Crash/ride cymbals

[bykrmyk]

Any recommendations on a good crash/ride? Trying to keep the tonnage down.

[multiperc]

Hi
You'll probably get a bunch of different responses on this one. Here are some of my faves:

My initial cocktail crash ride was a 14" Paiste RUDE. Nasty and fun. Small and tough sounding, also packed up easily. You couldn't damage/scratch it to an uglier state. Deep dark and rather short crash. Unusually pingy ride and brite bell sound for it's size. Also nice with a chain or quarter sizzling on top.

Next up and the one I most often use is a Wuhan (traditional style) 16" crash. I like this lots because it's dynamic and colorful. Great warm full crash that's sized for my cocktail kit. Also lots of variation from ride articulations using sticks, mallets, brushes, or rods. Love it and it and it packs into my beato bag (just fitting). About $45 but you need to look around for this one, which makes it a bit of a crap shoot if you can't audition it first, but I was lucky with this cymbal.

A couple of others that are cool but more unusual:

18" wuhan 'falling' crash, which I've only used for recording. I don't know if these are still available as imports but if you can find one, it's a musical treasure. Lightweight and shimmery, it has dozens of different articulations across it's bow. Mine's cracked at the edge but remains musical.

My last fave is one that has been mentioned here -13" Sabian El Sabor Salsa splash. Surprisingly good bell/ride sound, classy splashycrash, but a smaller sound overall.

I'd suggest trying some cymbals with your kit - the style of music will help direct what works as well as the tuning and size of your drums. You might start by trying out an old 13 or14" hihat cymbal, then go listen to some others.

Hope this helps - Good luck and post your findings!

[tikifreak]

The best cymbal I've used that works as both a crash and ride is an 18" Zildjian A Rock Crash. At least, I think that's what it is - the one I have is about a 1976 vintage, so I'm not sure if Zildjian used the same name / classification back then. It is medium to medium-heavy weight, and was the only ride I had for quite awhile. High-pitched as a ride, kinda loud as a crash.

I actually thought it was a Crash / Ride for a long time, but those are listed by Zildjian as being medium-thin, so I know that's not what I have.

tikifreak

[zimbop]

I love my 13" Sabian AA El Sabor Salsa Splash. It's my main cymbal because it's a nice crash, at 13" it's more subdued than larger options, it rides ok, though it washes out more than a true ride cymbal, and it has a great bell. It's smallish so it doesn't have a really big sound, but it's not particularly high-pitched, actually the overtones are quite low. I posted a couple videos on another thread that have decent audio, check it out.

My original thread:
http://www.cocktaildrum.com/rap/viewtopic.php?t=769

Ride/Bell video:
http://www.zimbop.com/pics/drums/elsaborride.mpg

Crash video:
http://www.zimbop.com/pics/drums/elsaborcrash.mpg

It can also do some pretty cool patterns:
http://www.zimbop.com/pics/drums/elsaborpattern.mpg

Pic:

[jmettam]

Great feedback everyone!

Your cymbals really depend on the style of music you are playing AND the volume of your Cocktail Kit.

I mostly use 24x14 Slingerland Cocktail Drum with the internal snare. It has a tight sound the way I have it setup. It is also not especially loud given the size and the dual function (kick/snare) of the main drum. I experimented for a long time and found a 14" Zildian A Custom Crash that had everything I was looking for. It has a great crash (a little bit high but it blends well with the vibe of my kit), and a great bell.

it rides ok, though it washes out more than a true ride cymbal

This is a common situation. The ride tended to build up and get washed out when I played fast or loud on the little crash. So, next I started experimenting with sticks! I found that lower mass (smaller) sticks allowed me to play naturally but did not overdrive the ride sound as much. I still needed a little more so I started trying different tips!

I usually use wood tips but I found that plastic tips on the small crash really gave me a lot more ride ping. I finally settled on Joe Morello Diamond Tips. These sticks have a diamond shaped tip that gives you a very small striking surface of the plastic.

Presto! Suddenly I could use my little 14" crash with all the range of a larger crash/ride!

Having said all that, I don't think that I would use this as my main cymbal with my Club Jordan which is a much louder setup.

Let us know what you find!

- John

[zimbop]

The ride tended to build up and get washed out when I played fast or loud on the little crash. So, next I started experimenting with sticks! I found that lower mass (smaller) sticks allowed me to play naturally but did not overdrive the ride sound as much. I still needed a little more so I started trying different tips!

I usually use wood tips but I found that plastic tips on the small crash really gave me a lot more ride ping. I finally settled on Joe Morello Diamond Tips. These sticks have a diamond shaped tip that gives you a very small striking surface of the plastic.

Presto! Suddenly I could use my little 14" crash with all the range of a larger crash/ride!

I concur with this. I play Promark 5A, fairly light sticks, and cymbal sticking in this situation is much better with nylon tips. With wood tips riding my 13" splash the sticking has almost no distinction. It sounds more like a felt mallet roll sometimes. :-)

[bykrmyk]

Thanks for all the tips. As it turns out I have a Zildjian 18" medium crash that sounds somewhat like the Sabian. (I bought it in 1972). Not quite as high sounding but has a similar attack and wash. When I figure out how I'll do a quick video and post it.