Purpose of angled hihats?

If the two cymbals were to strike evenly all the way around at the exact same moment, the air trapped inside the two cymbals creates a suction, and the cymbals will stick together (aka "air lock").

The slight tilt of the bottom cymbal prevents them from ever striking each other perfectly evenly.
 
It also allows them to be adjusted for a particular sound when both cymbals do not fully contact each other, more of a sizzle type of sound when the hats are not fully closed. I usually run the back of my hats a little closer together than the fronts

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Dennis
 
Try angling them a little bit and see how you like the sound. As with everything on your kit, the trick is to adjust away and play around with it till you find how you like it.

Personally I don't use the tilt screw because I use 15" has and don't find air lock a problem. YMMV so adjust till you're happy.
 
great thread. I decided to tilt my bottom hat a little, now the "chick" sounds better and it's easier to get the sizzle sound from my hats. Sweet!
 
Try angling them a little bit and see how you like the sound. As with everything on your kit, the trick is to adjust away and play around with it till you find how you like it.

Personally I don't use the tilt screw because I use 15" has and don't find air lock a problem. YMMV so adjust till you're happy.

I have never experienced the "air lock" either. I always keep the two cymbals parallel. I've always thought of it as a sound preference thing. I prefer to control the sizzle with a ratio of how hard I hit it, and how much I open it.
 
Re: Purpose of angled hi hats?

I have never experienced the "air lock" either. I always keep the two cymbals parallel. I've always thought of it as a sound preference thing. I prefer to control the sizzle with a ratio of how hard I hit it, and how much I open it.

The sound of tilted hi hat cymbals can be so much more intimate when you need them to be. They sound great with sticks or brushes. It basically has everything to do with your playing style and genres of music.

Dennis
 
I was told, by Zickos, that angling them it make a chomp sound when you step on the hats instead of a dead clomp type of sound. I like the chomp.
 
I recently started to play with the bottom cymbal tilted, and now my hats sound better and tighter. I get a better, clearer sounding chic when playing with the foot. I too never knew what that did as well, but now I know and it's useful, since now that you can get more awesome sounds with what we already have!!!
 
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