Why do drummers need rides?

Tre Cool of Green Day deffo uses his ride and he uses perfectly, he also paradiddles on them during quiet bits. Check out my YouTube channel Cybsworld, I have rare footage I shot of Green Day in 1991, I was on stage and there is close up shots of Tre playing his ride.
 
JackAndJuliet said:
Also, do bands like Green Day and Linkin Park and Nickelback use rides?
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Yes, yes and yes.

Quick examples off the top of my head:

- Linkin Park: "The little things give you away". Rob Bourdon has a nice little groove alternating between ride and hihat in the guitar solo and ending chorus.
- Nickelback: "Follow You Home". That intro drum groove is played on the ride bell, and the chorus has a pretty standard ride bow/bell alternating groove.

I can't think of a specific Green Day song where Tre plays the ride, but he does have a ride on his kit so I'm sure he uses it somewhere.

JackAndJuliet said:
And are they used to play paradiddles in songs, or regular 4/4 beats too, or usually crashed on?
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Rides are not usually crashed, but it's definitely pretty common. Not all rides crash well though, so if a drummer likes crashing his ride, he will generally choose a ride that opens up nicely when crashed.


Here's one of my band's songs; you can hear how I use the ride in the second part of the second and third chorus to open up the sound a bit (letting it breathe more than when I hammer along on the hihat):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=akvSy-dsb4U

Here's a more rocking tune of ours, where I just hammer the ride on the quarter note pulse through the chorus:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CD2AXECtlTI

So that's how I use it, anyway. But like others have said, there are no rules. Some drummers don't use rides at all, and they get by just fine. It's no different than any other part of your kit, really... If you can play what you want to play without using it, you don't need it.
 
Agree with most of the responses already.....just wanted to add one thing. If your band is doing covers, you will probably need a ride to be able to replicate the songs you're playing. Unless, of course, none of them use a ride.

PS...some larger crashes also make a decent ride.
 
I'd much rather have a good ride than any crash. I play punk rock like tomorrow won't come, but I use my ride/s for every style.
 
This was a question posed by my ex-wife many years ago. Except it went something like this "you bought another ride cymbal??"
Notice I said ex-wife.
 
PDL said:
Why does a bass need more than one string?
Why do guitarists need to play chords?
Why do guitars use effects pedals?
Why do pianos have white keys?

Cymbals are clothes, bass/snare and toms are your dolly. Dress your doll how you want the choice is yours.
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unless you are playing jazz

then your ride cymbal is the doll, the doll house, and the Barbie Glamour camper .......and everything else is just an accessory

I long for the days when there was no such thing as a ride cymbal or a crash cymbal.....just cymbals

regardless of what is stamped on the cymbal......they are all just cymbals

use them accordingly
 
I usually turn to my ride when I want my dominate pulse to sink into the background....where HiHat, crash or the bell of the ride puts the pulse I am generating further into the fore front of the timbre landscape.

I also go to my ride(not the bell, but the rest of it) when the dynamic of the song is low...

...but there are no rules other than what you impose.

I suggest working with your perception of your drum set to eliminate identifying "riding", "filling" and "back beat".
 
Drumolator said:
I would much rather play the ride than the hi-hats. In many types of music, hats are played during the verses and rides are played during the chorus. Drum and cymbal setups are very personal. If you see no need for a ride, then do not get one. I do not want to listen to much music that does not have them. Peace and goodwill.
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I've seen some drummers play without rides, most notably Phil Rudd of AC-DC. Playing the ride elevates the mood and feel of the song, while the hats make it more solid.
 
Deathmetalconga said:
I've seen some drummers play without rides, most notably Phil Rudd of AC-DC. Playing the ride elevates the mood and feel of the song, while the hats make it more solid.
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Yep, and clean. No offence to the gang, but isn't it a tad narrow minded to call this one as a no-brainer? Wasn't impressed with the one star given this thread. I love ride cymbals but it's still just tradition and convention.

I saw Paul Hester from Crowded House play a fantastic concert gig with just bass, snare, hats and a crash. Plenty of people here have talked about playing gigs with stripped down kits. I've played with just snare, or hats and snare.

Bill Bruford wasn't allowed to use a ride cymbal in King Crimson's Discipline (their best album IMO) because Bob Fripp felt the tones would interfere with the snaking guitar lines. Then there are percussion hybrid kits. Cocktail kits use a crash in lieu of a ride.

In most musical situations drummers need a ride, but ...
 
