Thin cymbals record better?

[tuchel]

This question was posed in GM's forum. I wondered what a drummer's take would be?

 

tuchel

[DrummerCafe]

Absolutely they record better because the sound better!

 

In my opinion, Medium and Medium-Heavy cymbals are made for heavy hitters ... only because these guys break thinner cymbals.

 

To my ears, even a Medium crash is too heavy; they sound very klangy. Thin and Medium Thin crashes seem to have the best sound.

 

As always, it's just my opinion and my ears .... obviously.

 

With the creation of cymbals like the SABIAN AAX and HHX, cymbals can be made thin, but with the strength of a medium weight cymbal. This is because the cymbals are made while the metal is in a cold state, rather than heating the alloy as in traditional manufacturing methods.

[djarrett]

I am with Bart on this one. Thinner cymbals usually have more mellow sustain. They are somewhat lower in pitch with a more harmonic overtone. Really more of a long sustained SSSPPPLLLAAASSSSHHHH sound as oppossed to a quick Crash!

 

DJ

[Jazzman]

I also agree, I've recorded my set many times and the heaver cymbals tend to get lost in the mix.

 

The micing of these cymbals along with the other thinner ones is a little tricky when their side by side. I like to have the set mixed up having a variety of each type on each side. I don't own any heavy cymbals, all of mine are thin or medium types. Probably a good way to record these, if you were very picky, would be to have like cymbals on one mic and another mic on the thinner ones.......very boring.

 

With some good overheads you can get a good mix. The heaver cymbals just vibrate and the only action would be the stick making the sound with the cymbal. The very thin ones do the same thing and don't move the sound through the air and distance to get to the mic.

 

The medium ping ride ones sound sweet in a mix(Jazz R&B, Soul, Light Rock, that is). The heaver cymbals are for the more hard hitting folks. Although in Jazz the use of this type sounds interesting in the final mix.

 

Hope this helps....

 

Jazzman