Hi hat foot chick volume

[RickP]

Hi all ,
I play in a local Big Band and find often that the foot chick aoubd of my huhats is not cutting through enough . I have tried a variety of Hihat cymbal types , as well as different angles on the bottom cymbal .
I use very lightweight hihat stands and wonder if this is where the culprit lies . I have started using lightweight hi hats relatively recently ( since I started with this band ) and only heard this complaint with this band .
Should I look into going back to a heavier hihat stand ? What other suggestions can you offer up ?

 

[Ghostin one]

Try raising the top cymbal, so there's more travel?

 

[RickP]

Try raising the top cymbal, so there's more travel?

I thought of that , also tried setting the top cymbal loose and tight .
Another thing I was considering would be the spring tension adjustment .

 

[dboomer]

I typically use different sets of cymbals but in the same stand. The difference in chick level follows the cymbals.

I have a pair of Paiste 13” sound edge signatures for rock gigs that the chick is way too loud for jazz gigs. For Jazz I have a pair of 14” Spizz hats.

 

[gdmoore28]

I would suspect that big band music would demand a loud chick on the hi-hat. Regardless of what pedal you use, there is at least one way to guarantee a chick sound that will be as loud as you want: go with a set of cymbals with a wavy bottom cymbal. That would mean Zildjian Mastersound hats if you like B20 cymbals, or Paiste Soundedge hats if you like B8 cymbals.

I use a light 14" pair of Zildjian As for quiet gigs, but for gigs that require a very pronounced hi-hat chick I use a pair of 14" Zildjian K Mastersound hats. Believe me, the Mastersounds deliver a chick sound with enough volume to part your hair, but they are not metallic, harsh, or ugly. They simply sound like regular hats with a loud chick.

GeeDeeEmm

 

[ineedaclutch]

Does your stand have any sway or noticeable flex when you depress the pedal?

 

[Push pull stroke]

I would suspect that big band music would demand a loud chick on the hi-hat. Regardless of what pedal you use, there is at least one way to guarantee a chick sound that will be as loud as you want: go with a set of cymbals with a wavy bottom cymbal. That would mean Zildjian Mastersound hats if you like B20 cymbals, or Paiste Soundedge hats if you like B8 cymbals.

I use a light 14" pair of Zildjian As for quiet gigs, but for gigs that require a very pronounced hi-hat chick I use a pair of 14" Zildjian K Mastersound hats. Believe me, the Mastersounds deliver a chick sound with enough volume to part your hair, but they are not metallic, harsh, or ugly. They simply sound like regular hats with a loud chick.

GeeDeeEmm
View attachment 90673

Cool. The A’s are even louder than the K’s, though. I might try the Mastersound A’s.

 

[MntnMan62]

You may need to stomp on the hi hats a little harder. Make sure your bottom hat is tilted away from you. And the angle should be pronounced. And you do need to have some decent distance between the top and bottom hi hat when stepping on the pedal. And the wavy bottom hat as gdmoor28 said is probably really good advice.

 

[8Mile]

It's probably too obvious, but have you tried 14" New Beats? They were too much for me in small group settings in a boomy room. Maybe perfect for you?

 

[mbettis]

My Strong Edge hats were designed to alleviate mushy foot chick by leaving the edges at full foundry thickness.

This cutaway illustration gives you an idea of the shape of the Strong Edge taper.

You can hear a bunch of them off of the following page.

Matt Bettis Custom Cymbals For Sale

Matt Bettis Custom Cymbals For Sale.

www.bettiscymbals.com

Matt

 

[Hollywood Jim]

Make sure there is a way for the air to escape when the cymbals come together. Tilting the bottom cymbal using that little angle adjustment will help with this. Also using a bottom cymbal with the wavy edges, like the Mastersound A's and K's will allow air to escape. The third option is to drill holes in the bottom cymbal. I use a heavy bottom cymbal that has holes in it.

.

 

[brentcn]

You're playing heel up, right? Using the weight of your leg, and not just bending your ankle?

