Hanging Crash Cymbals?

[joeybeats]

Been looking at the new Thomas Lang videos that B put up. I notice his crashes are hanging, instead of sitting on the cymbal stand.
http://www.drummerworld.com/Videos/thomaslangnautilus.html

Do any of you do that? What are the benefits? Any downside? Thanks. Joey

[Deathmetalconga]

I can't think of any benefits, other than that it might look cool.

It would be harder to set up and take more hardware and use up more room, though.

www.terrasonus.com

[Drummer30]

Never actually done it myself, but I would guess it's to clear the toms and other cymbals, just so the boom arms aren't between other cymbals. I don't see the down side other that that the wingnut could be a little more prone to becomeing loose.

[Sesh]

this is only a little related, but has anyone else noticed how much thomas lang has changed his set-up in the new DVD clips? I don't mean the obvious drum changes, I mean that his cymbals have all been dropped down by about 2 feet! and therefore he no longer has any stacks of cymbals that he can do his signature upstroke through and hit 3 or 4 of them at once.

Obviously he's moved on, and has changed his kit accordingly, but it strikes me as weird that his two signature moves (the helicopter between his 2/3 main crashes whilst DB rolling) and the upstroke are now more difficult/impossible and don't have the same visual effect as they did before due to this new setup. Oh, and one other thing, I know he's concentrating on having zillions of pedals on either side, but have you seen how far back his floor toms are now to give access to the right pedal selection?! christ, there's about 4 feet of air between his rack tom and first floor...that must be inconvenient.

[somedrummer]

I have had my cymbals that way before, at least a few of them, and I don't see any big benefits other than looking different. I was always worried about them coming loose and falling down, and it's harder to get them on the stand that way.

[syaoran05]

well the only advantage of that one is flexibility of the setup, especially if you want your cymbals low. it enables your cymbals to be lower than the lowest height your stand could be. it can be advantageous when you want your splash to sit where you would normally put your cowbell, but then no one really does that. its also nice when you have many cymbals and you cant put any more stands in between coz of the cymbals crowding, you can raise the stand then lower the boom arm. if the boom arms are lowered, the other end is raised and its perfect for attaching extra clamp boom arms for your splashes, and it doesnt look ugly.

well, there are obvious disadvantages. one is that the cymbals should sit flat, coz when you angle it, the cymbal goes nearer the boom arm, then when you hit, there's a higher chance of the cymbal hitting the boom arm - we dont want that. and angled hanging cymbals just dont look good lol. second, there is the much higher risk of the cymbals falling because of the wingnut loosening. since the cymbal doesnt rest on a non-moving base, it will fall when the wingnut does. the only way to fix this is to re-tighten the wingnuts after every song, which leads to another disadvantage, which is keeping your hanging cymbals to a minimum so that you can always check up on them after every song.

and about getting them on the stand, its just as easy like mounting it normally. just put the cymbal on upside down then spin the boom arm. : )

[MagnZ]

I hang my 8" splash that way... That is because it is really close to my hi hat. So the cymbal boom dosent hit my hi hat..

[gusty]

i'd be worried about the cymbal coming loose. all the time id be checking it and tightening.

[altered_beast]

I hang my 8" splash that way... That is because it is really close to my hi hat. So the cymbal boom dosent hit my hi hat..
I did the same with my Zil Bell for a while but I am constantly messing with my setup

[gr82bagn]

The only down side to hanging crash cymbals I could see would be if they hit the boom arm otherwise it’s 6 of one half dozen of the other.

Sesh
christ, there's about 4 feet of air between his rack tom and first floor...that must be inconvenient.

You could probably hang a floor tom on the ceiling and it wouldn’t present an inconvenience to him. The technical level he's at would allow him to set up his kit in any kind of configuration and still be comfortable.

[joeybeats]

Thanks for the great responses! Exactly why this forum is so great, newbies like me can get all kind of info that would otherwise only be available after hours and hours of conversations with drummers. You have to love the Internet and the quality of the DW board.

As syaoran05 pointed out, one of the advantages of hanging is to allow the cymbal to be placed where it otherwise wouldn't fit using a straight stand set-up. If you angle the boom arm down, so it won't hit the back of a boom arm, I think it may turn into an advantage there. In fact, after looking again at the Lang link, I see that he is playing off of a Gib rack and it appears as if that is exactly why he is hanging his crash cymbals. Perfect analysis syaoran.

Anyway, I'm awaiting delivery of a shell pack and am making best efforts to have the rest of the gear ready to go when it arrives ... first set and all. I've been playing with a snare and HH, together with the few cymbals I've purchased. I have two crashes that I think I'll hang if I need to obtain proper placement.

Also, if I understand correctly, since crashes are usually struck on the edge of the cymbal, hanging flat will work, at least when they're placed higher than the rest of the gear? I have a DW cymbal wingnut that I think is designed not to unthread, though not sure what it will do upside down. I'll check that out. Can't wait for the gear acquisition stage to end! Thanks again for all of the replies. Joey

[syaoran05]

Thanks for the great responses! Exactly why this forum is so great, newbies like me can get all kind of info that would otherwise only be available after hours and hours of conversations with drummers. You have to love the Internet and the quality of the DW board.

