congaplace.com

I'm having a failure of imagination here.

I play hand percussion in a group where I need to keep everything very sparse and laid-back. A cymbal crash would be overpowering in the venues we play, and, anyway, I'm generally not using sticks at these gigs. What I'm looking for is something that can serve the same purpose as a cymbal (basically signalling a change in the song or adding an accent with an indeterminate splash of noise) without actually resorting to a cymbal. I have bar chimes that do the trick, but a little bit of bar chimes goes a long way.

Any ideas?

Doc Washboard wrote:I'm having a failure of imagination here.

I play hand percussion in a group where I need to keep everything very sparse and laid-back. A cymbal crash would be overpowering in the venues we play, and, anyway, I'm generally not using sticks at these gigs. What I'm looking for is something that can serve the same purpose as a cymbal (basically signalling a change in the song or adding an accent with an indeterminate splash of noise) without actually resorting to a cymbal. I have bar chimes that do the trick, but a little bit of bar chimes goes a long way.

Any ideas?

A vibra slap maybe?

My kid got me one of these for a birthday a few years back. I hardly even find anywhere to use it, but the sounds it makes are kind of what you are decribing/looking for perhaps.

http://www.americanmusical.com/Item--i- ... 207XX-LIST

Cheers

Darrell

burke wrote:My kid got me one of these for a birthday a few years back. I hardly even find anywhere to use it, but the sounds it makes are kind of what you are decribing/looking for perhaps.

http://www.americanmusical.com/Item--i- ... 207XX-LIST

Cheers

Darrell

That spring drum is a cool effect instrument indeed, I just doubt if you can accentuate
breaks etc. in a controlled way like the OP mentioned.

I just ran across this one, a non-cymbal crasher : http://www.wwbw.com/RhythmTech-Ribbon-C ... ce=TWNTWXX
Perhaps that one might fulfil the purpose, Doc Washboard?

congamyk wrote:Sabian AAX El Sabor Picante Hand Crash Cymbal

I know this is a very good cymbal, I also own and use it, but did you read the original post at all, Congamyk?
--->

Doc Washboard wrote: What I'm looking for is something that can serve the same purpose as a cymbal without actually resorting to a cymbal.

Yes I read it and thought that he may not be aware of this different kind of cymbal designed for hand percussionists.
He needed something:
-Sparse and laid back
-Low profile (only 16")
-Something that can signal a transition with an intermittent "splash of noise"

So I thought this might be an option.

Agree with you Myk and Mike, the el Picante is an awesome and very versatile piece, but Doc W, have you tried a mounted tambourine which can be used very creatively ie tapping a jingle with one finger to twatting the whole thing with the hand. I also have a straight one with a grooved edge — guiro-like when using a stick!

Dice

Diceman, very good idea indeed.
Linking dry-sounding tambourines for accents or patterns,
I recently bought the Meinl model with triangular
brass jingles, and I use it in my percussion setup
either hand-played or guiro-like with a slim stick, left-handed.

How about Crashers?

http://peteengelhart.com/pages/crasher_vid.html

I had a notion about 10 years ago that if these things were held a little tighter together, that they can be used like a "cascara" type "chck" sound for a trap setup.

But left loose, they kind of produce this a full cymbal like sound.

I really like this instrument and have wanted to buy them.

Engelhart made them in two sizes and I saw one made by Rhythmtech some years ago.

Some options in here.

http://www.hammerax.com

Hope this helps,

JG

Lots of good ideas, guys! I'll be looking into them. Thanks!

Doc

tamboricua wrote:Some options in here.

http://www.hammerax.com

Hope this helps,

JG

Wow! I have appreciated Pete Engelhart's work for many years but this "Hammerax" takes metal percussion into interesting new territory. Thank you for sharing this.