breaking things

[liv_rong]

I cracked a cymbal and it sucks a lot. It is a 17" K Dark Thin Crash. Cracked in the middle too, weird. I usually dont hit too hard but this band Im in forces me to play a little louder and last night we played a show where the sound completely sucked and was involved in a volume war with the band I guess.

[Minerman]

Ouch dude....that's what, about a $250-300 cymbal??? How often does shit like that happen??? I guess it depends on how hard & often you play, but a newbie drummer like me would probably have that happen more than most, just guessing...

I'm wondering because eventually I'm gonna try the jump to real drums & was wondering how much shock I should be prepared for when something like this happens...

[liv_rong]

I dont think it happens much unless you hit hard and make bad contact with the cymbal. But thin K's are not meant to be bashed hard, which is what happened last night. And Im pretty sure it was one particular cover song we did that almost constant bashing and hard hitting. Otherwise its the first cymbal Ive cracked. Actually I do have an 18" K EFX that has cracks that I bought used with no cracks, but it may have had like micro hair line shit I didnt see. However since it has holes and I use it stacked with another cymbal I always felt like it cracked due to the holes and how I was using it.

[liv_rong]

Well it still sounds the same to me, I'm sure it's slightly different but I can't tell the intricacies of that. I'll just keep playing it until it gets worse, which it will definitely get worse and continue to grow. At that time I'll probably make another stack out of it. And then I'll replace it so I have a normal crash still.

[Greg_L]

It's done. You can drill the ends of the crack to hopefully stop it from spreading, but that's like putting a band aid on a bullet wound. That cymbal is toast.

For the rest of you asking...good cymbals rarely crack or break if they're the right cymbal for the job, and you use proper technique. Bashing the shit out of what is essentially a delicate jazz cymbal, like liv's dark thin K crash, will result in breakage. Not that liv is a basher, I know he's a very good drummer, but that's not the right cymbal for what he did to it.

Good felts and post sleeves matter too.

[Minerman]

It's done. You can drill the ends of the crack to hopefully stop it from spreading, but that's like putting a band aid on a bullet wound. That cymbal is toast.

Well, that sucks for Liv, hope it doesn't hurt too much when you replace it man...

For the rest of you asking...good cymbals rarely crack or break if they're the right cymbal for the job, and you use proper technique. Bashing the shit out of what is essentially a delicate jazz cymbal, like liv's dark thin K crash, will result in breakage. Not that liv is a basher, I know he's a very good drummer, but that's not the right cymbal for what he did to it.

Good felts and post sleeves matter too.

Thanks for the heads-up dude, I've got a lotta shit to learn about drums, hopefully you guys can coach me up as I go, & I'm sure there'll be a lot more questions from me in the future...

[Bill L]

Most of my drummer buddies will drill out the Crack to stop it from spreading. A couple of them will cut out the Crack even it's in the middle of the cymbal. Here's a friend of mine with a piece cut out of the middle.

[rammer24]

What Greg said. Good felts and a sleeve. Technique is crucial. You can hit a cymbal hard within reason. I used to break cymbals a lot. I haven't broken one in about 10 years, if not more. One thing is to not tighten it too much, let it swing. Also, try not to hit straight down. Hit it with a slight sweeping motion. Doesn't have to be much of a sweep, but just enough to displace the impact a bit.

[JD01]

Most of my drummer buddies will drill out the Crack to stop it from spreading. A couple of them will cut out the Crack even it's in the middle of the cymbal. Here's a friend of mine with a piece cut out of the middle.

Bill, after listening to your live recordings that is exactly what I expected your Drummer to look like.

[Bill L]

Most of my drummer buddies will drill out the Crack to stop it from spreading. A couple of them will cut out the Crack even it's in the middle of the cymbal. Here's a friend of mine with a piece cut out of the middle.

Bill, after listening to your live recordings that is exactly what I expected your Drummer to look like.

He's not my drummer though we did run a jam a together for a while. He's a great blues/rock drummer. Doesn't second line like I need I think that's a 50's Ludwig with a 26" kick. He also has a 20's kick that's 28". Massive, wonderful kick drum with the sound/tone to match.

I'll post a pic of my usual drummer and he'll look nothing like you'd expect. The bass player on the hand is exactly as you'd expect.

[Greg_L]

Well there you go. You learn something every day. Up until now I'd thought a cymbal was just a shiny thin piece of metal that would be pretty much unbreakable...

Man, there are some crazy nuances to cymbal size, construction, metal type, etc.

[Farview]

Technique is everything. I started out breaking cymbals a lot. Then I didn't break any. After a 9 month hiatus, where I didn't play at all, I broke 6 cymbals in 1 rehearsal.

That was expensive.

[Greg_L]

So I imagine walking into a drum store and randomly thrashing the cymbals is quite frowned upon then.

The good ones are not often set up in a way that you can just bash them to death. You gotta get one out, put it on a stand, then bash.

[RatsoRizzo]

I've got a 2-3 inch crack on my top hi-hat, I drilled it a while back but the fucker went right through my drill hole.
Got me to lighten up on the hats though.

[Farview]

I put the bottom hat on top. Bottom ones tend to be thicker and have a tighter 'tick'. At one point I was using two bottom hats together.

[liv_rong]

Fuck, found a tiny crack in my 19" K crash. Shit. I have to rethink what I'm playing now. These cymbals just were not made to be hit this hard. The problem is I love their sound and I'm worried I won't find what I want in a heavier/thicker cymbal. Once these get too far gone I'll hit the shop down the street and grab some to try out. These should last me a few more months at least.

[Lt. Bob]

Doesn't second line like I need

second line?

Where you from?

[Farview]

Fuck, found a tiny crack in my 19" K crash. Shit. I have to rethink what I'm playing now. These cymbals just were not made to be hit this hard. The problem is I love their sound and I'm worried I won't find what I want in a heavier/thicker cymbal. Once these get too far gone I'll hit the shop down the street and grab some to try out. These should last me a few more months at least.

Try Sabian. For some reason, those seemed to last a lot longer. It could just be a trick of my perception...

I would always break Zildjians, I even went through a set of Z's, which look relatively indestructible. (I do realize that the thicker the cymbal is, the more brittle it can be)

Another somewhat expensive way of making cymbals last is to have a bunch of them. If you have 4 crashes instead of 1, you tend to spread the abuse around.

[Bill L]

Doesn't second line like I need

second line?

Where you from?

Oddly enough, born and bred in Rhode Island. But my band plays lots of New Orleans style rock and I need someone that can play Hey Pocky Way without sounding like Alex Van Halen.

[Lt. Bob]

yeah ..... it's pretty hard to find anyone that can really second line anywhere but home.
Sure miss that part of living there ....