To be honest, I'd ditch my hi hats before my ride. If you play a simple beat without any music on the hi hats, it sound plain, but put it on the ride and it sounds full. Love my ride.
This thread took place in the drummers Q&A section last year:
http://www.drumchat.com/showthread.p...ide-32441.html
Many people mentioned that they barely used their ride or even had any need for one altogether.
I just found this to be amazing. I know there are no absolute rules to drum kit setups or use of cymbals/drums. But I really believe that to progress as a drummer (even if you only play covers of songs that really don't feature a ride) you should have a ride cymbal and use it!
Many also mentioned that they prefer using the hihat. I love the hihat and do actually prefer it over the ride, but nothing compares to hammering a track playing the ride that cuts right through the rest of the music! i.e.. Rush's "Spirit of Radio".
Listen to how sweet the ride sounds during the guitar solo in Eric Clapton's "cocaine". Absolutely drives the song!
I'm about 50/50 alot of songs i go ride for the chorus or whatever other small change is in the song..
I love my 20" ride, and couldn't imagine playing a kit without one---I have a simple setup---13" hats, 14,16,18" crashes, the 20" ride (and an 18" china if I'm in crazy mode!)
If I forget to pack a cowbell, I'll use the ride bell, instead. I'm using the ride during guitar solos, whenever, just to get my posture straight and not face the hats to the left all night.
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This is exactly why, on a new drum / percussion setup I am building, the hi-hat and ride will both be on the right side. There is no bass drum so I can get away with having the pedal there and it won't mess up anything. I've never liked crossing to play the hi-hat. I do it of course, but I don't really like doing it if that makes sense.
I couldn't imagine playing without my ride and I use around 20 cymbals! Often I can play ride patterns between multiple cymbals, like ride and crashes, or large china etc.
Mangini's setup is very cool, for sure. I'd like a remote hat but I just can't justify the purchase right now. Rather than having my hats high, since they will be on the right side I can have them very low and won't have to cross. Even when I had them in a normal position I didn't like them high which didn't work well for crossing over!
I have to say that I'm against a hihat on the right side (for right handed players) unless it's an extra hihat auxiliary.
What i'm practicing is using my left hand as more of the lead hand on the left side of my kit (where the hihat is) and lead with my right on the right side of my kit (where the ride is).
I am actually going to invest in getting a ride because genres like jazz I see alot of players using the ride
Well, to be fair not all drummers are playing jazz. Or, many will learn the basic rhythms for swing, maybe some fusion-type stuff but they don't really play it often. I've heard quite a few people try to play swing for example with a ride that totally does not work for that sound.
I think part of the reason I use my ride so much is because of some of the music I listen to, a lot of the more involved jazz/fusion stuff is very ride dominant. Sometimes the drummer may have multiple rides (Antonio Sanchez for example) for even more options.
That's true that not all drummers play jazz but of course rides can be intended for all other styles of percussion/drums. I just found it amazing that many players really considered not even having and/or using a ride. To me, it's just as significant as your hihat or main crash cymbal.
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