Taiko-style drumsticks

Regular-sized drumsticks feel insubstantial to me.

I usually use a pair that my late (paternal) grandfather made for me, which are a little larger diameter.  But I was looking for something even heftier:  something like is used in Taiko drumming (you don't have to watch the whole thing; you get the idea in the first 15 seconds):




I stopped by the local drumming supplies shop, but they didn't have anything relevant in stock.  The guy said he could order something in for me -- but it would be about forty bucks.  Nah.

So, I went to the local mega-hardware store and picked up a hardwood dowel (25mm by 0.9m long; so, about one inch by three feet).  Cost me three bucks.

Cut it in half,  then rounded off the ends with a rasp, then a file.  Wanted to minimize the denting of drumheads by making the contact surface less of a crescent shape, and more of a sphere.


Here's a comparison of the old end, and the modified end:

Here's my hand in the shot, to give a sense of scale:

And, here's a comparison of the three different sizes:

And, here's me making a comparison: 




As the little annotations say, I'm not sure if I can tell the difference in sound (with the built-in camera mic).  But they **feel** heftier -- so that's worth something.


--GG