Hi-hat (foot and other) technique?

S

sshu

Senior Member
I am trying to better master use of the hi-hats with respect to different dynamics of foot splashes (e.g., hitting with heel first), foot chicks, sizzling, getting the hi-hats to slosh around (a la Steve Smith video), keeping swing time (also a la Steve Smith with heel going in and out).

I am also not sure how to configure the hi-hats optimally, e.g., tilt of bottom cymbal, tightness of top hat, big or small bottom felts, etc. as it relates to the effect that I'd like to achieve.

I'm also realizing that I'm having a hard time controlling dynamics and consistency. Any good exercises, tips, or videos that people have run into? Is there a definitive source on hi-hat technique? Seems like bass drum technique is much more widely covered ...

Thanks for any insights!

Steve
 
Ah the hi hat. The most sensual piece of the drumset. I applaud your desire to do right by it. To me the hi hat is like the female aspect of the drumset and you just have to experiment with all the different adjustments you have at your disposal to see what it can do, and then figure out where to use the different sounds. The tilt (and these are all just my opinions) is not terribly crucial, as long as it's not extreme, the felts, I never even thought about to be honest, the tightness of the top cymbal affects things, tighter tensions sound...tighter and more controlled....looser tensions sound....looser, more sloppy....both sounds have their uses, then you have your medium tensions to split the difference. The distance between the 2 cymbals has a big effect on the chick and how much you have to raise your feet (or toes) to open the hats to the desired amount. Onstage I normally keep it at one setting, top hat medium tight, maybe 1" between the 2 cymbals, small tilt, but that might not work for you. The hi hat to me is a very personal part of each individual drummers sound. That's the great thing about the drumset. It can be however you want it to be. I like drummers who get everything they can from their hi hat.
 
larryace,

Thanks for the perspectives. I have had a similar experience so far with respect to the tilt. It doesn't affect things that much for me.

As for felts, haven't quite figured on the role they play, but I have no idea how to get my hats to swing back and forth like Steve Smith does. Seem like they'd have to be pretty loose both in terms of seating on the bottom and tightness on the top.

As an aside, the foot splash and close like Ndugu Chancler is doing around 2:00 here at the MD 2008 thing (http://www.hudsonmusic.com/festival) is something that I cannot seem to pull off. He is using some sort of heel toe action on the hi-hat. But I think it is different than the heel toe action one might use on the bass drum, because off the bass drum, one is usually trying to get the beater to come off the head for each stroke. In order to get the alternating splash and then chick on the hi-hat, it seems like you need to adapt the stroke to fully choke the cymbals on the upbeats. At the speed Ndugu is performin (or even anywhere close to this speed), it seems tough to me to choke out the second note.

Or maybe one needs to modify the heel toe method here?

Dunno. Any thoughts?

Steve
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top