Mounting things for LESS accessibility?

[=^-..-^=]

I listened to some recordings of my playing, and realized I was overplaying my Splash cymbals, giving my playing a very tinny overall sound. I mentioned this to an old Jazz guy who was giving me some lessons, and he said something like, "Yeah, isn't a Splash an EFFECTS cymbal, meaning you shouldn't hit it very often?

Anyway, at one point, I had FOUR Splash cymbals, mounted very conveniently, so I was definitely overplaying them then! I'm down to one, maybe two. I adjusted my two 16" Crashes so they were in a much more playable position, and consciously made an effort to use them where I might have hit a Splash in the past. I kept moving the Splash around, but was still overusing it, so now I moved it to the left of the HiHats, so I have to make a real conscious effort reach over and to hit it. It's now like, "Does this song need a Splash cymbal right here?" and it has put the Splash back into the realm of an Effect cymbal once again.

Have any of you ever moved a piece of equipment to a place where you would play it less? (Besides off the kit altogether)

[Northern Redneck]

No, I just dont play it.

[almostmatt1]

My cowbell, its been all over the kit, from the hihat stand rod to the floor tom legs.

[kay-gee]

IMO, all cymbals are quite often overplayed! Constant bashing gives the music a kinda of "messy" sound. This is true of jazz also.

all the best...

[marko138]

I don't hit my splash enough. I end up hitting it about once or twice per gig. Then I feel bad cuz I don't use it. I need to work it into my playing more.

[yohin]

No, I just dont play it.

Same, or I just take it off the kit altogether.

[Russ]

I wouldn't intentionally move something out of the way to avoid the temptation to use it, if that's what you're getting at. Certain parts of a song call for that accent or effect, and it won't be often enough to worry about. Keep them set up comfortably, but be a little more choosy about when to play. Generally only 3 sizes of splashes sound good to me at all- 6/8/10" so I really can't see the need to have as much or any more than that on my kit at any one time. It would be feeding GAS, a waste of money, i'd run into setup issues, etc- too many reasons i'd prefer to use a limited amount of cymbals.

[late8]

Have any of you ever moved a piece of equipment to a place where you would play it less? (Besides off the kit altogether)

No, I take a different approach. I set up what I call priority pieces where they're easy to reach and place other pieces of my kit with less priority on the outside edges of my comfort zone.

Here are two examples of how I set up my kit within my reach. The number of piece to the kit changes but my comfort zone is always consistant no matter how big of a kit I decide to set up. The hihat and the ride cymbal border my comfort zone.

[Andy_TAMA]

I had to do the same thing with one of my splash cymbals when I got a second one. At first I had both my splash cymbals mounted above my kick and rack toms. But there they were too easy to reach and I massively over played them. Now I have done a similar thing to you by the sounds of it and have moved one of them over my hi hat where I have to willingly make a decision to move my arm round and play it.

[marko138]

You can see mine here right next to the hats. It's convenient there but like I said, I don't use it much.




Overhead shot of my old kit...but it's in the same spot: