For drummers, while playing it’s sometimes a challenge to change between brushes, sticks, and mallets. Of course, studio magic allows us to do that with punch ins, but if you are tracking live with a band that’s usually not an option. Fortunately, now we have the Stick Station from Bopworks Drumsticks. The Stick Station is a small, lightweight, plastic tray with a rubberized, top coating. It is supported by soft rubber clips that attach to the rim of a drum, allowing you to keep sticks, brushes, or mallets close by when you need them! It's much easier than reaching into the stick bag, and because the clips isolate the tray there is little vibration and they don’t rattle around like they will on your bass drum. This will also keep the studio engineer from yelling at you!

When Bopworks owner Chris Bennett asked me to check out his latest creation, I was foolishly thinking it might only be useful on live gigs, but after a couple of weeks in the studio I found it to be extremely useful here as well. The clips look similar to a lot of drum mic mounts, except they are soft and pliable, and that allows them to clip to almost any drum rim. I tried triple-flanged, die-cast (from several manufacturers), and S-Hoops-style rims and they clipped to everything easily. You can use one, two, or three of the clips depending on how much weight you put on the tray, the position you want it in, or how large the drum is. It can even hold a couple of shakers or maracas. Nice!

Tape Op is a bi-monthly magazine devoted to the art of record making.

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