the red gum rubber is great. it has pretty good artiulation. the black side is terrible, little rebound, and loud. after a lot of use the red side was peeling off and had to glue half of it back on but it still works fine. i've had it for about 1 year and it still is a nice pad.

I use marching and set sticks on this pad, and it gets me where I need to go. Great feel, I can hear each stroke and strengthen my sound and make myself become as good as I can. I definitely recommend it.