Recently, the Percussive Arts Society International Convention (PASIC) was held in Louisville, Ky. A number of Drum Corps International's partners were in exhibit at the event. This is part 6 about the new products that have been introduced by these partners over the past year. Both of DCI's championship partners were in attendance. Today we see what Vic Firth and Premier have recently brought to the market, along with a peak at several new videos from DCI Strategic Partner Winter Guard International. Vic Firth Vic Firth has introduced Heavy Hitter Pads for drummers' practice. These pads come in configurations for snares, quads, quints and drum set. The laminate on the pads is similar to that of regular drumheads, an improvement on the old rubber practice pads that caught sticks during scrapes. The pads come in small and large sizes, the large size the same size as commercially produced tenor heads, allowing players to work within the same zone of movement as on the actual drums. New also are the Scott Johnson Vega tenor sticks and the Ralph Hardimon Swizzle tenor sticks, which feature a felt ball on the butt end for quick changes. Premier Premier has introduced a redesigned heavy-duty xylophone, marimba and vibes for field use. Bars are stained to look like red or black wood. Winter Guard International WGI has introduced Volume 2 of the "Fans' Favorite" series of percussion performances on DVD, as well as a DVD of Volume 5 of the "Fans' Favorite" series of color guard performances. In other WGI indoor percussion competition news, the organization approved new visual sheets intended to be more accessible to percussion instructors and more equitable for all groups, regardless of their level of theatricality. That's our tour of the recent Percussive Arts Society International Conference for this year. We'll have more reports on additional DCI Partners from the Midwest Clinic Band and Orchestra Conference in the coming weeks. Stay tuned.