Hi Hat 16ths technique

aboylikedave

Senior Member
This guy posted a clip of himself playing solely to show of his Ludwig kit and not to do with technique. One thing I noticed was the relaxed look of his RH 16ths on the hat and ride and the accenting.

http://vids.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=vids.individual&VideoID=54329729

How can I work towards getting mine like that? What technique is that? Mine are a rather heavy handed moeller or drop catch - with noticeable up and down forearm movement - but don't seem as relaxed as that.Is he simply using a lot of wrist?

One thing - I don't really think we should comment about any other aspects of his technique as it wouldn't be fair, as that's not what he posted the clip for!
 
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How can I work towards getting mine like that? What technique is that? Mine are a rather heavy handed moeller or drop catch - with noticeable up and down forearm movement - but don't seem as relaxed as that.Is he simply using a lot of wrist?

Yes, to your last question. Note that his forearm isn't moving a lot and that the tap on his upstroke is produced largely by his wrist. For loud/powerful playing, we need to use the forearm somewhat, but on the hihats - especially under close micing - there's really no need. Getting your forearm under control will not only reduce your fatigue (that's a lot of weight to be tossing around as the tempo rises) it will improve your overall kit balance by bringing the hihats down in relation to your kick and snare; making your soundperson's job much easier, to boot.
 
What technique is that? Mine are a rather heavy handed moeller or drop catch - with noticeable up and down forearm movement - but don't seem as relaxed as that.Is he simply using a lot of wrist?

It's still a moeller stroke, but scaled right down so most of the movement is in the wrist.

It's a two stage cycle: first is a low moeller stroke, then he plays a tap which is executed as his wrist winds up to repeat the cycle. As the wrist goes up, let the tip drop onto the drum head. After a while, the tap and the winding-up blend into a single movement. His fingers stay closed around the stick all the time - there is no use of the fingers at all (mabe a tiny squeeze to help the upbeats but definitely no opening/closing of the fingers)

I found it helpful to imagine that the sound produced by the "tap" stroke was in fact being generated by the butt end of the stick hitting a small imaginary drum positioned just above my wrist. Sounds crazy but it seemed to help fuse the lifting of the wrist and the dropping of the tip into a single motion.

Hope this helps.

Paul
 
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