INTRODUCTION There are many factors that go into how a percussionist sounds in performance. We aren’t always sure what model of instrument we will be performing on, or how it will sound in a particular hall. One of the ways we navigate the myriad of variables is by having an ever-deepening roster of mallets. I may spend every rehearsal using a particular mallet for a passage of music, only to find in my first rehearsal (or performance) in the hall that the mallet projects too