Steve's Tala Wands Win Award

More than 80 magazines from all over the world got together to vote for the best products of 2005/2006 in more than 40 categories. The awards have been presented to the winners at a special MIPA -Party/Awards-Ceremony held during Musikmesse / Prolight + Sound, March 30th, 2006.

More than 300 international representatives of manufacturers and distributors of musical instruments and audio equipment have joined for the 7th MIPA Awards Show including guests from the USA, Canada, Japan, Brazil, South Africa, Russia, Poland, Great Britain, Italy, France, Greece, The Netherlands, Belgium, Luxemburg, Sweden, Denmark, Austria, Switzerland and Germany.

About Tala Wands

Steve and Vic Firth have teamed up to create "Tala Wands," an exciting new "bundled" solution.

Many drummers like the organic sounds they get from bundles. Especially when playing various indigenous genres, bundled sticks allow a drummer to create interesting textures, but at a lower volume.

When Steve started playing live gigs with Indian musicians five years ago, he found that regular sticks drowned out the Indian drummers. He started using various bundles that were available through Vic Firth and other manufacturers, and though they achieved the texture and the lower volume Steve wanted, they simply didn't provide enough rebound off the drum.

So, Steve went to work with Dave Rundle, a Canadian Sonor rep., stick designer and entrepreneur. Together, they came up with this new product that Steve calls Tala Wands.

Steve chose the name "Tala Wand" because "Tala" is a Sanskrit word meaning "to clap" or "to mark time." It is one of the two main components of Indian classical music, Raga (melody) and Tala (rhythm). Of course the Tala Wands can be used to play any style of music, and Steve uses them in many exciting ways!

After two years of experimentation, they narrowed many ideas down to a "foam core." Birch and bamboo are available, offering distinct sounds and feels. With birch, they decided to use twelve dowels, hence the "BIRCH - 12" on the logo. With bamboo, since it is heavier, they went with eleven dowels for the "BAMBOO - 11" wand.

You can now find the Tala Wands at your local music stores and drum shops - or click on the Vital Merchandise link to the left. Check them out and see if they fit into your sound palate of sticks, brushes and bundles.

Click here to find Tala Wands at Sam Ash.

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