The ride cymbal is a cymbal of material sustain used to maintain a beat in music.[1] A standard in most drum kits, the ride's function is to maintain a steady pattern," sometimes called a ride pattern, rather than provide the accent of a crash cymbal. It is normally placed on the extreme right (or dominant hand) of a drum set, above the floor tom.[2] It is often described as delivering a "shimmering" sound when struck soundly with a drumstick, and a clear ping when struct atop its bell.
The term ride may depict either the function or characteristic of the instrument. Most cymbal makers manufacture specific cymbals for the purpose.
Alternatively, some drummers use a china cymbal, a sizzle cymbal or a specialized tone such as a swish or pang as a ride cymbal. When playing extremely softly, when using brushes, and when recording in a studio, even a thin crash may serve well as a ride cymbal.
When playing extremely loudly, a cymbal designed as a ride may deliver a very loud, long crash, due to its superior sustain after being struck.
Cymbals designated crash/ride or more rarely ride/crash serve as either a large slow crash or secondary ride, or in very small kits as the only suspended cymbal.
A sizzle cymbal, thinner and one size larger than the main ride, was common in some styles of early rock music as a secondary ride cymbal, particularly for accompanying guitar lead breaks.
Sound
When struck, a ride cymbal makes a sustained, shimmering sound rather than the shorter, decaying sound of a crash cymbal. The most common diameter for a ride cymbal is about 20 inches (51cm), but anything from 18 inches (46cm) to 22 inches (56cm) is standard. Smaller and thinner cymbals tend to be darker with more shimmer, while larger and thicker cymbals tend to respond better in louder volume situations, and conversely. Rides of up to 26 inches (66cm) and down to 16 inches (41cm) are readily available, and down to 8 inches (20cm) are currently manufactured. The very thickest and loudest tend to be about 22inches, with larger rides restricted to medium and medium thin thicknesses.
In rock or jazz, the ride cymbal is most often struck regularly in a rhythmic pattern as part of the accompaniment to the song. Often the drummer will vary between the same pattern either on the hi-hat cymbal or the ride cymbal, playing for example the hi-hat in the verses and the ride in the instrumentals and/or choruses.
The sound of a ride cymbal also varies depending on what kind of mallet is used to hit it. In rock and metal, wood and nylon-tipped drum sticks are common; wood creates a smoother, quieter sound, whereas nylon tips create more of a "ping". It creates a low vibration to keep a steady beat, but a low sound volume. The bell, the bulge in the center of the cymbal, creates a brighter, less sustained sound. The bell creates such a brilliant tone compared to the subtle sound of the bow that it is often used as somewhat of another cymbal. Some ride cymbals, seen more often in various forms of metal and harder subgenres of rock, have an unusually large bell. This lessens the accuracy required to repeatedly hit the bell in fast patterns, and produces a louder, brighter tone than in most ride-cymbal bells.
Modern use of the ride cymbal was inspired by jazz drummer Baby Dodds's press roll rhythms.[4] According to the Percussive Arts Society, which inducted him into its hall of fame, "Dodds' way of playing press rolls ultimately evolved into the standard jazz ride-cymbal pattern. Whereas many drummers would play very short press rolls on the backbeats, Dodds would start his rolls on the backbeats but extend each one to the following beat, providing a smoother time flow."
The most basic ride pattern in rock and other styles is:[3]
A cymbal is a common percussion instrument. Often used in pairs, cymbals consist of thin, normally round plates of various alloys. The majority of cymbals are of indefinite pitch, although small disc-shaped cymbals based on ancient designs sound a definite note. Cymbals are used in many ensembles ranging from the orchestra, percussion ensembles, jazz bands, heavy metal bands, and marching groups. Drum kits usually incorporate at least a crash, ride, or crash/ride, and a pair of hi-hat cymbals. A player of cymbals is known as a cymbalist.
A drum kit is a collection of drums, cymbals, and sometimes other auxiliary percussion instruments set up to be played by one person. The drummer typically holds a pair of matching drumsticks, and uses their feet to operate a foot-controlled hi-hat and bass drum pedal.
A hi-hat is a combination of two cymbals and a pedal, all mounted on a metal stand. It is a part of the standard drum kit used by drummers in many styles of music including rock, pop, jazz, and blues. Hi-hats consist of a matching pair of small to medium-sized cymbals mounted on a stand, with the two cymbals facing each other. The bottom cymbal is fixed and the top is mounted on a rod which moves the top cymbal toward the bottom one when the pedal is depressed.
