Hey there guys,

To preface, I'm completely an ignoramoose when it comes to drums. I've never had a lesson in my life and I've never gotten to watch anyone else play, so although I can keep enough of a rhythm to record, I don't know the name of anything or how to make certain sounds.

That said, I cover songs for fun, and I try to make all of the different parts sound at least somewhat like the original song. One problem I've run into is that I can tell that a lot of times it sounds like the drummer in a song isn't using a hi-hat, but instead is using a normal cymbal. The odd thing is that it goes away really fast(decay?) What I mean is, although not muted, it's very restrained.

I can make almost the same sound by hitting toward the center of my crash cymbal. It seems to be a little too tinny/wimpy/empty though.

One thing I noticed while watching a video on Youtube(Dream Theather's The Dark Eternal Night) was that when he hits the cymbals, they don't move much at all. I'm wondering if that's what is done to make the sound that I need? Mine has a long plastic bushing that allows the cymbal to be unrestricted when hit.

To give an example of what sound I'm looking to reproduce, the chorus on Greenday's What'shername or everything but one part of Audioslave's Be Yourself. You can tell when the hi-hat is being used and then when not.

I imagine everyone knows how to make the sound, but again, I'm like the most ignorant person holding sticks on the forum, so help would be appreciated

thanks,
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