After almost two years of playing my cocktail drum without hi hats, I finally used them at a gig this past weekend. I've been using closed hats on a tall stand stand for the last few weeks. Being too lazy to setup a remote hat stand at gigs I just open and close the hats with my right hand. Which brings me to a few questions.
Does anyone here get in the habit of playing the hihats with your left hand? I have the hihats on the left of the snare like a typical right handed sit-down drumset, but I find it uncomfortable crossing my right arm over to play while standing. There's always some change to be expected when going from sitting to standing. I just never expected this.
Next: Anyone else here opening the hihats with your hands. Do you find it loosens the thumb screws on the clutch faster than using your foot? I ended up using some locktite on the clutch to keep the thumbscrews on the threads because it would be every two or three songs that the hihat would come loose. This has never been a problem sitting down for me.
Typically I don't need hihats for the music I play, but after tooling around with a new band and new music I think its time to make the jump over to using hihats like the rest of you cocktail drummers.
-Joe
hi hats
Welcome to the dark side Luke..... I don't often play open handed and i'm not that smooth at it so with my set up the hi hat is placed directly infront of me behind the cocktail kit. It works great there and makes 16th notes easy to play and reach. You also do get that off balance feel like when crossing over. My hi hat works totally like a sit down kit, i play it open, closed, in-between typical of just foot presure. Give it a try.
Dinkus
Dinkus
Hey Joe
Any reason why you can't mount the hats to your right where they'd be more comfortable? Perhaps below or above the edge of your ride? That's where mine are and it's similar to where the x-hat is on my trad setup, so it's not a big deal to adjust. However, I do sometimes play left handed for a different feel, but not with the cocktail kit - I would surely fall over.
I'm using an old tama fixed hat arm with a traditional clutch and inner rod. The cymbals are usually Paiste accents and because of their small size and thickness, I'm able to fix a medium tight tension using the clutch and still articulate different sounds: Playing tip, I get a tighter concise sound, shank is more open and sloshy. This way I can achieve different sounds without using a pedal. Maybe trying this might help your transition.
Any reason why you can't mount the hats to your right where they'd be more comfortable? Perhaps below or above the edge of your ride? That's where mine are and it's similar to where the x-hat is on my trad setup, so it's not a big deal to adjust. However, I do sometimes play left handed for a different feel, but not with the cocktail kit - I would surely fall over.
I'm using an old tama fixed hat arm with a traditional clutch and inner rod. The cymbals are usually Paiste accents and because of their small size and thickness, I'm able to fix a medium tight tension using the clutch and still articulate different sounds: Playing tip, I get a tighter concise sound, shank is more open and sloshy. This way I can achieve different sounds without using a pedal. Maybe trying this might help your transition.
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palacki808
- Posts: 152
- Joined: Fri Oct 10, 2003 10:50 am
- Contact:
Anytime I post a question here, at least one person and usually several offer some help. Thanks guys. I'm trying a few of those tips you dropped me. I tried putting my hihat and crash cymbal. directly in front of the cocktail set. Previously I just had the crash out in front, so I just swung it a little to the right. I'll play for a week or so like that and see how it feels.
I had never thought of trying to get the different sounds out of the hats without using my foot. That's a really good idea that I'm going to be trying as well.
The reason I didn't have the hihats on my right is because I have a bad right arm. There's a shaft inside the bone and a couple of screws to hold it in place from an accident about five years ago. That's the main reason I switched over to a cocktail set was to better accomodate my right arm's limited range of movement. I have the ride cymbal on the right and its close enough to be comfortable. The hihats are a little too far out for me to reach comfortably with that 18" ride cymbal between them and me.
Thanks again everyone. Your help is appreciated.
-Joe
I had never thought of trying to get the different sounds out of the hats without using my foot. That's a really good idea that I'm going to be trying as well.
The reason I didn't have the hihats on my right is because I have a bad right arm. There's a shaft inside the bone and a couple of screws to hold it in place from an accident about five years ago. That's the main reason I switched over to a cocktail set was to better accomodate my right arm's limited range of movement. I have the ride cymbal on the right and its close enough to be comfortable. The hihats are a little too far out for me to reach comfortably with that 18" ride cymbal between them and me.
Thanks again everyone. Your help is appreciated.
-Joe
Hey!
I learned a little trick last week when I was playing a really demented set up--a 20" bass, a 16" bass, a 10" snare, a 12" tom, a 22" ride, and closed hi hats (no pedal). I realized that with my 14" 70's Zildjian lights that an accented hit near the edge of the cymbal created an open cymbal sound when the cymbals weren't clamped together. A mf hit two or three inches in just created a tight, closed sound. That trick doesn't work with my 12" medium A hi hats, so I'm guessing that effect is the function of light weight and a larger diameter. Still, if you can make the trick work, you don't have to worry as much about opening with your hand.
Take care!