As syaoran05 pointed out, one of the advantages of hanging is to allow the cymbal to be placed where it otherwise wouldn't fit using a straight stand set-up. If you angle the boom arm down, so it won't hit the back of a boom arm, I think it may turn into an advantage there. In fact, after looking again at the Lang link, I see that he is playing off of a Gib rack and it appears as if that is exactly why he is hanging his crash cymbals. Perfect analysis syaoran.

Anyway, I'm awaiting delivery of a shell pack and am making best efforts to have the rest of the gear ready to go when it arrives ... first set and all. I've been playing with a snare and HH, together with the few cymbals I've purchased. I have two crashes that I think I'll hang if I need to obtain proper placement.

Also, if I understand correctly, since crashes are usually struck on the edge of the cymbal, hanging flat will work, at least when they're placed higher than the rest of the gear? I have a DW cymbal wingnut that I think is designed not to unthread, though not sure what it will do upside down. I'll check that out. Can't wait for the gear acquisition stage to end! Thanks again for all of the replies. Joey


i forgot that another advantage of hanging cymbals is to be able to give tha audience the best view of the drummer and the kit. instead of the stand blocking the view, it is raised so the visual space at the bottom of the cymbal [where the stand couldve been] would be free and transparent.

and on the crash thing, if you will set your crash flat, keep it low. a crash is struck at the outer part of the bow, near the edge, but not the edge itself. if you hang a flat crash high, you will hit the edge itself, not the bow. this will crack your cymbal. as a rule of thumb, the higher a cymbal goes, the more angled it should be. see how Lang angled his crashes slightly? that's the reason - not to break the crashes. angle it more if youre prone to riding crashes, to prevent hitting the edge.

[ANIMALBEATS]

Looks dan cool, and it did to my young impressionable mind.


G

[Tama Player]

I hang my cymbals one over another and stack them. The way i have it setup saves me some room, not to much though. Try the link, its a thread i started on my set, look at the crashes on the right and left. This will explain what im tryin to do.

http://drummerworld.com/forums/showthread.php?p=245281#post245281

[syaoran05]

I hang my cymbals one over another and stack them. The way i have it setup saves me some room, not to much though. Try the link, its a thread i started on my set, look at the crashes on the right and left. This will explain what im tryin to do.

http://drummerworld.com/forums/showthread.php?p=245281#post245281

how do the wingnuts hold up? do you use special wingnuts or you tighten them real hard or they just dont unscrew as it mythically would? ive tried hanging a crash but then i put it back coz i was afraid the wingnuts will fall off.

[Tama Player]

how do the wingnuts hold up? do you use special wingnuts or you tighten them real hard or they just dont unscrew as it mythically would? ive tried hanging a crash but then i put it back coz i was afraid the wingnuts will fall off.

I have those old type of screws, you know the plastic ones ( some are and the otheres are wingnuts, there only on my big stands). They actually hold up really well and i really beat the s**t out of em! No, i dont tighten them REAL tight, just tight enough to not fall down. ;)

[Sesh]

The only down side to hanging crash cymbals I could see would be if they hit the boom arm otherwise it’s 6 of one half dozen of the other.

Sesh

You could probably hang a floor tom on the ceiling and it wouldn’t present an inconvenience to him. The technical level he's at would allow him to set up his kit in any kind of configuration and still be comfortable.

That doesn't quite make sense, although I know what you mean. True, he is at a level where he can get round that kind of thing, but that doesn't make it comfortable or convenient. Hell, I'm I've played songs knelt down using my knees on the pedals before (for a laugh, with a mates band I hasten to add), and did fine but that didn't make it comfortable.

I know that isn;'t a great example, but hopefully you see what I'm saying - I'm a little disapointed because his last DVD was great, full of great advice and ideas, and his set-up was one of the cleanest and most comfortable looking I'd seen - I'm still trying to get mine to be as perfect as that when I use large set-ups (with the exception of how far away his main hats were). Now, looking at the clips on here, his new DVD features him showing off totally inaccesible and pointless stuff (to the average gigging drummer anyway IMO), on a set-up that looks really uncomfortable to me. Anyway, I realise he's moved on and is tackling different stuff on this new one, but to me from these clips, the ideas may be more complicated but the actual kit sound sucks and the MPOs and ideas are far less musical, less interesting, and sound a whole lot less cool.

I guess it's subjective, but I really liked his philosophies and attitude last time round, and he seems to have just forgotten it all and started again now.

[Skitch]

Never actually done it myself, but I would guess it's to clear the toms and other cymbals, just so the boom arms aren't between other cymbals. I don't see the down side other that that the wingnut could be a little more prone to becomeing loose.


And if it does come loose, gravity will certainly do its thing! If you do this you will want to use a jam nut!


Mike

http://www.mikemccraw.com
http://www.dominoretroplate.com


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