The Real Feel
Practice Pad is an indispensable item to any
percussionist who has ever even begun to dabble with
drumline or
concert performance.
The practice pad comes in two diameters, one being 6" and the other 14". Diameter is a relative term used for measurement because the wooden base of the practice pad is actually octagonal in shape.
Real Feel Practice Pads come (or have come in) three styles, and each style can be directly attributed, both in chronology and availability, to trends being perpetrated in
marching percussion at the time.
The first style consisted of one playing surface with a
foam latex covering on the bottom for
table top stability. This style was supposed to emulate the feel of playing on a
Falam marching snare drum head; as such, the playing surface was 1/
4" of hard, black, polyurethane rubber. Falams, made out of
Kevlar and being known for their ability to withstand unbelievably
high tensions(approx. 400 ft lbs of torque tension per lug, times twelve lugs) were well emulated by this unforgiving surface.
The second style featured two playing surfaces, the first of which being the hard black Falam surface used in the first model. The second playing surface was designed to feel like the
Tendura marching snare drum head. Tenduras were next-gen Falams, and the heads greatly improved upon the design of the original. More tension, higher tuning, clearer quality of sound, and more responsiveness and give were features of the new head, and Tenduras were largely embraced by the marching percussion community. The playing surface modeled after the Tendura featured 1/2" of beige polyurethane rubber, featuring a much more forgiving surface which accurately
emulated what it felt like to
ram out beats on a Tendura.
The third generation was simply a copy of the first, only this time featuring the Tendura-like playing surface instead of being modeled after the Falam. To my knowledge, only the second and third generations are still in production as Falams have fallen out of favor.
Real Feels were fantastic for the amateur and the pro alike. When I could still play, I carried one in my backpack, sticks in tow. I saw the drummer in the pit for
Jesus Christ Superstar (the broadway touring company) warming up on one before the Dallas show. I saw
Neil Peart using one backstage at a
Rush concert. If you are a percussionist you have some sort of practice pad, and Real Feel broke the mold by producing the most realistic, quiet, effective, non-injury causing pad ever.
A popular past time of drummers with Real Feels was to get their
friends and significant others to draw on the playing surface. A well marked Real Feel was the sign of someone who took their playing seriously. Every drummer I know had
a severe emotional attachment to their Real Feel. I know one who broke down into tears when his was stolen. I'm pretty sure this stems from the fact that every moment in a drummers life from the day he procures a Real Feel is usually spent with it being in tow.