 

[evilg99]

Have you tried throwing one of those ching rings on the top hat?
Maybe the flexible ones that Big Fat Snare Drum makes?
Not exactly a hi hat foot sound but you will defintely hear it.
I use one when I really need the 2 and 4 to cut through...

 

[blinky]

You're playing heel up, right? Using the weight of your leg, and not just bending your ankle?

This!

 

[larryace]

Make sure there is a way for the air to escape when the cymbals come together. Tilting the bottom cymbal using that little angle adjustment will help with this. Also using a bottom cymbal with the wavy edges, like the Mastersound A's and K's will allow air to escape. The third option is to drill holes in the bottom cymbal. I use a heavy bottom cymbal that has holes in it.

I don't think trapped air is the issue with no volume foot chicks Jim. I've drilled holes in bottom HH cymbals trying to fix this and it didn't fix a thing. I concluded that trapped air was not the issue. If it was, the holes I drilled into the cymbal would have fixed it.

The wavy edges on the cymbals are the solution. Not to allow air to escape necessarily, but to combat a perfect 100% edge seal between the top and bottom cymbals. A perfect edge seal is the volume killer, even when air is allowed to escape through holes in the bottom cymbal. Wavy edges fix that. Or just 1 crimp somewhere on the edge of either HH cymbal so the 2 cymbal edges can't perfectly seal.

 

[MntnMan62]

I don't think trapped air is the issue with no volume foot chicks Jim. I've drilled holes in bottom HH cymbals trying to fix this and it didn't fix a thing. I concluded that trapped air was not the issue. If it was, the holes I drilled into the cymbal would have fixed it.

The wavy edges on the cymbals are the solution. Not to allow air to escape necessarily, but to combat a perfect 100% edge seal between the top and bottom cymbals. A perfect edge seal is the volume killer, even when air is allowed to escape through holes in the bottom cymbal. Wavy edges fix that. Or just 1 crimp somewhere on the edge of either HH cymbal so the 2 cymbal edges can't perfectly seal.

I think this is true. But with regular hi hat cymbals, all you need to do is angle the bottom cymbal and you eliminate the seal on the edge and will always have a nice chick sound. I have a pair of regular old 14" hi hats made by Zildjian for Manny's Music on 48th Street in NYC and I always have a pronounced angle to my bottom cymbal. I always get comments about how they can hear my hi hat through whatever music we are playing. That and a nice heel up technique so you can get a good stomp will produce all the "chick" you need. No need to spend lots of money on fancy cymbals.

 

[larryace]

I think this is true. But with regular hi hat cymbals, all you need to do is angle the bottom cymbal and you eliminate the seal on the edge and will always have a nice chick sound. I have a pair of regular old 14" hi hats made by Zildjian for Manny's Music on 48th Street in NYC and I always have a pronounced angle to my bottom cymbal. I always get comments about how they can hear my hi hat through whatever music we are playing. That and a nice heel up technique so you can get a good stomp will produce all the "chick" you need. No need to spend lots of money on fancy cymbals.

Tilt, agreed. When I get the negative chick sound, (I don't have wavy edges) I just spin my bottom cymbal to a different place to combat the perfect edge seal that happened. It usually happens when my bottom cymbal loses it's tilt.

 

[MntnMan62]

Tilt, agreed. When I get the negative chick sound, (I don't have wavy edges) I just spin my bottom cymbal to a different place to combat the perfect edge seal that happened. It usually happens when my bottom cymbal loses it's tilt.

Agreed. I also sometimes get the negative chick when my upper cymbal loosens up so it floats more and it can sometimes adopt the angle of the bottom cymbal. All I do if that happens is tighten the upper cymbal a bit and I'm back in business.

 

[larryace]

The wavy edges really should solve this, no matter what happens with the cymbals. I'm considering making a slight crimp to deform my bottom cymbal edge now ha ha. It is annoying when it happens.

 

[Bo Eder]

There’s a reason everybody’s used Zildjian New Beats for the last 60 years. Get some and be happy. I’ve seen both Buddy and Louie play live without microphone coverage and their hats just cut through as far as the chick sound goes. If you want an even louder chick sound, try two New Beat bottoms together, even better! Paiste 2002 Sound Edges work real well too.