Rules for cymbal use.......any or none?

[ausrock]

As I'm not a drummer's bootlace, I thought I'd throw this out here for comments and/or advice...............:

Following some discussions in the studio, I'm trying to find out what, if any, are the accepted principles that are applied to the use of cymbals in rock music..............ie: when should an open h/hat be used in preference to closed, what is the primary use of crash cymbals and when should or shouldn't they be used, etc., etc.

In other words.....are there any rules or is it a case of there are no rules.



Also, I currently have a drummer in the studio that grunts, hums (not to the song), moans and almost farts as he plays.........this is all being picked up over the sound of his kit by the o'heads and tom mics (condensers), short of shoving a sock in his mouth and then using some gaffa tape to hold it in, has anyone got any usefull suggestions on how to deal with this .

Cheers..........

 

[scrubs]

I don't think there are any set rules. In general, I'd say that the hats are usually played closed in rock, although a trend in recent years seems to be bashing the shit out of partially-open hats, creating this horrible sloshing sound that is very difficult to record. I think of crashes as being mostly for accents at natural transition points but, again, it is highly variable.

As for your drummer, I'd say put a boundary mic on his throne and turn it up really loud in the mix. Let his bandmates decide if the problem is worth dealing with.

 

[ermghoti]

I have no rules for you.

Put a mic right on Bam-Bam's face, and only run that channel from his kit into his cans while you record. He'll be forced to shut up to hear what he's playing.

 

[rgraves]

Closed hats are used mostly, and then open up the high hats to accent a section, usually the chorus. Also open hats are often if not always used for half time feel sections of the songs, because the closed high hat will fade out too quickly.
Crashes are used for accents, usually on 1. Of course when doing fills the crash can be used anywhere. These are just basic guidelines. Not sure why you would need someone to tell you this, after all, you can just listen to 2 or 3 rock songs and figure out all the basics...drums is one of the easiest instruments to get started on...of course to master it can truly take a lot more effort.

As far as recording...I think there is a jokingly polite way you could mention that it requires near silence from him to record. Just point it out in a take, I would exagerrate the sounds like the others mentioned...

 

[Supercreep]

Also, I currently have a drummer in the studio that grunts, hums (not to the song), moans and almost farts as he plays.........this is all being picked up over the sound of his kit by the o'heads and tom mics (condensers), short of shoving a sock in his mouth and then using some gaffa tape to hold it in, has anyone got any usefull suggestions on how to deal with this .

Cheers..........

I understand Bonham did that quite a bit, too. If it helps him keep time, I wouldn't worry about it. It's unlikely to be audible in the mix.

 

[Elton Bear]

My drum teacher is an amazing player, and he hums a constant note to keep in time, ask the drummer politely to keep it down, 'coz im sure he knows he's doing it. if that doesn't work, leave it and he'll either stop it or live with it.