How..do you play your hats..generally

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View attachment 129449

As I’m 3 up two down I’d like to go with a closed set like you have on the right centered over the 14 and 16 floors or further left over the 14 floor . Been thinking about this for some time now . I guess I’m either procrastinating or I can’t decide where and how to mount them 😂. But I’ll get on it sooner or later 👌🏼👍🏼🤘🏼.
 
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For standard rock backbeat playing, it's that rocking shank-tip motion. I've been doing it the whole time I've been playing, so that's like 21 years.

But of course, sometimes you want to bludgeon the side of the hats with the shoulder of the stick, and I'll use that sound every once in a while... and sometimes, I even hit the bell of the top cymbal.
 
old K stamp III top 767g 14"
bottom old K Con 1200g 14"
~
Old K New stamp 773g top 14"
Old K New stamp 979g bottom 14"
~
Bosphorus Traditional Dark
14" 910g top
14" 1110g bottom
~
Avedis A's early mid Quincy 60s
884g top 14"
910g bottom 14"
~
16s
Old Avedis thin no ink crash top 947g / inked medium ride bottom 1267g
Old Ks Intermediate stamp 1075g top
New Stamp 1275g bottom.
~
some Zildjian extra's spares:
old K New stamp 14" 1050g
couple or 3/4 older A's 14s
trans stamp, 1st stamp, newer thin crash, older heavy
~
some B20 Paiste with edge knicks :
earlier 602 pre serial
14" top, 14" top or bottom, 14" Sound Edge bottom
850, 899, 972g's
~

it's a Love thing.
culled and kept after many prior decisions over time
 
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A little bit of everything...because i don't know how to play them so, I try....With my feet it doesn't work though...Well, with my head as well...Heu, it worked it fact but my fore front didn't like it!!!
 
old K stamp III top 767g 14"
bottom old K Con 1200g 14"
~
Old K New stamp 773g top 14"
Old K New stamp 979g bottom 14"
~
Bosphorus Traditional Dark
14" 910g top
14" 1110g bottom
~
Avedis A's early mid Quincy 60s
884g top 14"
910g bottom 14"
~
16s
Old Avedis thin no ink crash top 947g / inked medium ride bottom 1267g
Old Ks Intermediate stamp 1075g top
New Stamp 1275g bottom.
~
some Zildjian extra's spares:
old K New stamp 14" 1050g
couple or 3/4 older A's 14s
trans stamp, 1st stamp, newer thin crash, older heavy
~
some B20 Paiste with edge knicks :
earlier 602 pre serial
14" top, 14" top or bottom, 14" Sound Edge bottom
850, 899, 972g's
~

it's a Love thing.
culled and kept after many prior decisions over time

that is a freakin' STABLE!!!!!
 
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When I first started playing drums I generally played with the tip of the stick on the hi-hat, until I saw most other drummers using the shoulder. I then played with the shoulder to "fit in" for many years, even though I wasn't playing out or anything. I assumed that primarily using the shoulder was evidently the proper way to play the hats. Eventually I learned to play the drum kit and the cymbals to get the sound that I Iiked and not what someone else likes.

The hi-hat is my favorite part of the kit and when I returned to generally using the tip of the stick on the hats, I felt at home again, because I prefer the sound that way. To me, I don't care for the sound of a hi-hat played generally with the shoulder of the stick as much as I do when played with the tip. I'm almost always disappointed when watching a demo video of a hi-hat and the player doesn't use the stick tip for a good period of time. I guess I like a dry, precise and cleaner sound more than a bigger washy sound one gets from using the shoulder.

I also discovered that using the German grip while keeping the index finger off to the side of the stick and gripping the stick with my pinky and ring finger gives a "clickier" or more stick sound on the hats, which is what I prefer. I will use the shoulder for accents, and of course, if the song gets loud and I think it's necessary to do it for a particular song. But for most of what I play now, the tip is the sound I like most and it keeps the volume down. I also used to mostly play with the tip about an inch in from the edge, because I heard some pro drummer say that that was what he did. But I learned that I generally like the sound better when played more in the middle of the bow of the top cymbal.
 
old K stamp III top 767g 14"
bottom old K Con 1200g 14"
~
Old K New stamp 773g top 14"
Old K New stamp 979g bottom 14"
~
Bosphorus Traditional Dark
14" 910g top
14" 1110g bottom
~
Avedis A's early mid Quincy 60s
884g top 14"
910g bottom 14"
~
16s
Old Avedis thin no ink crash top 947g / inked medium ride bottom 1267g
Old Ks Intermediate stamp 1075g top
New Stamp 1275g bottom.
~
some Zildjian extra's spares:
old K New stamp 14" 1050g
couple or 3/4 older A's 14s
trans stamp, 1st stamp, newer thin crash, older heavy
~
some B20 Paiste with edge knicks :
earlier 602 pre serial
14" top, 14" top or bottom, 14" Sound Edge bottom
850, 899, 972g's
~

it's a Love thing.
culled and kept after many prior decisions over time
What's the main variable in hats that makes you collect them? The type of wash when part open? Are there big variations in that sound?
 
