THe art of crashing cymbals within a song

lester_music

New member
Hey softies,

Like to know from drummers,say in the song, when do you crash a 14", 16" or 18 etc and when do you crash a Splash...When to crash a ride?

I believe there are some standard to this...cause one drummer did share with me regarding this...like if you want the groove to stand out, cannot clash too big cymbals or too hard......

And I also heard some "drummer" who crash at the wrong time or wrong cymbals, it can sound pretty irritating..

ANy good advice?
 
listen to the tone of music and follow it.Eg. Pitch Difference. Keep at pattern in the song, so ur not just randomly hitting cymbals.
 
Understanding the arrangment, structure and feel of the song helps a lot in deciding when and what to crash. A lot of that understanding comes from listening to a lot of music and paying attention to how the drums go about in each song.

It can be a little frustrating at first, but when you start repeating the songs to pay attention to that, it will help open some doors to understanding when to play what in songs.
 
for crash cymbals, basically, if you're playing ballads or mid-tempo songs, the bigger crash is useful, like 17"-19" for tat big sound and slow decay effect.
For faster-tempo songs, use 14"-17" crashes, if possible use the thin/med-thin crashes for faster decay.
 
for me, if i wanna do some up-beat, i will go for crashes....if i wanna slow down the beat, go for splashes....i like crashes that has fast decay....
bt being said that, listen to loads of music will b great.
 
Ah pek indeed...

I like your reply....very specific one...that is what I am looking for...

Now i realised that....cause slow songs have more space in between...

Thanks
 
for crash cymbals, basically, if you're playing ballads or mid-tempo songs, the bigger crash is useful, like 17"-19" for tat big sound and slow decay effect.
For faster-tempo songs, use 14"-17" crashes, if possible use the thin/med-thin crashes for faster decay.


Hey Ah Pek, what about splashes? Where do you usually use splashes?
 
=lester_music


IMO there are no hard and fast rules about which combination of cymbals is best or which one to hit etc because your ability to play the right cymbals in the song will depends on your natural musical "instint", how familiar you are with the sound and tone of each individual cymbals and how creative you are in using them.

If you strip a kit down to it basic form, your primary cymbal setup will be hihat, 1 crash and 1 ride and that IMO is the most important part of your entire cymbal arsenal and I strong recommend that you get familiarize with them, hit them, trash them, etc, before trying to bring in secondary crashes splashes, chinas etc. into your setup.

One common myth about cymbal selection is that bigger diameter cymbals are lower in pitch as compared to smaller ones and vice versa, because thickness (or weight), materials, process etc does play a big part in the tonal characteristic. Hence that is something you need to be careful when you are chosing and setting up your cymbals. As for me, my primary crash is always on my left (right handed drummer) while my secondary crash (which is usually higher in pitch) will be on my right.

As for grooving with big cymbals, the cymbals are only loud if your drums are soft, hence it is wrong to say that if you want to your groove to stand out you cant play big cymbals and you cant play hard. think of groove master Steve Jordan playing on John Mayer live.

hope this make sense..:D
 
Hey Ah Pek, what about splashes? Where do you usually use splashes?

hi bro, personally, i usually use splash cymbals for reggae/latin stuff, for the timbale with fast splash effects, and also for funk-stuff to add that fast splash in-between fills or groove.
 
lester, u need to ask yourself the following first.

1) what kind of drummer are u?
2) what kind of drummer do u want to be?
3) what kind of drumming u want to provide for your band?

if u wanna be like the rest and do the same old thing like 4 bars then crash, 4 bars then crash, four bars then crash, then gd for u.

if u wanna be different, u need to do the following.

1) have a recording device and start recording.
2) get your bandmates to play the song to u.
3) play simple beats FIRST during the practice session.
4) record that and name it Draft 2.
5) listen to Draft 1 and 2 at home and then figure out what style u wanna adopt, be it crashing of cymbals, the hitting of the snare or the kick-drumming.
6) try out the drum pattern u figured out during your practice session with your bandmates.
7) record it.
8) get feedback from your bandmates and then come to a decision.

hope this helps.
 
Krist
lester, u need to ask yourself the following first.

1) what kind of drummer are u?

(Human, 2 arms 2 legs)

2) what kind of drummer do u want to be?

(Terry Bozzio with the monster kit)

3) what kind of drumming u want to provide for your band?

(Whatever the band and music needs)


if u wanna be like the rest and do the same old thing like 4 bars then crash, 4 bars then crash, four bars then crash, then gd for u.

(If the music you are playing requires a crash at the end of 4 bars, are you going to replace it with a Snare? IMO it is good to be creative and stretch your musical capability, but if you do that at the expense of the music, then you will be seen as trying to reinvent the wheel)


if u wanna be different, u need to do the following.

1) have a recording device and start recording.
2) get your bandmates to play the song to u.
3) play simple beats FIRST during the practice session.
4) record that and name it Draft 2.
5) listen to Draft 1 and 2 at home and then figure out what style u wanna adopt, be it crashing of cymbals, the hitting of the snare or the kick-drumming.
6) try out the drum pattern u figured out during your practice session with your bandmates.
7) record it.
8) get feedback from your bandmates and then come to a decision.

(what is your definition of being "different" from the "rest"? and how is recording and jamming with your band make you a "different" drummer?)
 

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