when you are talking about your indoor stick selection. Evaluate what kind of drum/head/muffling situation you have, and the size of the line. Most importantly, how much volume is the pit going to be producing? If you have a decent sound system, and an average size pit, you shouldn't have any balance issues.

To answer RBSnare's question: The Ralphie Juniors are skinnier and shorter than the Ralph indoors, which are skinnier and shorter than the Ralph outdoors.

Just my experience with this stuff, hope it's helpful information to some of you.