Rute (music)

Rute (music)

The rute (also spelled ruthe, from the German for 'rod' or 'switch') is a beater for drums. Commercially made rutes are usually made of a bundle of thin birch dowels or thin canes attached to a drumstick handle. These often have a movable band to adjust how tightly the dowels are bound toward the tip. A rute may also be made of a bundle of twigs attached to a drumstick handle. These types of rutes are used for a variety of effects with various musical ensembles. A rute may also be a cylindrical bunch of pieces of cane or twigs, bound at one end, like a small besom without a handle. The Rute is used used to play on the head of the bass drum. Rute are also constructed from a solid rod thinly split partway down.