Open handed - what about this?

picodon

picodon

Silver Member
Tired of having my left arm locked up under the right one when playing hi hat. Or maybe just wanting to innovate.
Too lazy/old/stupid to learn to play the other way around i.e. classical open handed.
Too much married to spend money on the drum kit first and find out if it was a good idea afterwards.
I've been thinking about this for a while. This may be the cheapest and easiest solution.
What if I buy a (Yamaha in my case) remote hi hat cable/pedal and simply swap the hi hat and the floor tom? Then I can play open handed and can still play 16ths on the hi hat with the snare just next to it, without investing in a second pair of hats.
Did anyone try this? Is there a catch?
 
I don't play open handed primarily but you can do what Simon Phillips and Billy Cobham do which is keep the hi-hat to their left and their rides as well or you could play like Mike Mangini where he has a remote hi-hat to his right and a regular hi-hat to his left so basically two hi-hats on each side of the kit.
 
Who is in charge-you or tradition?

Take control of your destiny and try it!

:)
 
Since my budget has been so tight, after wanting a set of remote hats for far too long, I gave up and started playing easy songs with my left hand on hats. It's been a year long process, but my left is finally starting to come around. I'm sure it will be a while longer yet, but it was a couple ofSimon Phillips and Cobham videos that convinced me to try it. I'm in my 50s and refuse to be an untrainable dog, so for better or worse, I decided to try it.

Worth giving it a shot..,
 
picodon said:
Tired of having my left arm locked up under the right one when playing hi hat. Or maybe just wanting to innovate...
Click to expand...

Something to consider that nobody told you yet, if you use the remote hi-hat (only) you´ll be able to play in a "ride cymbal RIGHT position" what your right hand plays at this moment on the hi-hat but NOT ANY MORE what your left does there!.

Now, I don´t know you, but me I play a lot of stuff with my left there and BY NO CHANCE I´m interested or close to be an OPEN HANDED PLAYER.

This means that if you opt for the remote hi-hat if you are a subtle/sophisticated player you´ll better also keep (carry, etc.) your regular hats too on your left.

THE BEST WOULD BE: If instead of expending money, carry two hi-hats or loosing alternative musical choices you STUDY (practice) to "liberate" your left hand...I don´t recommend to go "open handed" but you can do it too, it what be too much more work compared to the work you need to "liberate" your left "ortodoxically".

Tony Williams and others never had a problem with that...


Best regards!
 
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I think I know what you mean in spite of 2 translations :). It's just a matter of buying a second pair of hats or not. For sake of simplicity I wanted to just change it to the right side but I have the impression I will be stuck with a complete Yam 7 series hihat stand including the pedal, so I might as well add a pair of cheap (Stagg?) hats and not have to get rid of the stand which has always served me well.
I'm a huge fan of Dave Garibaldi and I know what playing with a second hihat looks like, just trying to get away cheap.....
 
Instead of open-handed on the hats go with x-hats and set them up near your ride. No "barking" but we play closed most of the time anyway so no loss there.
Not much of an expense if you use cheaper hats with cymbal arm clamp and the $45 x-hat holder.
 
Do whatever the hell you like, it's your drum set.
 
I wanted to play more open handed so I purchased a remote hi hat. And after that I also tried mounting a rack tom to the left of my existing hi hat.
(I play right handed.) I also tried a few alternate set ups.

I play a lot of open jams on other people's drum kits and I play a few gigs where I share a drum set with other drummers.

After all of this experimentation the bottom line is, instead of modifying my hardware setup, I have found it easier to modify my playing technique while using a standard set up. Much better for everyone including me.


.
 
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picodon said:
Tired of having my left arm locked up under the right one when playing hi hat. Or maybe just wanting to innovate.
Too lazy/old/stupid to learn to play the other way around i.e. classical open handed.
Too much married to spend money on the drum kit first and find out if it was a good idea afterwards.
I've been thinking about this for a while. This may be the cheapest and easiest solution.
What if I buy a (Yamaha in my case) remote hi hat cable/pedal and simply swap the hi hat and the floor tom? Then I can play open handed and can still play 16ths on the hi hat with the snare just next to it, without investing in a second pair of hats.
Did anyone try this? Is there a catch?
Click to expand...

Mike mangini does that. It takes some time to coordinate, but it should work
You certainly have a good idea there
 
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