Hello!

I am new. Very new. 10 days playing for the first time ever new. I'm rather proud of myself, to be honest. Anyway. The -VERY FIRST THING- I discovered with drumming was that when I asked any drummer I knew for advice (on anything: kit setup, crash vs crash/ride, stool height, tom angle, hi-hat cymbal separation, etc.), the usual response was: "However you want to set it up, bro." Well, okay then. But I -know- for a fact that's not true. Even just watching the Drum Setup Wizard video, the -FIRST- thing taught (not a hack) about is making sure the stool is the right height. The closest I got told to do was to make my thighs parallel to the floor. Which, according to Emma, is too low. And her reasoning makes sense. So. Hell yes. I respond better to instruction versus experimentation. Ha :D Anyway, my question is this: There are so many styles and types of drumsticks. So many. And it's clear that how you hit each piece of the kit, and with what part of the stick, makes a huge difference. So...is there a video on choosing sticks? What different things do? I assume different woods produce different tones? This came to mind when I saw a close up shot of Emma holding some Vic Firth sticks and realized that I saw the same ones in the WALL-O-STICKS at the local corporate megamusic store. I have one pair of sticks, and need to get more so I can stash them around the joint for practice.

What kind of sticks do people prefer, and why? What's the thought process behind choosing? Is it really "I picked up these first because they looked cool and I stuck with it." Or more "this style produces a higher tone whereas you get more surface contact on the crash if you use this style" or whatever. I don't know.