evolving_machine
Silver Member
I discovered this strange but useful thing. It bothers me that it has taken me so long to discover this. If I play/ ride the ride cymbal as close to the edge of the cymbal as possible, while still playing on the top side of the cymbal, I can lower the volume of the cymbal. Normally, I ride the part that is in the middle of the radius of the cymbal, I think this is called the bow of the cymbal, as opposed to the bell and the edge.
This works best on my 21.5” Zildjian ride from the 60’s. However, when I do play the cymbal close to the edge, it does not have the optimum bounce and it does take more effort to play the cymbal in this area close to the edge. It is sort of like playing on a pillow that has little bounce.
The question is, am I the last one to know about this technique for playing lower volume on cymbals?
When I play my snare drum and I want to have different dynamics, I play close to the rim of the snare drum to lower the volume, but when I want a good full sound, I hit the drum right in the center. My snare drum heads wear out in the center and also towards the left of the center near the rim.
This works best on my 21.5” Zildjian ride from the 60’s. However, when I do play the cymbal close to the edge, it does not have the optimum bounce and it does take more effort to play the cymbal in this area close to the edge. It is sort of like playing on a pillow that has little bounce.
The question is, am I the last one to know about this technique for playing lower volume on cymbals?
When I play my snare drum and I want to have different dynamics, I play close to the rim of the snare drum to lower the volume, but when I want a good full sound, I hit the drum right in the center. My snare drum heads wear out in the center and also towards the left of the center near the rim.
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