Sometime back, I did a thread on drums in you kit. Now it is time for cymbals on your kit.
Me, I'm using my NOS 16" Sabian Hand Hammered Manhattan Bridge Ride as my main cymbal. It is more-or-less a crash/ride and sounds great as either. Also, using a set of 13" Sabian Hand Hammered Light hats. May use my 20" HH Sabian Flat Bell Ride sometimes when the occasion arises also - this thing is to die for.
Your turn.
I know one other cat on here, Will, Is into flats also.
Well, several people here know that I pretty much always use a 14" Zildjian A custom crash as my main cymbal. I also sometimes use 2 12" Wuhan splash cymbals (the musicians friend $13 specials) as fixed hi-hats. Also on occassion I'll use a Sabian 12" leapard splash for the bottom and a 12" Sabian splash as the top for a set of slightly more rock sounding hi-hats.
I am also a big fan of flat-rides although I don't think I've ever used one with the Cocktail Kit. I have a very nice 18" Sabian flat ride that I've used for years. Sounds amazing with an acoustic piano trio!
The cymbals I use : Fixed hihiat 8" seven sound set no.1 Paiste 602 (a very thick bell like) for hihat bottom, 8" Asian sound splash for hihat top,
16" 2002 Paiste crash with one riverts,
18" 2002 Paiste crash.
I have cut some in the crash cymbals, because of scratch one the edge.
The 16" can be used for crash, ride and open hihat kind of stof and the
18" for ride/crash.
Hi,Mango!
The cymbals that I use for my kit:
14"PAISTE 1000 Rude as Crash & Ride.(For My 12" & 10" Cocktail Drum)
12"PAISTE 400 as Crash/Ride(For my BoxTail drum)
Hi-Hat:(a)6"Splash(Top)6"medium Crash Cymbal(Cut from 16"SABIAN Medium Crash)
(b)6"spash(Top)6"Remo Roto Spoxe
(c)10"Splash(Top)10"medium Crash Cymbal(Cut from 16"PAISTE Medium Crash)
(d)2 splash cymbal as Hi-Hat.
Thanks!
PETER
I use 14" Dark Custom K hats, sometime 13" A's for hats. 17", 18" Dark Custom K crashes, Paiste 20" signature series dry ride. The odd time I'll put on a 10" A splash. This is what is mostly used on the cocktail set up.
I might just use the 17" or the 14"--they are both unbelievable cocktail cymbals. Both have decent bells, decent ride sounds, and decent crash sounds. The 14" has a better bell, more wash, and less volume. The 17" has more volume, more stick definition, and more dryness.
I tried the 12" Wuhan hat trick--the two that came to me from Musicians friend sounded great on their own, but bad together. I've heard of two people, John being one, who had good experiences buying blind, though.
Zildjian A 18" medium ride, which I like a lot. I actually bought it before I began playing drums as I loved the sound of it & bought it to create a sample library. It crashes too.
Zildjian A brilliant 10" splash. I like this too, it sounds more like a mini-crash than a traditional splash.
My hi-hats (always closed on a mount I made myself from an old cowbell holder) are 13" Paiste 505s, which were donated to me from a drummer friend about 15 years ago & sat in my basement doing nothing until I took up playing cocktail drums. They get the job done but I'm not terribly thrilled with this & am looking on and off for something a little lighter in tone.
I'm using this set of cymbals specifically for a current project, but change up otherwise. Generally, I like smaller cymbals for cocktail drumming.
The cracked splash is good because it adds just a kiss, and is a bit lower in pitch. The bent Paiste splash is a great small crash; it's bright and colorful and the bend warbles tone and drops pitch also. Neither of these cymbal injuries were specifically designed, just wear and tear that worked well to add a bit of exotic color. Keep your wounded cymbals!
I've also used wuhan splashes as hats, and I generally like them; I have 3 different 12" Wuhans and 2 of them make a good pair. Sloshy and light; also easy to record.
I also like to use Sabian mini hats (12"), Sabian china splash (10"), K dark crash (18") as ride, or a Wuhan 18" 'falling crash' as a ride. The falling crash is quite amazing; every few inches on the thing yields different shimmers.
Anybody try one of those Gothic Radius discs with a cocktail kit? I have one but haven't tried it with cocktail yet. Seems like it would be a curious complement...
Has anyone tried a wuhan crash or crash/ride with their cocktail kit?
I'm looking for something a bit dark and earthy and my K dark crash is too much for the volume of the kit. I've had some good results with other wuhans and thought I might give a crash ride a try.
Any experience with the traditional wuhans in this application?
Hello Folks. Just joined to tell you I used a Wuhan 16" crash as a ride on my cocktail kit. Drilled 3 holes for rivets in it in Beautiful Baby fashion, but it sounds a bit too loud. It is still ringing when the next song starts... Now experimenting with a Zildjian A thin suspended (?) 15". Sounds at least a bit less loud.
I'm using a Paiste RUDE 14" crash/ride which is rather heavy, so loud with long decay is something I'm familiar with when using this cymbal (I do find it cool for the most part, though).
I did go ahead and order a Wuhan 16" medium crash in hopes that I'll get a decent balance between ride and crash and a darker tone than from the RUDE. As I'm looking for something rather specific as an alternative, I'll let you know what I find.
BTW how did your cymbal sound before you installed rivets? Was it too much before or after the rivets?
Like a rock crash... Rather loud, not very subtle. I played it with sticks of course. It came in a cheapish kit with a loud ride and some good hi hats that were the reason to buy the set. Wuhans are dirt cheap and still, in my opinion better quality than say Zildjian starter packs.
On the cocktail kit I played it with brushes, still quite loud, too dominating. But maybe I'm the only one in the band that heard it...
Don't forget to try tape on your cymbals. I know it is kind of taboo but in our case, even a strip of masking tape can make a big diference. In extreme cases try a bit of duct tape, near the edge. near the bell , differenct sizes. Check it out! On a smal cymnals it can make a BIG change!
This wuhan thing is tricky, but I may be in luck. I just picked up a Wuhan 16" crash and I think it will work in my current playing situation. With sticks/rods It's got ok definition for light riding and a nice washy crash at several volumes. Generally dark, tho nowhere near the essense of my 18" K dark crash, and a smaller sound overall.
I had to look around online and wasn't able to pick this up locally so I took a chance, but it seems like I got a good one. Lucky!
In recent rehearsals (we've been on a stage with lights and sound), I've graduated from brushes to blastix on some songs, and multirods to sticks on others. So the need for a bit more power, this step up from my Paiste 14" RUDE will probably do well.
I may just have to tame it with a bit of tape (!) but we'll see.
Feel a little silly about this, given what the cymbal is, but I'm reporting back with favorable results from my Wuhan 16 crash. Very favorable! It's a 16" thin to medthin traditional (not S) Wuhan.
Last night I played a 2-set concert backing a singer-songwriter - good press, sold out show, recorded. Not the kind of gig where you'd want to 'try out something new' but I'd rehearsed a couple of times with it and ...wow. Just the ticket.
If you have a chance to try one of these with your cocktail kit sometime, do. I felt ok about it as it was very inexpensive and at worst it would be a backup crash for my other kits. I took a gamble and it ended up being colorful and useful as a ride & bell ride (light playing), mallet rolls, and great crashes. Also a good complement to my other cymbals which are on the smaller side.
A nice surprise and addition to the cymbal bag. Try one if you dare.
