Drumming with no hi hats

Here is Boise a couple of years ago an African music and dance group came and their drummer played without a ride cymbal.

Do you know who they were? I wonder if it was remnants of the band I was playing in the past few months? I might know some of these guys.
 
That's one of the most enjoyable vids I've seen. I love when his own hihat playing surprises him. He's like my lovable old grandfather... if i were black.

bernard makes me wish I was black. his hat(s) are immense, such an infectious personality.
 
Most jazz drummers would probably disagree with you.

And not just jazzers ... Keith Moon springs to mind as one who could live without hats easier than without a ride .

Of course the hats are an expressive and versatile piece on the kit, but a crashable ride is equally so in low volume music - clean ride sound (low volume, varies up and down the cymbal), washy ride sound, bell, glanced crashes (of varying intensity) and full crash.

I'd feel fairly comfortable playing without ride or hats, but I'd much rather have both.
 
I don’t know if anyone will reply here, since this was 11 years ago…

I may not be an accomplished drummer, as I am young, but I know of an accomplished drummer who plays without hi-hats - Brian Chippendale of the band Lightning Bolt. His drumkit is set up with a ride and crash on the right side, two rack toms, and snare. His floor tom is on the left side where his hi-hat is, and he uses his left foot (in absence of the hi-hat) for effects pedals (Brian is also the lead singer of Lightning Bolt, he wears a mask to obscure his face with a mic attached to it) to modulate his voice. All the notes he uses a cymbal on are the ride or crash.

Check out songs like Dream Genie, Dead Cowboy, or The Metal East for good examples.

~Horizon
 
Drumming with no hi hats? Not gonna' happen here.

Can't imagine what you were looking for, Horizon, when you dug this one up. :unsure:
 
I don’t know if anyone will reply here, since this was 11 years ago…

I may not be an accomplished drummer, as I am young, but I know of an accomplished drummer who plays without hi-hats - Brian Chippendale of the band Lightning Bolt. His drumkit is set up with a ride and crash on the right side, two rack toms, and snare. His floor tom is on the left side where his hi-hat is, and he uses his left foot (in absence of the hi-hat) for effects pedals (Brian is also the lead singer of Lightning Bolt, he wears a mask to obscure his face with a mic attached to it) to modulate his voice. All the notes he uses a cymbal on are the ride or crash.

Check out songs like Dream Genie, Dead Cowboy, or The Metal East for good examples.

~Horizon
Thank you for acknowledging this was an 11-year-old thread! I wish everyone who dug up old threads would do the same.

Anyway, a while back I noticed that the drummer for the British band The Subways doesn't use a hi hat, and just stomps his left foot on the ground while playing. It's a little odd, but it seems to work for him.

 
The hi-hat provides too much of the overall sound of the music for me to discard it or even listen to music without it. It's often a lot like an ambiance rather than merely another voice such as a ride or splash. It provides most of the treble coming through your speakers.
 
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I would say 'never limit yourself by not knowing how to do it, but certainly explore your selection options'.
 
Maniacal bass playing element Sting famously banned Stewart Copeland, an absolute genius of the hi-hats, from playing hats during the beginning of “Every Breath You Take”…bloody lunatic… :unsure: 😂
 
My hi-hats form the nucleus of my rhythmic orientation, more so than my snare or bass. I refuse to play without hats. Long live the slosh and sizzle!
 
I saw a drummer last week with zero toms and zero cymbals. Except for the hi hat. Bass, snare, tambourine and woodblock.

I'd say the omission of the hi hat could be the bravest thing a drummer could do.

I'd feel naked and at a disadvantage without mine.
 
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