A percussion instrument is a musical instrument that is sounded by being struck or scraped by a beater including attached or enclosed beaters or rattles struck, scraped or rubbed by hand or struck against another similar instrument. Excluding zoomusicological instruments and the human voice, the percussion family is believed to include the oldest musical instruments. In spite of being a very common term to designate instruments, and to relate them to their players, the percussionists, percussion is not a systematic classificatory category of instruments, as described by the scientific field of organology. It is shown below that percussion instruments may belong to the organological classes of ideophone, membranophone, aerophone and cordophone.
The bass drum is a large drum that produces a note of low definite or indefinite pitch. The instrument is typically cylindrical, with the drum's diameter much greater than the drum's depth, with a struck head at both ends of the cylinder. The heads may be made of calfskin or plastic and there is normally a means of adjusting the tension either by threaded taps or by strings. Bass drums are built in a variety of sizes, but size does not dictate the volume produced by the drum. The pitch and the sound can vary much with different sizes, but the size is also chosen based on convenience and aesthetics. Bass drums are percussion instruments and vary in size and are used in several musical genres. Three major types of bass drums can be distinguished.
A crash cymbal is a type of cymbal that produces a loud, sharp "crash" and is used mainly for occasional accents, as opposed to a ride cymbal. It can be mounted on a stand and played with a drum stick, or by hand in pairs. One or two crash cymbals are a standard part of a drum kit. Suspended crash cymbals are also used in bands and orchestras, either played with a drumstick or rolled with a pair of mallets to produce a slower, swelling crash. Sometimes a drummer may hit two different crash cymbals in a kit at the same time to produce a very loud accent, usually in rock music.
A gong is a percussion instrument originating in East Asia and Southeast Asia. Gongs are a flat, circular metal disc that is typically struck with a mallet. They can be small or large in size, and tuned or can require tuning.
A sizzle cymbal is a cymbal to which rivets, chains or other rattles have been added to modify the sound, attached either by means of holes bored in the cymbal or by means of an attachment known as a sizzler.
In western music, a China cymbal is a distinct type of crash cymbal designed to produce a bright, crisp, and explosive tone that has brought it the nickname trash cymbal. The name "China cymbal" comes from its shape, which is similar to that of the Chinese Bo. Such cymbals are most frequently mounted upside down on cymbal stands, allowing for them to be more easily struck and for a better sound.
In a drum kit, splash cymbals are the smallest accent cymbals. Splash cymbals and china cymbals are the main types of effects cymbals.
The swish cymbal and the pang cymbal are exotic ride cymbals originally developed and named as part of the collaboration between Gene Krupa and the Avedis Zildjian Company. The current Zildjian Swish Knocker is a redesign of their original swish, with more rivets, deeper bow and shallower bell, based on a cymbal made famous by Mel Lewis, who coined the name knocker.
Paiste is a Swiss musical instrument manufacturing company. It is the world's third largest manufacturer of cymbals, gongs, and metal percussion. Paiste is a Finnish and Estonian word that means "shine".
Jason McGerr is an American musician, best known as the drummer for the indie rock band Death Cab for Cutie.
Rod Morgenstein is an American drummer, best known for his work with the rock bands Winger and Dixie Dregs.
Joseph William Castillo is an American musician and songwriter. He is best known for being the drummer of the hard rock band Queens of the Stone Age from 2002 to 2012. He is currently a member of Circle Jerks, The Bronx, DOOM Regulator and Zakk Sabbath, with former bands including Danzig, Wasted Youth, Eagles of Death Metal, California Breed, Sugartooth, Zilch, and Scott Weiland and the Wildabouts.
Matthew Letley is an English rock drummer, formerly with the English rock band, Status Quo.
A bell cymbal, bell splash cymbal, or ice bell is a small, very thick cymbal with little if any taper, used as an effects cymbal in a drum kit. The sound produced when striking the bell cymbal with a drumstick is a distinctive high-pitched ping sound with a long sustain. Some manufacturers list bell cymbals as a type of splash cymbal, others as a distinct type.
Derek Roddy is an American drummer originally from Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. His ability to record entire drum tracks in one or two takes earned him the nickname "One Take".
Heavy metal drumming is a style of rock music drum kit playing that developed in the late 1960s and early 1970s, largely in the United Kingdom and the United States. With roots in blues rock and psychedelic/acid rock drum playing, heavy metal drummers play with emphatic beats, and overall loudness using an aggressive performing style. Heavy metal drumming is traditionally characterized by emphatic rhythms and dense bass guitar-and-drum sound. The essence of metal drumming is creating a loud, constant beat for the band using the "trifecta of speed, power, and precision".
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