How do you know when to crash?

Ikebongo

Member
I have no problem keeping the beat... I just never know when I’m supposed to crash... it’s weird, it’s like sometimes I really feel the beat and I’m like oh the drummer will def crash there but he doesn’t and it’s just like a bd note ... and he’s keeping the beat and other times I’m like grooving keeping the beat and I hear a cymbal crash I don’t get it. I’m like thinking the opposite basically if when to crash and not to crash.
 
study music theory.

listen to music you like.

practice, and record yourself practicing. readjust to what sounds good to you.

create your own style based on all the above.
 
Cover tunes....crash on the crashes (at least the 'important' ones).

Originals....crash where you feel like saying "hey!"...."un!"..."um!"..."ahhh!"

Etc.
 
This is a fun question. Because to me the answer is simply, yet complex.

You can put a crash anywhere you want, that's the simply part. The complex part is what kind of crash, does the crash support the song, melody, vocals and lyrics, does it even have to be a crash. Or could it be a hihat bark, a hit on the bell of the ride, or just a nice solid floor tom hit.

If Kick and snare is the meat and potatoes of the groove, then for me the cymbals and crash placement are the spices used to enhance the meat and potatoes. (PS- its about lunch time when i'm typing this, hence the food analogy. haha)

Sometimes using a crash at the end of fill is called for, maybe doing one in the middle ala Moon, heck try starting a fill with a crash.
Do the crash's change in pitch as needed?

it's really about feeling the music and adding to it and not taking away from it just to hit a crash. Sometimes the best things played are the things NOT played. Check out Steve Gadd on that one, haha.


Good Luck
 
As others have pointed out, you just need to listen closely to music with definite intent to study that aspect. When you hear the drummer crashing, ask yourself why he/she might have made that choice.

Some common places -

-A significant "1" (the first beat of a new part, crash serves as an opening note and signal that the new part has started)
-A significant "4"; quite often at the end of a fill right before the 1.
-Wherever you want to highlight something that another player is doing, a nice crash can be a good opener for them to play a solo while you quiet down, for example.
-A place in the music where you want to create a little "space", sometimes you can leave off on a crash and let it decay by itself for nice effect.
-Really emphasizing a whole part with lots of crashing... Sometimes called "crash riding" very popular in lots of music and used heavily in modern "pop/punk" styles.

What you absolutely want to avoid though is making it a formula or rule based decision. I've come across a lot of players who "automatically" crash on almost every 1, or at every "usual" place where one might appear. It gets tiring to the ear after a while and has the effect of taking away space from the other musicians. It's important to remember the sonic space that cymbals take in the room/mix is generally higher and more likely to wash out guitar work for example. Just like you wouldn't crash all over a vocal part, think about the other parts the same way and try to stay out of their way.
 
When you get real sleepy. Go crash. If you crash too much you get too much sleep-if you don't crash enough then you don't get enough. Same principal applies.
 
Some good answers here.

It depends on the music. I can tell you one thing, most of the time in live band settings I hear drummers use too many crashes.
Listen to your favorite popular recording artist. You will hear very few crashes.


.
 
I'm going to chime in here and offer my perspective on crashes as a non-drumming musician. My main instrument is trumpet, so sometimes I have a perspective about how drumming relates that's a bit different than someone who only drums.

Crashing is about punctuation in phrasing. Sometimes it's intuitive, such as crashing the "1" every 4 or 8 bars - typically to punctuate or delineate a shift point in the music, i.e., opening verse to mid-verse, beginning of the chorus, beginning of the bridge, etc, depending on song structure of course - sometimes a re-intro into a song will be 10 measures, but the concept is the same - a crash on beat "1" of the verse is the line of demarcation between the sections of the song.

Then there are hits, punches, or whatever other term you want to use, where the crash is adding punctuation to a musical point within a phrase. Often we use smaller faster crashes or splash cymbals for these.

Start thinking like a singer, guitar player or horn player, and start digging into the phrases of the music you are listening to, and see if you can find patters for the how/why a player crashes. Some drummers crash all over the place, some are a bit more minimalist in their approach, but usually the hits, punches and crashes make sense from a phrasing perspective, and they will help you in your own efforts at crafting drum parts that make sense musically.
 
Some good answers here.

It depends on the music. I can tell you one thing, most of the time in live band settings I hear drummers use too many crashes.
Listen to your favorite popular recording artist. You will hear very few crashes.


.


I think it may be the biggest complaint of songwriters/performers. If a beginning drummer played crashes where he wants, it would likely be everywhere :)

My suggestion would be, listen to the music you want to play and observe where the crashes are.
 
Usually on the first beat of the first bar when making a transition from say, verse to chorus, or whatever.
Also - whenever you feel like it and it seems appropriate for emphasis..
 
Crash marks a transition. Could be a verse to chorus transition. Or it could highlight a word in the lyrics.
 
You're asking the equivalent of, how do I know when to eat?

When you need to. Don't spend a thought on it, it will alert you when it's time.

When don't you crash is a more answerable question.

In my world, the less, the better.

Your world may vary :)
 
Some good answers here.

It depends on the music. I can tell you one thing, most of the time in live band settings I hear drummers use too many crashes.
Listen to your favorite popular recording artist. You will hear very few crashes.


.

Hollywood Jim that is so true. But I'd ask for "live situations" when sometimes you feel you want to excite the crowd going crazy on a cowbell or something can sometimes do the trick. Here is my brother exciting the crowd on cowbell. Now see the apple just don't fall far from the tree-and you all thought I was crazy-no it's just genetic. LOL-he's an idiot too.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oQKpk2PMsoI&feature=youtu.be
 
If you have reserve then use it to accentuate, make it ur own.
If your in a punk band, after every measure sometimes twice during, and after every fill.
 
Even if you listened to all the music you could, there's no definitive answer for this. All you can do is be familiar with the music you're playing and eventually the when will become more apparent (maybe).

I think your question is too rooted in drumming nuts and bolts than it is in making music (which is your main by-product of being the drummer). The music you play will dictate certain sounds, and even then, if you choose not to execute, it may still sound cool. You should listen to some early Peter Gabriel music where Jerry Marotta purposefully didn't play any cymbals - although he did have one dead-sounding cymbal he played very sparsely. That will give you an idea of what music sounds like without cymbals. On the other end of the spectrum, listen to Buddy Rich or Billy Cobham to hear music with alot of cymbals.

I think once you get a grip on the music you're playing, what instruments you choose to play for it will develop over time.
 
Listen to records and notice what the pro’s do. Otherwise as others have already said;
1. Usually on 1.
2. When the song changes section
3. Often not appropriate when the singer is singing.
4. Build up the song. Don’t go bananas from the beginning. For instance skip the crash on the first 1 or 2 section changes. This builds up tension. Open hihat on ‘4 and” is a good replacement sometimes.
5. Use sparingly.
 
Back
Top