Cymbals that do not move

petey

Member
Drummers who tighten their cymbals down so tight that they hardly move when you hit them,,,

Doesn't it choke the sound some?
 
I am a proponent of clamping cymbals. I find that cymbals need to flex to open up, but I don't tend to hit hard enough to make this happen when they are free, so I clamp them. It is especially nice for China's and large washy rides.
 
Ray Lutzer cranks down his cymbals so they'll barely move...

I like my cymbals medium to firm tightness, they should move easily but not swing around when I'm playing, (typically I'll lose a stick if one of my cymbals gets too loose). It annoys the crap out of me if my crash is sloshing around while I'm riding it. Yet if I had my cymbals tight I would probably have broken them all by now. So I have them set "just right".
 
A lot of metal guys clamp them down simply to avoid them sloshing around while they play busy patterns. I had a friend who reasoned that he will break cymbals faster when they're loose because you end up hitting them at weird angles as they move. I'm like "OK...tilter?"
 
Yeah, having them clamped tightly does make the cymbals more prone to cracks, as well as choking it some. I figure this only matters if you hit hard though. I myself have my cymbals very loose, and my ride has no wingnut at all.
 
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