About The Company
Acoustic Percussion was established in 2011 by Richard Winter.
Having been awarded a BA(Hons) degree in 2000 by the university of Liverpool, Richard continued postgraduate study at the Royal Northern College of Music (RNCM), Manchester. Whilst at the RNCM, he was awarded the Gilbert Webster Prize and in 2003, graduated with distinction in both the Postgraduate Diploma (PgDip) and Master of Music Degree (MMus). In addition to running Acoustic Percussion, Richard enjoys a busy career playing professionally in the North West alongside teaching percussion.
Design
When you pick up a pair of our mallets you’ll notice how balanced they feel, how matched they are, and that they feel like a pair of mallets. That’s down to the way we design them from the start.
First each product is carefully designed on paper and then computer.
We carefully analyse the angle of stroke which often determines the ultimate shape of the mallet head.
Once we are happy with the shape and weight, we start making prototypes.
Each prototype is thoroughly tested to examine, in context, it’s tonal characteristics.
Only once we’ve listened to them and scrutinised the tone production does the manufacturing process begin.
Quality Materials
We source only the finest materials from South East Asia, Europe, North America and the UK.
Heads – Orchestral, Unwound and Signature mallet heads are manufactured to high precision and are perfectly round and equal in weight.
We think they are things of beauty too!
Handles – Straight and rounded Birch is given a gentle sanding before a micro-particle coating is applied.
Our Rattan is flex and strength tested and matched in diameter.
Rattan is a natural product which has a slight taper – we cannot control this: it grows out of the ground.
Yarn – You may notice that our yarn wrapped mallets last a long time, that’s because we only select 100% synthetic yarn.
It is not possible to buy this yarn from your local Haberdashery, it is made especially for us.
Glue – Now this is a tricky one. It took two years to find the right one. It is tough and flexible making it ideal for our products.
To date, we have not had a pair returned or heard reports of mallet heads flying off.