The Placement of The Ride Cymbal

Mine is placed as regularly as possible.

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My ride is almost dead center above my kick.
Very interesting setup with the remote hats & ride placement HC. Stunning looking kit too. Especially like the earthquake kick and the (18"?) floor tom placed to your left.

I keep mine right next to the hihat, sometimes even to the left of the hihat. This photo is a bit distorted; that is a 20 ride to my left.
That's interesting DMC. Do you usually play open handed?

Wow, I am totally admiring you set up KIS, that is a kit of beauty!
Thanks LMB. I kinda like it too.
 
This isn't my kit; it's one I used in the studio, but it's set up just like mine.

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Ride is flat and hovering a little higher than the rack tom. This gives me full access to every playing surface, including the edge for crashing, without making me left my arm uncomfortably high. It's what works for me.
 
On my E- practice kit, its on the cymbal next to the hats

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On my yammies it sits betwwen the mounted 12" and the floor 14"

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VERY BORING!!! I need to get inspired by Harry & KIS's set ups!

...
 
Very interesting setup with the remote hats & ride placement HC. Stunning looking kit too. Especially like the earthquake kick and the (18"?) floor tom placed to your left.
Thanx KIS. It's kinda John Bonham meets Bill Bruford. I just got my matched 14x14 Luddy delivered yesterday (eBay win). Have yet to incorporate it. Then I'll have to add "meets Tony Williams". And yes, that's an 18".
 
I have mine very high and semi-flat because I frequently use it as a crash.

Those would be some good starting positions, and from there (any one of those pics) you should tweak it until its comfortable for you.

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Please ignore that moon gel that "fell" there...

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And here's a good one to show off the actual height I have my ride set at.

-Jonathan
 
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I have mine very high compared to most of the ones seen here. Think Todd Sucherman, only not tilted because I frequently use it as a crash.

I don't see any resemblance to Todd Sucherman's ride placement. His ride is positioned in front of his rack toms, not to the right of them like most other drummers prefer (and like you have yours positioned). It obviously works for him, but I cringe a little every time I see him reach for it; he always seems to have to bend forward and stretch his arm very far to reach the ride (especially the bell).

You can sort of see what I mean here:
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Very nice kit, by the way :)
 
I don't see any resemblance to Todd Sucherman's ride placement. His ride is positioned in front of his rack toms, not to the right of them like most other drummers prefer (and like you have yours positioned). It obviously works for him, but I cringe a little every time I see him reach for it; he always seems to have to bend forward and stretch his arm very far to reach the ride (especially the bell).

You can sort of see what I mean here:


Very nice kit, by the way :)

hmmm.... at the clinic I went to I seem to remember it being closer to how I have mine set up. oh well. and yeah I totally hear what you're saying about the leaning forward. I wonder if it actually causes him physical pain to play the bell....

Thanks for the compliments!!

-Jonathan
 
There's no pain or discomfort with my reach at all. I've actually raised and tilted my ride in the last two years---more like I had it in the 90s. I like a little "reach" when I go to the bell. It's like kicking into an overdrive gear and I like that physical feeling. But my shoulder never gets raised or fatigued. The picture of the live rig previously posted was from '07. Pics of a recent Canadian clinic run below...
Cheers!
TS
 

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Well there you go. Like I said, it obviously works for you ;-)

Here's a good example of what I meant though; to me it seems like you're really stretching your right shoulder to play the bell early in the video, while later on (in the hihat grooves), your shoulder and posture appears a bit more relaxed.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ujByPDusUqU

You're probably just as relaxed in both cases though (like you said), and it's just a matter of me projecting on to you the way it looks and the way I imagine I'd feel if I did that (if that made any sense) :)
 
That's interesting DMC. Do you usually play open handed?

Yes, always. I have been playing since 1983 and my first teacher played open (left hand hats and ride) and made me do the same. He said no one ever did anything with their hands crossed and no one should play any instrument with their hands crossed. I am right-handed and I like having my dominant hand on the snare drum, which is the heart of the set. I don't need to lift my hats hand to make way for big snare hits and it is very useful to have the snare, hats and ride close together.

Sometimes people confuse open-handed playing with ambidexterity. I am not ambidextrous and I am just as rigid as any crossed player with my assigned hand roles. So my ride stays to my left and in the past it has been well to the left of the hihat.
 
Yes, always. I have been playing since 1983 and my first teacher played open (left hand hats and ride) and made me do the same. He said no one ever did anything with their hands crossed and no one should play any instrument with their hands crossed. I am right-handed and I like having my dominant hand on the snare drum, which is the heart of the set. I don't need to lift my hats hand to make way for big snare hits and it is very useful to have the snare, hats and ride close together.

Sometimes people confuse open-handed playing with ambidexterity. I am not ambidextrous and I am just as rigid as any crossed player with my assigned hand roles. So my ride stays to my left and in the past it has been well to the left of the hihat.
Thanks for that DMC. What you're saying makes complete sense to me. I wish I'd had the foresight to adopt the same posture when I started out. I never had the benefit of guidance on the kit, so I simply adopted the default position of rock players of the day. I'm not sure I could make the switch at my age. If I was a lot younger, or even starting out, I'd certainly see the benefits in doing so.
 
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