Hi Hat gap...

  • Thread starter Thread starter TelePaul
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TelePaul

TelePaul

J to the R O C
Sorry for all the basic drum questions of late, just have a few new mics on the way and I'm trying to get things set-up just right. With that in mind, I'm wondering as what distance you guys keep between top and bottom hats when the pedal is not depressed?

Thanks boys.
 
I usually keep it far enough that it won't sizzle too much when I open it all the way.
 
Personal preference. There is no right answer.

I keep mine about .5 - 1 cm apart.

(I even answered in metric) :D
 
I usually keep them a 5A drumstick width apart. Just lay the stick on the bottom hat, and lock the clutch when the top hat rests on the stick. So far it's worked for me with every hi hat, no exception.
 
This is interesting. As it stands, I have maybe an inch gap and it still rattles to fuck when I hit it open....but any wider and I wont really be able to use the pedal for splashes etc....hmmm.
 
TelePaul said:
This is interesting. As it stands, I have maybe an inch gap and it still rattles to fuck when I hit it open....but any wider and I wont really be able to use the pedal for splashes etc....hmmm.
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Go smaller. An inch gap on the hats is pretty big. Smaller gap gives you a clean "chick" when played with the foot and smooth sizzle when played open.
 
Agreeing with greg. Less work for the foot opening and closing too.
 
Greg_L said:
Go smaller. An inch gap on the hats is pretty big. Smaller gap gives you a clean "chick" when played with the foot and smooth sizzle when played open.
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Absolutely! There's no need to keep them that far apart and for my style of playing, I set the screw so that the far edge of the hats is just barely touching when the hats are open so I get a sustained sizzle. That won't work for everything, but it's great on traditional blues and jazz.
 
My hihat cymbals are about 1 1/4" apart. That might sound like a lot but I use an old 1950's WFL stand made by Walberg & Auge and the spring isn't that strong, so keeping it down is no sweat.

When I sit at the kit the cymbals are closed all the time, and when I open and close them typically they'll open maybe 1/16 to 1/4"... very little. But if I want to I can open them full and crash the top cymbal with little if any contact with the bottom, but I really don't do that much.

When you strike a drum, the way you get louder is by raising the stick higher before it comes down, the higher the louder. It's the velocity that makes it louder. The misconception is that you hit the drum "harder". So if I want I can open my hihats 1 1/4" and that produces a different chick than if I do it from say 1/4".
 
+1 to dinty

never really thought of it that way. makes it seem like I have been taking the easy road.
 
I have about a 2mm gap , really small , I play Double kick and have my Hi-Hat open most of the time and don"t want the hiihat to be too loud but still have a good sizzle ......


Cheers
 
I have a friends that keeps them a good 5 inches apart. I always laugh when he plays drums cuz it looks like something outta peewee's playhouse with the things flying up and down :laughings:

He's a good drummer though, he's a jazz guy so he only uses it for hi-hat steps to keep tempo basically, although I still think its dumb as hell
 
Bguzaldo said:
I have a friends that keeps them a good 5 inches apart. I always laugh when he plays drums cuz it looks like something outta peewee's playhouse with the things flying up and down :laughings:

He's a good drummer though, he's a jazz guy so he only uses it for hi-hat steps to keep tempo basically, although I still think its dumb as hell
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Um..................... WHAT? I am a jazz drummer and I know many of the country's leading jazz drummers and they play their hi-hats quite a bit and they NEVER have then set that far apart!!! Your friend may be a really good drummer, but that hi-hat set-up is very unusual. It may work for him, but it is very atypical for jazz drummers.
 
had to be a typo...what high hat stand can travel 5 inches
 
TelePaul said:
This is interesting. As it stands, I have maybe an inch gap and it still rattles to fuck when I hit it open....
Click to expand...

That'd come down more to technique. Don't lay into it so much if you want a cleaner "open" sound.
 
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