Watch YouTuber Brandon Scott turn corn starch and water into a practice pad

YouTube drum personality, Brandon Scott’s channel features plenty of great lessons and tips, as well as documenting his life as a recording and touring drummer. More recently, however, Brandon has turned his hand to content including tips on shooting videos, what a snare sounds like when you fill it with water, and his latest upload: an experiment into drumming on a corn starch and water paste-covered practice pad.

The paste, sometimes called Oobleck (after the Dr Zeuss book, Bartholomew and the Oobleck), will be familiar to parents with slime-obsessed kids thanks to its cheap and easy DIY capabilities. The mixture is what’s known as a non-Newtonian fluid - its viscosity changes when subjected to force, giving it properties of both a solid and a liquid without any change in temperature. 

With this in mind, the slimy paste has become a hit with YouTubers too - with videos confirming what happens when you shoot the mixture with a gun, drop a bowling ball on it, and walking or riding a bike over it. 

If you’ve ever wondered - and we hadn’t until now - whether or not it’s possible to drum on it, then Brandon has done the research for you and compiled it into an informative video. If you can’t wait, skip to 4:30 to see what happens! 

Stuart Williams
Drums

Stuart has been working for guitar publications since 2008, beginning his career as Reviews Editor for Total Guitar before becoming Editor for six years. During this time, he and the team brought the magazine into the modern age with digital editions, a Youtube channel and the Apple chart-bothering Total Guitar Podcast. Stuart has also served as a freelance writer for Guitar World, Guitarist and MusicRadar reviewing hundreds of products spanning everything from acoustic guitars to valve amps, modelers and plugins. When not spouting his opinions on the best new gear, Stuart has been reminded on many occasions that the 'never meet your heroes' rule is entirely wrong, clocking-up interviews with the likes of Eddie Van Halen, Foo Fighters, Green Day and many, many more.