Anyone attempted wrapping soft felt Mallets that shed a heap of felt at each useage.. Wondering what to wrap with and still maintain a soft feel.
I know how to complete the wrap process but am chasing any suggestions on which fabric to use...Nylon??
Cheers
It all depends on the articulation you're looking for. I have had success rewrapping old timpani mallets with non-standard wraps. I didn't want to deal with the wool "fluff" anymore, so I used felt strips for one set (enough to wrap around the mallet head 3 times), and also rewrapped one a la marimba mallet style with yarn. The yarn gives a softer articulation, and sounds like T3s, while the felt sounds similar to Goodman greens, although heavier so not quite as articulate.
I have found a decent set of timpani mallets for cheap(er). I do a bunch of musicals, and am always needing to use Vic Firth SD12 (Swizzle Sticks) anyways, so I figured they might work for the occasional timp parts when stick transitions would be difficult. I mostly use just those for musicals now, except for when I need something extremely soft of the timps. They sound surprisingly great!
Caddy,
Thanks for the reply.. I have been using the Firth T4 which seem to hold up pretty well, considering what I put them through... I was after something a little softer and recently bought some Vater T6's.. (These are the ones that now look like my wife's fluffy slippers) after each use. They are exactly what I was after but I think I'll attempt to wrap them..
Since I posted this I found a guy wrapping with Chamois .. Does not look too difficult, so I may give that a shot..
Cheers
Caddy,Thanks for the reply.. I have been using the Firth T4 which seem to hold up pretty well, considering what I put them through... I was after something a little softer and recently bought some Vater T6's.. (These are the ones that now look like my wife's fluffy slippers) after each use. They are exactly what I was after but I think I'll attempt to wrap them.. Since I posted this I found a guy wrapping with Chamois .. Does not look too difficult, so I may give that a shot.. Cheers
Pass on what you learn! I use mallets all the time. I love the way they make drums sound, especially on the toms. What I've been doing all these years is; once I wear them out from picking them to death, I have simply gone out and bought another pair! A pair lasts me for years at a time.
I -like- the sound the fuzzy/cottony heads produce. I wouldn't want to change that. But if there is a way to bring them back to life, I'm all ears.
John
Here's the Chamois wrapping video that I spotted..
Cheers
[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=77GJJkTaYCQ"]How to Wrap Timpani Mallets with Chamois - YouTube[/ame]
longjohn,
Thanks for sharing this. I'm also attempting to wrap my own mallets at the butt ends of my sticks for shows and orchestral work. Like Caddy, I was using the Vic Firth Swizzle Sticks until I discovered the Los Cabos version (Los Cabos is a small company located in Fredericton, New Brunswick, CA). [Attachment: 67213] Check out their site. I visited them and they're great people.
The problem I'm finding is that most of the multi-stick/mallets are too firm. I like a softer mallet for cymbal rolls, so that' why I'm trying to make my own softer version of a Swizzle Stick. I tried attaching a tiny rubber ball wrapped in soft felt, but the result was still to hard. Please share any success stories. I'm sure there's many of us who could benefit.
The problem I'm finding is that most of the multi-stick/mallets are too firm. I like a softer mallet for cymbal rolls, so that' why I'm trying to make my own softer version of a Swizzle Stick. I tried attaching a tiny rubber ball wrapped in soft felt, but the result was still to hard. Please share any success stories. I'm sure there's many of us who could benefit.
Are you talking about the shafts being too firm or the mallet heads? For cymbal roll mallets, I use a pair of sticks, each with two foam discs from one of my son's old foam disc-shooting toy guns on the end and wrapped them in yarn. They ended up looking like a pair of Yamaha cymbal rolling mallets, and sound just as good. I've experimented with all kinds of cores, and the foam discs were firm enough to hold shape, but squishy enough to have some give and reduce articulation during cymbal swells. Here's an example of the guns/discs I'm talking about (there are several hundred varities--just check your local toy shop and you're bound to find some random brand):
Those projectiles sound like just the "Shot"..Laughing H
Caddy,
Ingenius! Yes, it all comes down to the core, not the wrapping. I'm going to find some of these foam shooter disks and start experimenting. I'm trying to get a mallet that will have almost no individual stroke articulation at all, but just firm enough to vibrate the cymbal into a roll. Thanks for the tip!
Mike
Did I mention you can use a hockey puck as the core of a gong mallet?
The core is important, yes, but the wrapping is also important. On my marimba mallets (which I use shock grommets as cores), I experiment with different amounts of yarn wrapping. I measure in units of how many times I wind the yarn from my hand to my elbow. The articulate mallets use 15, while my most "fluffy" ones use 25. The amount of wrapping determines how much of the core comes through.
