How do you do this? Benny Greb cymbal thing

PQleyR

PQleyR

Platinum Member
Never seen this before. Any ideas?

EDIT: It's at 5.10, I thought the link would take you right there but it hasn't.
 
You get that from dragging the tip (or butt end I suppose) across the cymbal. In my experience, it really doesn't work right unless the stick is perpendicular to the cymbal. Experiment with applying the right amount of pressure and you will get that spooky cymbal sound. I've had the best luck dragging the stick towards the bell.
 
Thanks Polly, I expected that to be the link that I copied (from a comment) but for some reason it wasn't.
 
It has a lot to do with the unique texture of his signature ride (Meinl Byzance Sand Ride). It has an almost sandblasted finish to it, which lends itself very nicely to that type of screeching noise.

You might get a similar effect with an unlathed cymbal, but I'm guessing you'll have big difficulties achieving it on a lathed and/or polished cymbal. Of course, it also helps to be a freak of nature like Benny Greb (and I mean that in the most positive of ways). The man is definitely a unique drumming talent, and I can't even imagine the number of hours that have gone into making him that good.

Here's a picture of his sand ride; you can sort of make out that it has a sandy texture to it:
meinl_sandride.jpg
 
I've tried it on a bunch of rides, and I think as long as its a professional quality cymbal, its quite possible and rather easy.

All you gotta do is put the tip of the stick pretty much perpendicular to the cymbal face and put a surprisingly LIGHT amount of pressure on the cymbal while you slowly move your stick ALONG THE CIRCULAR GROOVES of the cymbal. If you move your stick up and down the cymbal, it won't work. It has to be pretty much along the circular grooves, but it doesn't have to be exact.

It's a cool effect with a large amount of applications in the right style of music. Tell me if you get it, i can be bad at explaining things
 
You can do it on any cymbal, hi-hat or whatever. You take the stick and hold it vertical, so that the tip of the stick is on the cymbal. The trick is to not press to hard, just slide it around the cymbal or hi-hat, and you will get this sound. Like a rusted gate.
Maybe I should make a tutorial of it.
 
I stand corrected. I guess I probably pressed down too hard, because I haven't been able to do it on my lathed ride. Haven't tried it on my unlathed one though.
 
This is a neat trick. I'm going to make some samples of this on various cymbals, and upload them to a filesharing site for people to use in their compositions. I know that I'll have some immediate uses for this effect!
 
Hey, I had a go earlier on my Paiste 400 ride, and it worked! Not hard to do at all, bit like when you run your finger round the rim of a wine glass.
 
K.Howden said:
Aha, I can't stop doing this now...I can't see as I'll ever have a use for it but there's something pleasingly amusing about doing it.

Fantastic!

Kev
Click to expand...

Exactly. I had read about this trick somewhere a long time ago. It's something pretty cool to mess around with...and really freak people out.
 
Aha I stumbled upon that one for myself earlier in the year; Wah-bell!

Kev

Edit: I was talking about the first trick, just watched the rest of the vid haha. That's gonna keep me amused for some time!

Edit II: I love Wynton's facial expression at 1:55
 
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Yep, that Herlin Riley solo is super special.

Anyway, I tried Benny's trick last night. I kept the stick perpendicular, didn't press hard and followed the grooves, but I only got a couple a crappy sounds, nothing like Benny's :(
 
not to brag, i can get the same sound he does on any cymbal. Ive found its about finding the pressure and angle where the stick moves with the most resistance. So forcing down hard at a 90 deg angle wont work, you have to be light and since different sticks have different tips you have to experiment with angle.

Ive found its a light touch and then add pressure from there, and you will feel the stick grip and make a screetching sound. Took me a while to get it like Benny
 
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