Using dark and bright crashes together?

[stevemcb]

Hi guys, drum newbie here… The crux of my question is whether anyone has opinions or experience of using both dark and bright crashes together on a kit.

I know people often use different sizes of crash to vary pitch, and different series of cymbals for rides and crashes eg. K ride with A crashes, but don't see many drummers varying the series or voicing between multiple crashes so that they have both bright and dark crashes available. Is this done? Anyone here do it/recommend it/recommend against it?

The reason I ask is I've recently started drumming, and currently have started a band doing covers (indie to classic rock) with friends. My kit came with Sabian XS20 medium hats only.

First cymbal I bought was a Sabian Legacy 17" crash - my favorite crash of many I tried (not just Sabians) - dark, complex, trashy and beautiful. Then I got a screaming deal on a used AA dry ride (not raw bell) which sounds great.

I'm really happy with each cymbal individually, but when I practice with the band, I sometimes wish I had a brighter crash to match the bright hats and ride. I've been thinking about adding a second crash (when/if I get the funds together) - maybe a 16" AA or even an AAXplosion fast crash. I have no intention of getting rid of the Legacy from the setup - I love it too much and for some material it sounds superb. Would you recommend I go AA/AAXplosion, or stick closer in tonality to the Legacy with a 16" evolution or AAX dark crash?

I appreciate any insights!

Thanks,
Steve

[Lefty]

Sure you can mix them. It all depends on what you like. I've been using an 18" Paiste Sig. full crash with a Sabian HH 16" Med. Thin for yrs. I used a 16" Zil. A Med. Thin with the 18 for quite a few yr. before the HH. The Paiste is pretty brite. The HH is a little dark. I think they go good together. You will see pros using A's and K's together too. Carter Beauford is one I can think of.

[Ray on the Drums]

Absolutely!

[porkpieguy]

I think that it's perfectly fine to mix names and types together. It'll give you a lot of exposure to different sounds, and through it you will find what you like and what you don't like. You can also get to the point where you use certain cymbals for certain situations

[late8]

I've got a mix of 14" AAX Fast hats/20"AAX stage ride along side two vintage 19" Zildjian A med and heavy rock crashes and in my opinion, it sounds great. The AAX is bright and with two rather dark sounding crashes give the entire kit the sound that I need at practice. The band is a 60's, 70's classic rock cover band.

[Squeakthedrummer]

I myself use a variety of cymbals, both bright and dark. I use 13" Zildjian K custom dark hi-hats, a 18" Zildjian K medium thin dark crash, a 17" Sabian AAXplosion crash, a 10" Sabian APX splash, a 16" Sabian prototype china (it's not as bright sounding as my Xplosion crash), a 22" Meinl Byzance sand ride (a darker sounding ride), and a 20" Paiste Dimensions medium crash ride (which is by far, my brightest sounding cymbal. It's very bright!).

I bought my cymbals separately, according to what sounded good to me, not going by the tones of my other cymbals. By doing so, I now have a variety of sounds to choose from, which adds an interesting dimension to my playing.

While some drummers may prefer having tonally similar cymbals, it really just comes down to personal preference. I personally recommend choosing cymbals based on what sounds good to you, as opposed to matching cymbals by tone.

[JohnnySticks]

Cymbals are all about (aural) colors. It's a matter of what colors do you like? And what colors does your music call for?

[pcs90]

I prefer all of mine to be pretty dark, but even within that there's a lot of variation. I currently have I believe 7 brands of cymbals on my setup, they all go great together. Can you mix bright and dark? Absolutely, if they sound good together then go for it. However one other thing to consider could be to get a darker crash with more power. Legacy cymbals are very light, so they may not compete well with the ride or hats you are using. Something like an Evolution or HHXplosion could work well. If not, the AAXplosions and AAX Studio crashes are very versatile cymbals.

[stevemcb]

Thanks for your thoughts guys! Much appreciated.
Steve

[Russ]

I don't really mix brights and darks, mainly for cash reasons. I'll just use brights, and if I want a dark sounding cymbal - i'll use a bigger size. The bigger the cymbal the more low frequencies, the smaller the cymbal the more high frequencies.

[kay-gee]

I like to have a dark and a bright crash for the contrast.

all the best...