What kind of splash costs $400?????
Sorry Zep, I should have clarified. That's $A400 not $US400. I saw a 12" Zildjian for $A360 that had a good, clear sound (the other $40 was headroom - lol). That would be a bit under $US300. If you guys went into a shop and found the best-sounding 12" splash in there, how much would you be paying?
I squibbed and instead spent $67 on a Stagg 12" (ie. the least bad garbage can lid in the shop), figuring that I can usually coax something pleasant out of a cymbal once I get to know it. If I hit the garbage tin lid ... er, Stagg, with the shaft of the stick close to the bell - not too hard - it can almost sound ok in some musical situations but there's not much margin for error. I should have known better but since I'm not "serious" any more I couldn't justify buying a good one since I've spent plenty on other gear in recent months. Still, it does help keep my playing clean because I'm avoiding crashing as much as possible
Pardon the hijack. To make up for it, there's an intreresting thread on this forum:
Why are there so few female drummers? http://ilikedrums.tribe.net/thread/88e6b370-a258-40a1-beb9-eac09856eec1
A couple of people on that forum listed some high quality women drummers as though suggesting that we're
not a TINY minority in the drumming world. But we are. Even today, when people find out I'm in a band and ask me what instrument I play I feel a bit weird about saying "drums", even though I've never had a bad reaction. I just know it's not normal and people see it as a bit of a novelty.
Putting aside a couple of dozen outstanding individuals, the fact is that the gulf between the best female drummers and the best male drummers is huge. I mean, Cindy and Sheila are maybe the most technically advanced women players around, but on the other side you have guys who are percussion legends like Billy Cobham, Steve Gadd, Dave Weckl, Vinnie, Steve Smith etc ... the list is almost endless.
I think a feminine sensibility might bring something a bit different to the table, at least at the "drumming working class" levels where I'm at. A lot of guys who pay around my technical level who I've met seem less sensitive to dynamics (ie. they play loud almost all the time) and also to the singer/drummer relationship, focusing more on the drum/bass relationship without really considering the vocals all that much.
That's just my perception based on what I've seen. At the higher level drummers there's probably not much difference in musical sensibilities because high level musicality seems to be pretty universal.