Do you release your hi hat each time?

Bo Eder said:
I think I just started doing this back when I was a kid because I saw show drummers do this to eliminate any noises when there wasn't music being played. Still makes sense to me today.
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Yeah, I seem to remember bumping the hi-hat stand on stage at an inopportune moment causing a disrputive "CLANG-CRASH" sound, so I release it for that reason.
 
rocker261 said:
I always release my hi hat from the rod after each session, what does everyone else do? I figured it helped the spring last longer, but maybe I'm just OCD and it really doesn't matter.
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My stepdad since '79 is an old school professional gigging drummer who always releases the HH clutch after playing. I never do because I like the freedom of having them ready to rock on a moment's notice. and bc I never thought it hurt the clutch or the spring.
boomstick said:
Yeah, I seem to remember bumping the hi-hat stand on stage at an inopportune moment causing a disrputive "CLANG-CRASH" sound, so I release it for that reason.
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Depends on when I intend to start playing them again. If I know I'm not going to be playing them for a couple days then I'll release the clutch. I always leave the snares tensioned unless there's some other audio that's going to be affected by the sympathetic buzzing. I don't want to wear things out prematurely.
 
I always release my hats when they aren't in use but never my snare wires. For some reason, I don't like the idea of never-ending tension on my hi-hat clutch. Persistent tension on my snare wires is fine though. There's no grand science behind my distinction, just habituation.
 
Rochelle Rochelle said:
Never heard of doing this..but I do remember when I was a kid that my aunt would always turn off the radio in her car before turning off the car. I always wondered why she did that.
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That was actually a known best practice; the more electronic devices you had on in a car with a conventional alternator/ starter/ battery the more stress it put on alternator at startup. Not sure if that's still an issue with 2022 cars, but it sure was a few years back when most cellphones were in cars either permanently installed or else "bag phones" plugged into cig lighter. Leave that bag phone plugged in and your radio on and that was damaging to system at startup.
 
@Rattlin' Bones, battery, not alternator, but can confirm that best practice with older vehicles is to turn off all the gadgets before turning off the ignition key. I've done it out of habit for so long, that I really don't know when it was no longer necessary, but it's no longer necessary. Still, I persist...I'm (slowly, very slowly) getting better at not "warming up" the engine, but it's so ingrained in my psyche that I have to actively remind myself that it's bad for the vehicle to let it idle like that. Some people's kids...

I don't release my hi-hat or release my snares when I'm done. Neither makes any discernable noise unless I start attacking them with drumsticks. Might consider getting a spare spring for my next hi-hat stand now, just in case.
 
Rochelle Rochelle said:
when I was a kid that my aunt would always turn off the radio in her car before turning off the car. I always wondered why she did that.
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I still do that, and in addition to hearing it wasn't good for the battery, it just always seemed like what was an entirely reasonable volume when I turned off the car mysteriously transmogrified into Way! Too! Loud! when I next started the car.
 
the few times I can ever leave my kit set up for more than a gig, I release the hats, and the snare too. Dunno why, but I do it
 
Clutch and snares off is good band etiquette. Just like a guitarist or bassist will turn their instruments down and put the amp on standby.
 
I don't release anything......hihat, snares, heads, stands, throne, pedal, etc. So far so good for the past almost 40years......I'll let you know if I run into a problem however........... :)

On stage, different story, release snares.....
 
I don't have a kit a home since ages and have to set it up every time (luckily i don't have to haul my kit around since it's stored there), so also the hi-at stand is 'released'. Also the snares on both snare drums are off (even in the drum bags). Main reason i also like Tama Iron Cobra pedals; so you can unhinge the springs.
 
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