Dr_Watso
Platinum Member
EDIT TO ADD: You're more kind than I am.
Sorry. I just don't buy it. At all. The fundamental premise is flawed: "I like having my cymbals low (she never says why), but I kept hitting my hands on other gear."
SO RAISE YOUR CYMBALS.
Sheesh.
She hits like a panzer. I think that's a far more likely explanation of her cymbal placement. One thing I've noticed from her videos is she never hits a cymbal with the tip of her sticks if she can help it. She plays through - WELL through - her pies with the shoulder of the stick from HER shoulder. Plus she uses those extra-dry cymbals that just aren't loud. So she's hitting them even harder just to get them to speak.
I'd hate to see her cymbal budget. She must go through them like a curry through a nun.
It's important that I point out that I <3 Ms Nilles. I adore her songwriting. I think she's inspired. She's got good chops, even though, like all YouTube sensations, she appears to desperately need work on figuring out what "dynamics" are.
But this cymbal placement thing? What utter rot. I forget the word, because it's too early in the morning here, but it means, "a reason you give because you don't want to reveal the real reason you're doing a thing." Justification? No, that's not it. Anyway.
I think the evidence for it being a trend is far greater than the reverse. First, she's playing trendy cymbals - those dark/dry/unlathed things. Second, she's playing a variety of trashy stacks. Third, she's got the de rigueur "dead 80s side snare." Maybe I'm cynical, but I think "trendy" is far more likely than any other reason.
I just looked at the video, and she said quite clearly she wants to keep a low playing plane. Instead of reaching up and out, she wanted to keep her hands close to the rest of the drums. Her cymbal being angled as it is makes it easier to use the stick on the edge, while still keeping things low. Assuming that you'd have to hit your cymbals harder in that setup is kind of weird, because it would likely be the opposite. With the edge right there and so easy to crash on, it would take less effort to get it to open, not more. That stuff about hitting a crash on the bow with your stick tip is just plain weird. Nobody does that, and if they do, they're going for a hollow, lighter sound. Normal "correct" crashing is typically a glancing blow to the edge, using the stick shoulder. You're trying to crash on it, not ping on it.
There's a lot to be said for playing down into your drums instead of reaching out and up. You seem to be dead-set against anything new, but your logic here isn't making any sense to me. Seems like you're just looking for anything to dis-credit the setup, which I don't get.