Playing With Rods


There’s a myth out there that some drummers and even worship leaders believe: If you play with hot rods/plastic multi-rods like you do with regular sticks, it will sound the same but be quieter. I'm not sure if you have noticed this or not yet, but that's not true. You see, there’s this thing called “tone.” Those little wooden hot rods will change your tone dramatically. Sure, it’s softer than using sticks, but your tone will suffer. The tone of a drum comes from the bottom resonant head. When you play with hot rods as if they are sticks, the bottom head isn’t activated nearly as much, thus, giving you a really weak tone. The cymbal tone can suffer, too. Often times the whole cymbal won’t be activated as easily, and you’ll just get these weird overtones when you play it with rods.

That’s not to say that hot rods are to never be used ever again. There’s a certain attack that only these rods can give you. You have to change you technique when you use anything other than a drum stick. I have noticed that rim shots (when you strike the rim and the drum head at the same time) will give you a full tone with rods. And if you have the ability to fan out our rods both your drums and your cymbals will sound fuller.


If you use hot rods or multi rods or even brushes, PLEASE don't play as if your using sticks. You're not going to sound like you're using sticks, so why try to sound like it? What does this look like then? You have to consider what sounds good. For instance, if the loudest part of the song is when I'm crashing my ride cymbal in the bridge, I know that won't sound very full or good when I'm playing with rods. So, I restructure what I play to make my fullest sound something that will actually sound full and good. Maybe that's playing with loose hi hats instead. Or maybe that's playing on top of my ride without crashing it. Or maybe that's playing with a closed hi hat. To really sell that moment, I typically have to change what I play on the softer moments, too. It takes creativity. 


One last thought I'd like to share is I believe that drums sound better when they are amplified through a sound system. I would much rather play softer or change my approach so that the drums can go through the speakers, than play with sticks as loud as I can with no help from the speakers. The drums will sound fuller going through the sound system (especially with subs) than on your own.

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