Drum stick

A drum stick (or drumstick) is a type of percussion mallet used particularly for playing snare drum, drum kit, and some other percussion instruments,(bass drum, marching toms, ect.) and particularly for playing unpitched percussion.

Specialized beaters used on some other percussion instruments, such as the metal beater used with a triangle or the mallets used with tuned percussion (such as xylophone and timpani), are not normally referred to as drumsticks. Drumsticks generally have all of the following characteristics:

The archetypical drumstick is turned from a single piece of wood, most commonly of hickory, less commonly of maple, and least commonly but still in significant numbers, of oak. Drumsticks of the traditional form are also made from metal, carbon fibre, and other modern materials.

The tip or bead is the part most often used to strike the instrument. Originally and still commonly of the same piece of wood as the rest of the stick, sticks with nylon tips have also been available since 1958. In the 1970s, an acetal tip was introduced.

Tips of whatever material are of various shapes, including acorn, barrel, oval, teardrop, pointed and round.

The shoulder of the stick is the part that tapers towards the tip, and is normally slightly convex. It is often used for playing the bell of a cymbal. It can also be used to produce a cymbal crash when applied with a glancing motion to the bow or edge of a cymbal, and for playing ride patterns on china, swish, and pang cymbals.

The shaft is the body of the stick, and is cylindrical for most applications including drum kit and orchestral work. It is used for playing cross stick and applied in a glancing motion to the rim of a cymbal for the loudest cymbal crashes.

The butt is the opposite end of the stick to the tip. Some rock and metal musicians use it rather than the tip.