The opportunity to utilize the Timbre Jam in the Boston Crusaders 2018 production of “SOS” has been unique, in the sense that we are able to bring to Drum Corps International a set of sounds that no one has utilized previously.

One of the great things about the Timbre Jam is that it can be played with a number of different implements…of course, you can play it like a drum pad with sticks, but it can also be hit with keyboard mallets.

The opportunity to use keyboard mallets to make an authentic wood block sound is really helpful because the musicians do not need to switch implements in order to move between keyboard instrument and Timbre Jam.  Further, it allows you to play a keyboard instrument AND a Timbre Jam simultaneously.

The quality of sound of the Timbre Jam is only matched by its durability…because you are hitting the Timbre Jam on a pad-like surface as opposed to a wooden one, it removes the opportunity for cracking to occur.

The folks at One Beat Better have really come up with a very unique product…a drum pad, a wood block, and a special musical opportunity all in one.  

Dr. Iain Moyer, Front Ensemble Arranger, Boston Crusaders

The Timbre Jams are practice tools AND percussion instruments. The different sized chambers allow for different tonalities allowing for very musical playing with one or more players. Teachers will love this product as a tool because it allows you to listen to each individual player within group instruction.

The OBB percussion trays are unique and versatile. I can place them next to my floor tom and have my sticks, brushes and other percussion ready for fast grabbing and transition. Quiet, solid and user friendly.

Walfredo Reyes Jr. – drummer for Chicago

Describing the Timbre Jam is kind of like the parable of the various blind men describing the elephant. Depending on how you “look” at the pad or how you approach it, it can be very different things. I know that in my Drum Studios it generated a lot of interest among many disparate types of players. The Marching Corps guys saw it as great training tool for approximating tenor drums/quads etc. My alternative Rock students saw it as a potential drum set addition, as another voice or a trigger of some kind. I find it very useful as an accompaniment in my Drum Circle group and also,perhaps surprisingly, as a melodic and ruminative way to practice, like an hypnotic “Tongue Drum” sound and feel. I also like the look and construction and the fact that the originators took something that is hardly new (rubber and wood have always been married together) but took it up to a totally different and distinct notch.All in all an interesting and heartfelt idea and execution.

Martin Bradfield (Philadelphia, PA – Drum Instructor of Martin Bradfield Drum Studio)