First off, glad to be a new member of Drumlines.org. I think I could really enjoy this community.


For a while now, I've been considering buying a moon-gel workout pad. I have no problem practicing on a pillow, but pillows are rather large, and it's not exactly easy to, say... take one to class. I have yet to see a pillow small enough to be portable (that still absorbs rebound) so today I set about making something small, rebound-absorbent, and playable.

Here's what I have.



Rather understated, isn't it?

It's a pillow, essentially. But it's dense enough to where, when struck, the stick doesn't hit the table and make a loud sound.

YOU WILL NEED:

• One large cloth (shop cloth or something) about the length and width of a marching drumstick.
• A Microfiber cloth of the same size, or slightly smaller. (They are really good at holding the stuffing, and make decent fluff themselves.)
• Stuffing (I used a rabbit fur, anything else fluffy will do)
• Masking Tape; thread; something to close it.

Start with a large cloth, it should be about the length of a marching drumstick.



Place the smaller microfiber cloth on top of it...well, it's going to fold in half. Make sure it will be in the middle of the other cloth when it is.



It's time to stuff it. I used a rabbit fur, because it's been sitting in my room FOREVER and I wanted to do something with it. Near the top left corner of the rabbit fur is a paper towel. There was an empty spot because of the dimensions of the rabbit fur, so I filled it with that.




When you fold the cloths over, be VERY sure that you fold it relatively tight. If you don't, your pad will play like a pillow sleeve in the breeze.


Rabbit fur burrito.


Once again, be sure to pull it tight.


You can sew it shut, tape it, whatever you want. I didn't have sewing equipment on me at the time, so I just used masking tape for the meantime.

I wish you all a happy workout!




--InsomniacAgent


EDIT: I got my hands on some non-slip rubber stuff that I glued to the bottom. It's now awesome-er, if you could call it awesome to begin with.

So are you practicing only on a pillow?

No, no, I do work out exercises on the pillow. Diddles, triple strokes, et cetera. The pillow is strictly for strength building. In the last picture, the pillow is atop an Invader V3.

good diy for people that dont want to spend the fifty bucks on that moon gel pad :|

Ha! Very nice! I think I'll make that a homework project for my snare line.

This is great!