What's the main variable in hats that makes you collect them?
perfect dark Chick click
those are all variations with same theme
and wasn't over night purchases
1968- 2020
I shed a lot a few too

Plus there's the mixblend with the suspended cymbals around them I was old K player/gigger/ for 20 years/ A's and 2oo2 before that/ Today now Bosphorus (or the old Ks will go out. Sets.

Sets. Those are just the hats. Of sets of matched compatible cymbal (sets)
 
When I first started playing drums I generally played with the tip of the stick on the hi-hat, until I saw most other drummers using the shoulder. I then played with the shoulder to "fit in" for many years, even though I wasn't playing out or anything. I assumed that primarily using the shoulder was evidently the proper way to play the hats. Eventually I learned to play the drum kit and the cymbals to get the sound that I Iiked and not what someone else likes.

The hi-hat is my favorite part of the kit and when I returned to generally using the tip of the stick on the hats, I felt at home again, because I prefer the sound that way. To me, I don't care for the sound of a hi-hat played generally with the shoulder of the stick as much as I do when played with the tip. I'm almost always disappointed when watching a demo video of a hi-hat and the player doesn't use the stick tip for a good period of time. I guess I like a dry, precise and cleaner sound more than a bigger washy sound one gets from using the shoulder.

I also discovered that using the German grip while keeping the index finger off to the side of the stick and gripping the stick with my pinky and ring finger gives a "clickier" or more stick sound on the hats, which is what I prefer. I will use the shoulder for accents, and of course, if the song gets loud and I think it's necessary to do it for a particular song. But for most of what I play now, the tip is the sound I like most and it keeps the volume down. I also used to mostly play with the tip about an inch in from the edge, because I heard some pro drummer say that that was what he did. But I learned that I generally like the sound better when played more in the middle of the bow of the top cymbal.

yeah...I think the playing situation determines how you do it.

when I first started out, I never played in a situation where using the tips would ever be heard. I couldn't hear them myself over the guitar and bass amps. I would still write passages where I used the tips - and could hear them when the drums were mic'd or in the studio, but often times live, I was playing those passages by how they felt, and how I imagined they would sound when mic'd.
 
depends on the material you're playing
Grand Funk Railroad is not Minnie Riperton
etc etc
 
perfect dark Chick click
those are all variations with same theme
and wasn't over night purchases
1968- 2020
I shed a lot a few too

Plus there's the mixblend with the suspended cymbals around them I was old K player/gigger/ for 20 years/ A's and 2oo2 before that/ Today now Bosphorus (or the old Ks will go out. Sets.

Sets. Those are just the hats. Of sets of matched compatible cymbal (sets)
Your house is a veritable goldmine of bronze. 🌟😁
 
I use the tip and shoulder on the hats. It depends on the song and/or what I want to hear in the section.
I have them at a height I can use the top or edge comfortably, without having to think about having a different hand position on a gig.
I'm not doing jazz gigs, or very nuanced playing, but I do want the hi hats to sound good when I'm playing.
 
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Reactions: jda
I know I know..lots of hat talks you can search but I've been watching YouTube for a week going over various hats from A to Z. Big..small..thick thin etc. Am I odd because I play my hihats with the shoulder of the stick on the side generally?. Can I get an AMEN on this..why do so MANY YouTube clips have hat demo's as if rank amateurs are playing them. It just bugs me. Some hats I'm digging (kind of) are 13 and 14 KZ hats..HH click hats and especially Paiste Rude sound edge as well as regular Rudes 14. I remember reading how Chris Whitten felt he'd rather have used 14s than 13s on a recording he was on. My main focus on this question is how you generally play your hihats. I realize different techniques and locations with either tip..shaft..tip shaft combo etc exsist but when I'm picking out hats the litmus test is how they sound with stick shaft on the edge. If it's to chunky the test is over.
Depends on what im playing.... Thrash or alt , yes i use shoulder. Pop or jazz , obviously use only the tip and always closed., and only Nylon tip sticks. They sound way better to me. 14" paiste 2002 sound edge
 
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