choosing the right stick is an important part of getting a good concert sound if you choose a stick that's too thick like one design for marching band then you're not going to get the sound that you're looking for but if you choose a stick that's too thin like a thin drumstick then your sound will be too thin all most popular concert snare drum stick is the sd1 general it's got enough weight and a good sized bead to get an open resonant sound out of a concert snare drum for smaller players there's the sd1 junior it's got the same characteristics as the sd1 but it's just designed for smaller hands another important part of getting a characteristic sound on a concept snare drum is the beating area just like any other drum the very center of a snare drum is a really dry sound the best sound for a concert snare drum is when you play just off the center of the drum you're activating the whole drum you get a nice full sound but it's open and resonant as well if you play closer to the edge of the drum that sound is very thin this may be asked for in certain special circumstances it's important remember though that if you play too close to the edge then you're not going to get a good characteristic sound it'll be too thin you always want to use your ears and get a nice big full open resonant concert snare drum sound another important part of getting a great concert snare drum sound is to think about muffling now the open resonant unmuffled sound of a constitution air drum is often a great sound however if you want to eliminate a little bit of the higher overtones you can use a handkerchief or moon gel or maybe even a wallet it's just important to remember that you don't want to use too much muffling you want the sound to stay resonant I like using a handkerchief because you can use just a little bit of muffling or if you want you can use a little bit more muffling to dry up the sound maybe for more articulate playing but always remember that an open resonant sound is an important characteristic of a concert snare drum so make sure that the sound is a - muffled or choked