I went to the recent London 2012 Drum Show fully steeled against buying anything. It’s pleasant enough to go and see what’s what in the world of drums, to meet some drumming friends and colleagues and to see my students getting inspired. But the raison d’etre of these events is to sell and it’s my mission to resist. There is a recession on after all. I willed myself not to try any sticks or sample heads or buy books or collect any drum company catalogues.
However, when I walked past the Stageworks stall and saw the Rimma, my resolve dissolved before I even knew what had hit me. “How much is that?” I asked. “A tenner,” said the guy and within seconds my wallet came out, a note was extracted and the product was in my hands. And on I went.
Stageworks Rimma
What an amazing device! The Rimma attaches to the top of the bass drum hoop and can hold two drum sticks. Such a simple concept, anyone seeing it would wonder why they didn’t think of it first. The Rimma looks like the kind of thing you might find holding a mop or broom to the wall. Your drum sticks sit very snugly in the grips, the perfect place for them to sit when you don’t need them or to keep a spare pair during gigs. It’s easy to attach and detach and very light so I carry it around with me in my shoulder bag and mount it on whatever drums I happen to be using.
At the drum show I didn’t bother to hang around the Stageworks stall, I was feeling dirty, having broken my resolution not to shop. However, when I got home I couldn’t resist the temptation to see what else the Stageworks company had up its sleeve. Amazingly, they had another product that looked like a life changing item. The Stageworks Mat is a small 46cm x 20cm mat you can place under your bass and hihat pedals and which prevents slippage. In other words, it replaces the stinky drummer’s carpet we all have to lug around to deal with slippery floors.
At ?15 for a pair of mats, this looked too good to be true. For the second time that day, I gave money to Stageworks, whom I’d never heard of before, and ordered those apparently miraculous items. The mats arrived after a couple of days. They are very light, black and feel slightly tacky.
I intended to try them out at a gig the following weekend. I was playing in a pub with a very smooth wooden floor and was excited by the prospect of leaving the carpet at home. Not wanting to take any chances, I called Stageworks and asked the chap there if the mats would really hold my drums in place without the need for a carpet (I can be a bit too thorough on occasion). He seemed very confident about the mats although he was sensible enough to add the caveat I should make sure I had some gaffer tape on me just in case and he suggested I dust the floor before setting up.
I was slightly apprehensive when I left the house without my rug but the mats worked fantastically well. Neither bass nor hihat stand moved a millimetre all night.
Stageworks Mats in action on my drumkit. You can make out the smooth wooden floor.
The Stageworks Mats are very light and work a treat. There are two minor downsides – the mats do wear out over time from three months if being used every night to a year for those of us who gig less, although at ?15 the pair, it’s not a big deal; also, having no carpet will likely make the drums reverberate more since a reflective floor is now totally exposed beneath your kit. If you are concerned about volume, the absence of a carpet could have an effect.
Check out www.stageworksgear.com.