Promark by D’addario has developed two new innovations that prevent dropping your sticks: the BYOS marching drumsticks with grip ring and ActiveGrip coating.
Developed with Ralph Nader and Harvey Thompson from BYOS, the “Bring Your Own Style” hickory drumsticks feature a medium taper and large oval tip suitable for marching both indoor and outdoor.
“It caters to the [marching and] show style communities because there’s a grip ring that’s built into the butt end of the stick,” says Promark product specialist Elijah Navarro. “It’s a small ring that allows for additional grip when executing stick tricks like windmills and things like that. It’s the first hybrid snare stick of its kind.”
A new feature on the Mike Portnoy signature stick as well as a number of other models, the patent-pending ActiveGrip coating is heat-activated and becomes tackier as the drummer’s hands warm up and sweat.
“Sticks flying out of my hands during a gig or a session is totally unacceptable,” says Rich Redmond of Jason Aldean’s band in a press release. “With ActiveGrip there’s no more wrapping, and stick control is a non-issue. I can just play from the heart … worry free.”
Although the ActiveGrip coating is still being extensively tested for marching and outdoor/extreme weather, Promark hopes to expand the use of this new technology to all different types of drumming activities.
“Each person has a different pH balance in their body, and the stick will respond accordingly,” Navarro says. “It allows drummers to play with a more relaxed fulcrum or hand technique as opposed to gripping in fear of losing the stick. You can actually relax your grip and know that the drumstick will continue to grip.”
For more information on these products, visit promark.com.
