Drummers with one Crash/Ride Setup

right. But I wanted to see how dudes used it you know? It is as simple as can be but I'm sure that there are people out there who execute some sick moves on that setup as if there were more than what there is. This is what i do, but I just started so I would like to see someone shred on a kit like that. thats all.

thanks!

try different things with your cymbals and then incorporate the stuff into your playing, like...

instead of hitting the bow of the hats when opening up your left foot, hit the bell with the shoulder of your stick...

put your stick in between the hats and rattle it between the top and bottom hat...

leave a 1/2" of play btween the felts, so with no tension on the hats you get a nice sloshy sound, then "bounce" your foot to get a little jungle fever from them...

and this is just the hats, experiment and there is no end to the sounds you can get out of a cymbal

one more thing, set up a snare and bass, no toms and just one cymbal - this forces you to be creative with an individual cymbal, extreme but the greats have recorded with less ;-)
 
I think its worth repeating Daren King from Mute Math.

SICK

so the verse groove... he's playing eights on the hats while he ghosts sixteenths on the snare... his right hand hits two and four on the snare... and he's filling in sixteenths on the hats with his left foot?

so...

HH| x - x - x - - - x - x - x - - -
S-| - o - o - o O o - o - o - o O o
HF| - x - x - x - - - x - x - x - -



WTF?!

Unfortunately my headphones are crap and I can't really hear the bass drum, but I imagine it's just following the left foot.
 
You've got the idea, but its not that complicated. I just look at it like playing 16th notes broken across the snare and hats with the bass following the right hand. He isn't using is left foot to fill in high-hat notes.

HH| x - x - - - x - x - x - - - x |
SD| - o - o x o - o - o - o x o - |
BD| x - x - x - x - x - x - x - x |


Sorry my tabs aren't perfect, but I love this beat and use it all the time.
 
It is going up and down, but it coincides with the right hand, not alternating it.
 
paradiddler said:
so I'll hit the 18" like a crash and just continue riding it. Well, when you do that, you have to make sure you're riding the cymbal while it comes back into place (after having crashed it) 'cause it's moving all over the place...

Yes. For months I just had 12" hats and a 17" crash/ride.

If I'm riding eighth notes and need to crash, I will play the crash as a quarter, which gives the cymbal time to swing and for the vibrations to settle down. Crash/rides are big and make a fair bit of noise when they fully open up so the missed ride eighth note after the crash is not noticed.

C/Rs are also nice for small crash sounds played as a glancing blow with the shoulder of the stick, but it takes practice to get it to open up the right amount. The good thing is that it doesn't swing the cymbal enough to affect my riding. As Wavelength said, hats can work ok for crashing at times too. Sometimes that's the right sound for the moment, sometimes not.

I ended up adding a spash cymbal because it's such a fine line between getting a nice, gentle crash out of a C/R cymbal and getting a massive boom (which can scare my sensitive band mates :) I've seen a number of drummers who are better coordinated than I am use C/R cymbals as their sole cymbal to great effect, though.

So, to make having a sole C/R cymbal work, you either need very good control and feel with it or you need a band situation where subleties aren't critical.
 
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Just realized I forgot to add my personal experience xD

I use just ride/crash and hats in a couple situations.

When I'm too lazy to lug my gear around, I actually use a B8 crash/ride and a pair of 14" hats to play a gig. I've learned to use the cymbal a number of different ways to get different sounds out of it, from glancing blows, to full on crash, to hitting the side to get a sharp *ping* out of the cymbal. Personally, I feel the bell on a most crash-rides are generally lacking, so I just pound the bell to get it as loud and cutting as possible.

Sometimes, with jazz gigs, I'll just use one ride, thin so I can crash, but large so there's lots of wash. 21" K constantinople rides are beautiful things, lol. I'll couple that with a pair of 14" constantinople hats. Perfect for small jazz gigs. Sometimes I'll just use one rack and no floor as well. Depends on how lazy I'm feeling LOL.

Basically, it forces you to be very creative with a minimal kit.
 
Personally, I feel the bell on a most crash-rides are generally lacking, so I just pound the bell to get it as loud and cutting as possible.

It must depend on the cymbal. My 17" bell sounds good and I don't miss my old Paiste 22" ride at all.

One thing I forgot to mention earlier is that, if you're not playing rock, you have to ride a C/R more gently than a normal ride or it will start opening up and you start to lose the attack in the wash.
 
I've used the ride/crash and hats set up for two years so far and it's worked perfectly every time. I use this setup whenever space is VERY limited or I'm under the gun to get set up quickly. Saves time and keeps me sane during rushed setups. I've never had anyone tell me I need more cymbals or it sounds funny. Just be sure to keep everything loose and not tighten too much or else you could crack a cymbal.
 
right. But I wanted to see how dudes used it you know? It is as simple as can be but I'm sure that there are people out there who execute some sick moves on that setup as if there were more than what there is. This is what i do, but I just started so I would like to see someone shred on a kit like that. thats all.

thanks!

You should check out DW's video Kick Snare Hat

they have less epuiptment than you but they all use it amazingly

Dynamics help tremendiously when using a small setup btw
 
Billy Martin often uses a set-up with hats and one ride.

I think a fantastic ride to use in this type of set-up is the Sabian 21" Memphis Ride.
 
I use this setup. I'm a big exponent of getting as many sounds out of few components. I only use a 13x5 snare, 22x13 kick, 14 hats and a 20 crash ride and I can get enough sounds to keep it interesting. I have just added a floor tom though for fun.

I did play for a while just kick, snare, hats using the hats to crash (though they were 16" crashes as hats lol)

The only cymbal I miss is having a little splash for special accents
 
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