Drums
& Equipment - Cymbals - Hi-Hat Cymbals
A hi-hat, or hihat, is a type of cymbal and stand used
as a typical part of a drum kit by percussionists in jazz, rock and
roll, and other forms of contemporary popular music.
Description
The hi-hat consists of 2 cymbals (generally 13-15", though larger, and
smaller have been created). The lower cymbal remains stationary while
the upper cymbal is attached via a clutch to a narrow metal shaft. This
goes down through a hollow tube into the pedal, where it is controlled
with the foot. A hi-hat can be played open, closed, semi open or the
pedal can be manipulated so the cymbals clash together. With modern
hi-hats, the pair is generally medium to heavy weight, with the lower
cymbal being heavier than the top. This is not always the case, however.
History of development
The hi-hat originated as a cymbal turned upside down on the floor, with
another cymbal tied to the drummer's shoe, and was played by stepping on
the bottom cymbal. Later in the 20th century, it was raised up to sock
level (just below the knee) and called a "low boy" or "sock cymbal", and
operated by a pedal. The low-sock was a pedal which simply clashed
together a pair of similar crash cymbals. The cymbals were mounted next
to the pedal, so playing them with a stick was not possible. Today it is
called the "hi hat". The hi-hat stand was developed from the low-sock by
Gene Krupa in collaboration with Armand Zildjian.
Up until the late 1960s the standard hi-hats were 14", with 13"
available as a less common alternative in professional cymbal ranges and
smaller sizes down to 12" restricted to children's kits. In the early
1970s heavy rock drummers (including Led Zeppelin's John Bonham) began
to use 15" hi-hats. In the late 1980s Zildjian released their
revolutionary 10" Special Recording hats, which were small, heavy hi-hat
cymbals intended for close miking either live or recording, and other
manufacturers quickly followed. However Paiste offered 8" Mini hi-Hats
as part of their Visions series in the early to mid 1990s, one of the
world's smallest hi-hats. Starting in the 1980s a number of
manufacturers also experimented with rivets in the lower cymbal. But by
the end of the 1990s the standard size was again 14", with 13" a less
common alternative, and smaller hats mainly used for special sounds.
Rivets in hi-hats received rave reviews but failed to catch on.
Modern hi-hat cymbals are much heavier than modern crash cymbals,
reflecting a continual trend to lighter and thinner crash cymbals as
well as to heavier hi-hats. The other change has been that a pair hi-hat
cymbals are no longer necessarily similar. More typically the bottom is
now heavier than the top (but in some cases like the K Zildjian Steve
Gadd Session Hats the pattern is reversed for a cleaner chick and
cleaner sticking), and may also be vented, this being one innovation to
have caught on. Some examples are Sabian's Fusion Hats with holes in the
bottom of the hi-hat or Sabian, Zildjian, and Paiste's X-cellerator,
Master Sound and Soundedge respectively. Some drummers even use
completely mismatched hi-hats from different cymbal ranges (Zildjian's
K/Z hats), of different manufacturers and even of different sizes (like
again the K Custom Session Hats where one hat is ¼ of an inch smaller
than the other).
Other recent developments include the X-hat (fixed closed or 'half open'
hi-hats) and cable-controlled hi-hats. An extended drum kit will often
have a second set of hi-hats, normally smaller than the main ones,
mounted to the centre or to the right. These may be fixed closed or
connected by a bowden cable to a pedal operated by the drummer's left
foot, or more rarely, their right foot.
Additionally, many drummers use a drop-clutch mechanism to disengage the
top hi-hat in order to free up both feet while using a double bass
pedal. This results in the hi-hat producing a closed sound until the
hi-hat foot is available again. The mechanism is typically enabled by
depressing a switch on the hi hat clutch which drops the top cymbal,
letting it sit freely upon the bottom cymbal, then disabled by fully
pressing the hi-hat pedal, which reattaches the top cymbal to the clutch
mechanism, allowing the top cymbal to be moved laterally by the pedal.
Recent development from drum manufacturers have resulted in a "clutch
pedal", which when used together with the hi-hat pedal does the same
thing as a drop clutch system but has the advantage of freeing the
drummer's hands completely.
Sabian released the Triple Hi-Hat which is designed by Peter Kuppers. In
this variation of the hi-hat, the top cymbal moves downwards and the
bottom cymbal moves upwards simultaneously while the middle cymbal
remains stationary.
Playing techniques
When struck closed or played with the pedal, the hi-hat gives a short,
muted percussive sound. Adjusting the gap between the cymbals can alter
the sound of the open hi-hat from a "shimmering", sustained tone to
something similar to a ride cymbal. When struck with a drumstick, the
cymbals make either a short, snappy sound or a longer sustaining sandy
sound depending on the position of the pedal.
It can also be played just by lifting and lowering the foot to clash the
cymbals together, a style commonly used to accent beats 2 and 4 in jazz
music. In rock music, the hihats are commonly struck every beat or on
beats 1 and 3, while the cymbals are held together. The drummer can
control the sound by foot pressure. Less pressure allows the cymbals to
rub together more freely, giving both greater sustain and greater volume
for accent or crescendo. In shuffle time, a rhythm known as "cooking" is
often employed. To produce this the cymbals are struck twice in rapid
succession, being held closed on the first stroke and allowed to open
just before the second, then allowed to ring before being closed with a
"chick" to complete the pattern (the cymbals may or not be struck on the
"chick").
A right-handed drummer will normally play the hi-hat pedal with their
left foot, and may additionally use either or both drumsticks. The
traditional hi-hat rhythms of rock and jazz were produced by crossing
the hands over, so the right stick would play the hi-hat while the left
played the snare drum below it, but this is not universal. However, some
top modern drummers like Billy Cobham, Carter Beauford and Simon
Phillips do not cross their hands over at all, normally playing the
hi-hat and also a second - or a sole, depending on drummer's preferences
- ride cymbal mounted on the left with the left stick rather than the
right. This is called open handed playing. In both rock and jazz, often
the drummer will move the same stick pattern between the hi-hat cymbal
and the ride cymbal, for example using the hi-hat in the verses and the
ride in the chorus of a song, or using the ride to accompany a lead
break or other instrumental solo.
Roger Taylor, drummer for the band Queen, plays with many unique hi-hat
techniques, including involuntary opening of the hi-hat on every
backbeat for a rhythm emphasis and leaving the hi-hat slightly open when
hitting the snare.
From:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hi-hat_cymbals
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