JackAndJuliet said:
(i play rock/ punk) and i have no real idea on how to form a beat that involves the ride.
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In the beginning their was no ride cymbals, no crashes either, no splashes, no china... they were just called "cymbals", the size and the weight determined the role of the cymbals, it's only later the names and the category started to become standard.

As far as rock/punk is concerned, a heavy ride with a nice cutting bell still does it big time as far as driving the chorus and/or the guitar solo, alternatively, a washy ride cymbal can be as devastating as an half open hi-hat but with a totally different feel, some drummers have only ride cymbals on their kit (flat ride, light ride, heavy ride, crash/ride, and so on) and they play various type of music, including rock.

Some rock crashes are heavier cymbals than some light jazz ride, go figure... it's all down to personal taste and what sounds good when you play, the rest is just marketing and etiquette.
 
Mad About Drums said:
In the beginning their was no ride cymbals, no crashes either, no splashes, no china... they were just called "cymbals", the size and the weight determined the role of the cymbals, it's only later the names and the category started to become standard.

As far as rock/punk is concerned, a heavy ride with a nice cutting bell still does it big time as far as driving the chorus and/or the guitar solo, alternatively, a washy ride cymbal can be as devastating as an half open hi-hat but with a totally different feel, some drummers have only ride cymbals on their kit (flat ride, light ride, heavy ride, crash/ride, and so on) and they play various type of music, including rock.

Some rock crashes are heavier cymbals than some light jazz ride, go figure... it's all down to personal taste and what sounds good when you play, the rest is just marketing and etiquette.
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china cymbals were called swish or knocker coined by Mel Lewis

or even swish knocker
usually having a few rivets and used right side up ..... as opposed to today where everyone uses them upside down

everything else was just a cymbal chosen by diameter and weight in grams

to this day there is no such thing as a crash or a ride to me.......they are all just cymbals used in many more ways than just being beat on
 
For me it's not as much about rides, crashes, whatever, as much as it is versatility in each cymbal. I don't want cymbals that you'd call a ride, a crash, etc. I even like my Chinas to be a bit washy so I can play them as main crashes if I want.

To my my left side I have an 18" crash A series medium by Zildjian, and I hate it because I can't really ride on it. It's pretty much just a crash cymbal. I have a 20" Sabian ride that I adore because it's dry enough to get a good stick sound, but washy enough to ride over when I want. It's also light and thin enough to crash on. My favorite cymbal is my right side crash. It's a really old 18" crash ride. It's an unknown brand, but it sounds good and dry for a ride, it crashes good. So for me it's all about versatility. I want all my cymbals to be multi-purpose.
 
You's a trollin'

But since I can't post under twenty characters, I will have to say I think Ride cymbals have the biggest difference in them from cymbal to cymbal, don't know about anyone else here. but yeah.
 
If you read my post carefully, i asked specific questions on why drummers use rides, so no i wasn't trolling. :p

Also, thanks to everyone who answered :)
 
topgun2021 said:
In the early days, the 'hi hat' was only a foot tall or even less.

Its sound does emulate the cowbell on its bell.

Really, it is just a sound you can use whenever you feel like it, but the general rule is to use it in loud parts of the song or in jazz/latin.
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The reason it was also referred to as the "sock" cymbal.

Mike

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Anon La Ply said:
This ^^

You don't need a ride. Then again, you don't need hi hats either (or at least Keith Moon didn't).

In the 80s rides were a dirty word - it wasn't a "clean" and crisp sound and at that time anything that sounded dirty was thought of as dated. Hence Duran Duran's anti ride stance. In the 80s there never seemed to be enough mics for toms or cymbals. Funny dat.

Look, on a really base level, rides in rock music are used to fill in the gap during the guitar solo to make up for lack of rhythm guitar.

That's less of an issue if you have two guitars or keys, but then I often shift to the ride when I want to give the song a lift. Millions of drummers do this - often in solos or bridges. You want to be able to have a range of textures at your disposal.

Have a listen out for drummers' ride cymbals ... work out which ones sound light and which ones sound dark, and the effect they have on the music. Did the drummer use the bell or the bow of the cymbal, or both? In rock ride cymbals are less important than in other styles.
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This was a really good answer; I'm guesing the part about about filling the gap in a guitar solo to make up for lack of a rhythm guitar pertains to punk music becuase that what I think of when I hear the ride being crashed on the eighth notes.

Mike

http://www.mikemccraw.com
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http://www.youtube.com/drummermikemccraw
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