difference between "regular" and "fast" crash?

phillyb™

Member
can someone help clear up some of my confusion.
i've only been playing a few months and while browsing cymbals online, i keep seeing the term "fast" used when describing some crashes.

are these crashes designed to be something you hit a lot?
for example, instead of using the crash on the 1, would a fast crash be something hit on all of the beats?
i see they have a short sustain for the most part, so i'm assuming that's correct, but i'm still a little unclear.

i'm also assuming they're mostly pretty thin when compared to crashes not listed as fast, yes?

thanks!
 
a crash is a crash, you can hit them whenever you want. fast just means they get out of the way quicker or like you said, short sustain.
 
You're correct, fast means thin. Usually it means thinner than thin, as in paper-thin so they open up and get out of the way quickly.

There are no rules for how they get used of course, but they tend to be a little splashy, especially in the smaller sizes, so if you're trying to get a full sound from one, you may end up over playing and cracking it.

Not a bad thing, just something to keep in mind.
 
Fast crashes generally have a little bit of a flange (like a china cymbal, only very subtle and small) that makes them decay quicker. Like v zarate said, they have a short sustain. It has nothing to do with how you hit them.
 
Just to add that I have a 18" Zildjian A Custom fast crash and it is not very thin, seems pretty sturdy, but does decay fast as noted above. Noticeably less sustain and less loud than the standard A Custom crash I have beside it. So I think they vary in terms of sturdiness.
 
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