Will
I learned a little trick last week when I was playing a really demented set up--a 20" bass, a 16" bass, a 10" snare, a 12" tom, a 22" ride, and closed hi hats (no pedal). I realized that with my 14" 70's Zildjian lights that an accented hit near the edge of the cymbal created an open cymbal sound when the cymbals weren't clamped together. A mf hit two or three inches in just created a tight, closed sound. That trick doesn't work with my 12" medium A hi hats, so I'm guessing that effect is the function of light weight and a larger diameter. Still, if you can make the trick work, you don't have to worry as much about opening with your hand.
Take care!
Will
Exactly as Will suggests - but this can work with other hat sizes too. Mine are smaller and thicker (as mentioned earlier in the thread) and the contrast between edge slosh and taper articulation is pretty dramatic.
I do love what one can do with a pedal, but the challenge to go with a fixed hat pair can make for some surprisingly musical retults. Experiment!
I do love what one can do with a pedal, but the challenge to go with a fixed hat pair can make for some surprisingly musical retults. Experiment!
hi-hats
Speaking of hi hats,Guitar Center has 10" mini hats{zht} on sale for $120...I'm not to sure how they sound.But they look cool and would probably serve the cocktail kit really well.Anyone else thats may have suggestions on playing your hats open and with your hand,or any other methods...keep it going,its interesting to see different peoples' ideas on the subject.
Hi Robert and Ricky,
Search for say "vintage zildian Hi Hats" in ebay.
I think you can find better quality that way. May even
appreciate in value. Don't overpay, there's a lot out there every week.
Or, search locally online, flea market, pawn, etc.
You can also find individual hi hat cymbals cheap.
Ask if they have any thing in the back at your local
mom and pop music store.
If you have mismatched pairs, flip them around for
different sound combos. Three individual cymbals
yields a ton of different sounds New cheap cymbals will probably only depreciate in value.
Considering how much of your sound comes from the cymbals, they are pretty cheap overall.
Also, does anybody else here love the sound of Buddy Rich opening and closing his 15 inch hats by hand?
Have fun!
Search for say "vintage zildian Hi Hats" in ebay.
I think you can find better quality that way. May even
appreciate in value. Don't overpay, there's a lot out there every week.
Or, search locally online, flea market, pawn, etc.
You can also find individual hi hat cymbals cheap.
Ask if they have any thing in the back at your local
mom and pop music store.
If you have mismatched pairs, flip them around for
different sound combos. Three individual cymbals
yields a ton of different sounds New cheap cymbals will probably only depreciate in value.
Considering how much of your sound comes from the cymbals, they are pretty cheap overall.
Also, does anybody else here love the sound of Buddy Rich opening and closing his 15 inch hats by hand?
Have fun!
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ratatattat
- Posts: 87
- Joined: Sat Jan 07, 2006 12:44 pm
Re: hi-hats
I have a set of these zht hi hats10" & I really like the sound & feel.They are pretty heavy & cut through really well. I use a tama x-hat in a premier floor tom holder on the shell on my left, so I play crossed hi hat just like my regular kit. I'm a cocktail drummer now, & I can change, if I have too,...I guess.ricky wrote:Speaking of hi hats,Guitar Center has 10" mini hats{zht} on sale for $120...I'm not to sure how they sound.But they look cool and would probably serve the cocktail kit really well.Anyone else thats may have suggestions on playing your hats open and with your hand,or any other methods...keep it going,its interesting to see different peoples' ideas on the subject.
Mike
Last edited by ratatattat on Fri Nov 10, 2006 12:11 am, edited 1 time in total.
hi-hats
Cool, thanks for the info on the hats...I just wanted to know if someone had them or something in that size(10 or 12inch}...and what the quality was like.I wanna check em out soon.I'm sure they may work for low volume stuff.
The 12" wuhan splashes from Musicians Friend work great for me on my cocktail set. The 12" size gives you more room to play them to get various tones out of them, in other words you can play them right on the lip to get a nice almost open high hat sound or move up closer to the bell for a closed sound. The guys I play with love the sound and I do too. They're also cheap as can be. Try them, if you don't like them all you have to do is send them back.
Ditto on the wuhan splashes-as-hats...
I have pairs 10 and 12-inch Wuhan splashes that I use as hats on another kit. And they are good especially on lower volume stuff. A generally softer texture and articualtion.
Still loving my oddball 8-inch Paiste accent cymbals as fixed hats on my cocktail kit, though. Strange and unique.
SInce I like the thinner Wuhan splashes as hats, I've been interested in checking out the Wuhan 'traditional' (not S-series) hats in 13-inch size - they may sound good. Has anyone tried these hats?
I have pairs 10 and 12-inch Wuhan splashes that I use as hats on another kit. And they are good especially on lower volume stuff. A generally softer texture and articualtion.
Still loving my oddball 8-inch Paiste accent cymbals as fixed hats on my cocktail kit, though. Strange and unique.
SInce I like the thinner Wuhan splashes as hats, I've been interested in checking out the Wuhan 'traditional' (not S-series) hats in 13-inch size - they may sound good. Has anyone tried these hats?