Ride On The Verse

specgrade

specgrade

Well-known Member
What would cause a drummer to use the ride cymbal on the verse of a song? Isn't the norm to use the hi-hat to keep time during the verse and the ride during the chorus and guitar solos?

I have gotten used to the hi-hat during the guitar solos. I guess maybe I'm just a black and white drummer with no shades of gray.

The dynamics of using the ride during the verses are interesting to say the least.

"Indestructible" by Disturbed comes to mind here.

Your thoughts please...
 
specgrade said:
What would cause a drummer to use the ride cymbal on the verse of a song? Isn't the norm to use the hi-hat to keep time during the verse and the ride during the chorus and guitar solos?

I have gotten used to the hi-hat during the guitar solos. I guess maybe I'm just a black and white drummer with no shades of gray.
Click to expand...

Dave Grohl did that a bit with Nirvana. If it works, it's fine.

But drumming... music... life... has many shades of gray. And colors. And textures. And layers. Things are rarely just either or.

Bermuda
 
Maybe its me but I think Ringo was one of the early users of the hihat for riding. I'm old also and have used the ride as much as the hats. You don't have ride loudly. Jazz comes to mind.
 
Hats give you clean, crisp rhythms while rides states the pulse less obviously and adds colour.

A lot of it depends on what your bandmates are doing. Generally, everyone is laying back more during verses because the vocalist is telling the bulk of the story, usually with lower and quieter tones. So we have to stay out of the way - unless the lyrics are embarrassingly bad, in which case it might be better to mask them :)

By riding closed hats in verses we leave more space, which is appreciated by other players who are already laying back. Rides are nice when you want an ethereal mood. In the 60s the drums were lower in the mix and the drums could play more busily without creating havoc, eg. Mitch with Jimi, Moonie with The Who ... or at least it was good havoc :)
 
While using the HH in a verse and the Ride in the chorus is the norm (in pop/rock at least) it should not be considered a hard and fast rule. Certain conventions are considered so until someone breaks the "rules". Think of Roy Haynes and the drama he caused using the crash cymbal separate from the bass drum. Scandalous! :)
 
For me the hats are a drier, closer sound, open or closed, while the ride is a big expansive sound that creates a feeling of space. It totally depends on what you're accompanying.
 
The ride should "open" any part of the song where it is played. I played drums for a guy (Steve Sparks--RIP) from 1989 to 1991 and he DEMANDED the cymbal on the choruses (and many verses), period! He frustrated me but he wrote the checks.

Here is a GREAT example of the HH and cymbal being played on the verse.....listen to the separation and why the band did it this way......please check it out:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QnMrhFR8jNA
 
bobdadruma said:
Here I am doing it in this vid.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u5yXXjdiQpo
Click to expand...

I couldn't tell. There was some big mama in the way.
But seriously, that was a slow blues number with light quarter notes on the ride. Lots of open space there, so the ride was fairly unobtrusive in that example.
The song Fire by Hendrix is a good example of heavy ride all the way through a song.
 
sometimes the drummer is switching back and forth between hats and ride, but you can´t tell because the music is so loud.
 
jjmason777 said:
I couldn't tell. There was some big mama in the way.
But seriously, that was a slow blues number with light quarter notes on the ride. Lots of open space there, so the ride was fairly unobtrusive in that example.
The song Fire by Hendrix is a good example of heavy ride all the way through a song.
Click to expand...
If you watch the whole vid I play eighth note triplets during the second verse when the tune picks up.
Here is an upbeat tune where I ride during the verse. Its a very common practice as you can see from all of the posts.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RPnIDx5XDmM&feature=related
 
Timely discussion because my natural tendency is to play ride throughout our guitarist's solos. This is especially the case because we only have one guitarist and the bass and keys tend to lay back during solos. The ringing of the ride takes up some of the void. I also mix it up and ride the bell of the cymbal for a few measures.

One of my favorite bands, Boston, switches from hi-hats to ride many times over in songs like Smokin' and Rock and Roll Band.

Occassionally there is a song in which I cannot tell whether it is the hi-hat or the ride that is being played. It may be because of the way the cymbals are being mic'ed and recorded.
 
Thanks for everyone's input!

Bob, I really enjoyed the videos. Lots of space where someone could just go nuts but you waited for the right time and it sounded great.

Pollyanna, Riders On The Storm is a tune that just would not sound the same without that ride. The ride reminds me of the rain coming down.

inneedofgrace, I just figured we use the ride during the guitar solos to be heard above their noise :). J/K.

Bermuda, I have been accused of being a B&W kind of person. It tis my comfort zone. I understand what you mean by life, etc having shades of gray. I still need to evolve in both life and drums and try to be better at them. Thanks.
 
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Bobdadrummer..... REALLY enjoyed the vid as I'm a definate blues nut.

Funny this thread came up as just the other day I was feeling guilty like I was doing something wrong (which I may be?). I practice 100% blues now and noticed that I rarely ride the hats anymore and almost always doing a light (depending on song,etc.) touch on the ride cymbal.....almost always now.

OT: Been a year now since I started self-teaching. There's improvement but I feel it could have been better with instruction but none of that around here. Having a blast so far and working steady on practice. Looking forward to seeing the results come next Jan....
DW and you folks have been a big help....Thanks!
 
When you do use the ride on the verse you usually have to keep it going through the chorus to make it sound good.
After ridin for that long its hard to make the transition back to the hats(in my experience anyway)
 
I have used my ride during verses in some songs I played. There is no law of where in a song it should be played. The drums are filled with voices use them all, explore, be creative!
 
Rick H. said:
When you do use the ride on the verse you usually have to keep it going through the chorus to make it sound good.
After ridin for that long its hard to make the transition back to the hats(in my experience anyway)
Click to expand...

That is why I stopped using the ride so heavily. After listening to several recordings of myself, I realized that I was relying too heavily on the ride cymbal. So now I spend more equal time on the ride and the hats. Oh, and riding on the floor tom is a lot of fun on some songs!
 
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