Given the big love received by all things aluminium round these parts, I'm surprised that nobody is exploiting the potentially beneficial properties of 'Ahead aluminium sticks' as a solution to spastic hi-hat attack...

never seen those. they look space age!

davidpye wrote:Try moving the Hi Hats away from the Snare a bit, physically. Then try putting the snare mic closer to the snare pointing away from the Hi Hats. Use something with good back rejection, make sure and mic the bottom too for some snap.
Don't eq too much top end on your snare top mic.

But keeping a good pair or light hats around will help too, and try getting the drummer to play with his hats more closed.

This seems practical. Most of the drummers I've encountered that have this issue play with the hi-hat very close to the top of the snare.

Adam I wrote:Given the big love received by all things aluminium round these parts, I'm surprised that nobody is exploiting the potentially beneficial properties of 'Ahead aluminium sticks' as a solution to spastic hi-hat attack...

This I like as well. It should have a patent.

Those Ahead sticks are fucking awful. They feel like shit, they sound brittle and gross, and the asshole from Slipknot uses them.

Frank Decent wrote:Those Ahead sticks are fucking awful. They feel like shit, they sound brittle and gross, and the asshole from Slipknot uses them.

Who cares so long as they're conductive?

I've had OK luck making a little baffle out of Auralex type crap and then putting it on the snare mic somewhere.

Get rid of the fucking HH.
They are a drummers crutch anyway. Make the bastard get creative.

Fuck it, get rid of all the cymbals, do a take, then overdub a take with nothing but cymbals. Or all shakers. Or 3 guys going "Tshhhhhhhhh!" into a mic.

I used to have this problem all the time. Depending on the situation I will try a number of things. First would be to try a De-sser. If that doesnt work, I try to convince the drummer to do a couple things. (1) Raise the hats up, and (2) move the top hat down (in open position) so they dont ring for so long. Most drummers who have this problem dont understand that having your hats 3 inches apart (when open) isnt a good idea, in most practical applications. I also have a pair of dark, 12" cocktail hats that I keep around. For fast music I find that they work really really well. They sound silly when they are way open, so they only work with drummers who are ok with their "open" sound a little less bombastic than usual. At first with the drums isolated they sound funny, almost like the hats you find on a shitty drum machine, but once you adjust, and start adding insturments, they are amazing. The tight "chk" sound still cuts through perfectly, but there is not all that other washy shit to eat frequencies and cover your snare. They dont work in all cases, but when they work, they are perfect. The ones I have are made by Po-Boy. They were dirt cheap on ebay.

Cocktail hats - get into it.

You can them on my bands myspace

www.myspace.com/youngbelieversma

These are rough mixes, but youll get the idea!
Let me know what you think!

Assuming that you're not going to be able to change much about the drummer (studio rule #1: Don't fuck with the drummer's head) the best option is to tell him that it's his cymbals' fault. Seriously. Tell him "You're great, but your hi-hats are just shit. We need to find a new pair."

Try very thin 15" hats if you can find them. I second the earlier post about "dark" hi-hats. It is a very worthwhile investment for your studio. Spend $200 to make sure this doesn't happen every 5th session.

I have a pair of very heavy, very treble-y new Zildjians, and while I don't think I lean on them particularly hard, they do tend to produce an overbearing volume of high-pitch sounds. The guy who recorded us ("MTAR" on this board) said No Fucking Way, handed me a pair of old 15" new beats, and I didn't have to change a thing about the way I played. I was sold. Sounded great.