Hi-Hats.

As a music creator I think a lot about music.
One of the things that I ponder about are drums, including hi-hats.

Like (almost) everybody, I like to keep things creative and diverse. Many people are talking about that it's almost forbidden to use the same drums over and over. Like 9th Wonder, he uses the same loud snare drum and I get the feeling people don't like that.

I could use the 9th Wonder-Pete Rock-Primo hi-hat (for example: Devastating MC's-Demigodz, Do You Wanna Be An MC-K Otix),
The pretty-quick hi-hat (f.e; Say Hey There, Lost Your Mind-Aceyalone, Slow Down Gandhi-Sage Francis),
The skipping-maybe-one-note-here-and-there hi-hat (f.e; Off The Books-Beatnuts, Long Distance Runner-Promoe),
And some hi-hat just confuse me (f.e; 1000 Whispers-Illogic, Whatyawando-El Da Sensei, Escape Artist-Sage Francis)

I think a good hi-hat gives the track some running shoes, and I'd like to get some good ass Air nike's or something.

Any opinions? Is the basic each-2-step just the best?

Half da time I leave it out,I not down with SOME people sayin all songs with drumz are supposed to consist of hi-hats,toms,kicks,snare etc. .Whatever sounds good with or without the hi-hat.

rule number one: ignore the cat posted above me at all times.

it sounds like you have a good understanding of the hi hat and some varying patterns. just do what feels right on the beat. they're all different and will require a different pattern.

^^no common sense

To me a hi hat gives me the over all vibe for my beat. Sometimes i'll lay that down first then do my bassline. Its just a matter of where u feel it fits in the track. I remember when i first started makings beats i didnt even use hi hats. I would always use a kick, snare, clap, and shakers for most of my beats but now i have to put a hi hat somewhere in my track.

But the way you use your hi hat will be primarly based on how u feel it will work in the track.

you sound like you have been doing your hh homework man. when i play hats i just make sure its no t.s on it so it swings the way i want. kick , snare i like to be a little tighter so i use the timing on them. Also remember a drummer has 2 hands and 2 feet therefore ( with the exception of double pedals and such ) can not make more than 4 sounds at any one time. So if you have a busy section already consider if you could fit hats in. I also think velocity is extremely important on hats man never set it to full. Go on youtube and watch some real drummers play ( even though where talking programming here ) you still want that nice open / closed full swing sound to your tracks.

it varies depending on the beat you're makin. i have never made a beat without hats before. i heard some songs that didnt use any hats but when I try it myself, it never sounds complete. i always have to throw in a hat wether its a steady pattern or some hats every few hits. whatever....

lately i've been using no less then 2 different hats in my patters. two closed hats that is. one sorta thin hat that's steady all the way through and then one thicker hat that drops in every couple beats to accent certain parts. am i making sense? of course this changes with every beat i do, but its a cool trick.

peace

yo listin to M.O.P who got guns. the song is fire but the beat just goes

kick snare kick kick snare kick kick snare hoooooorn. thats it.

sometimes staying simple is what makes it stand out. im huge on hats - probally one of the only people who have 2 foot pedals on his mpc.

those trigger your hihats? thats cool man. i bet thats fun as hell to play wit lol

you can set them to trigger any pad / sample. i use one for kick and one on velocity for open / closed hat sometimes.

SonicLabsAudio wrote:when i play hats i just make sure its no t.s on it so it swings the way i want.

= Time stretching?

Also remember a drummer has 2 hands and 2 feet therefore ( with the exception of double pedals and such ) can not make more than 4 sounds at any one time.

Good point, i'll remember that one.

t.s is time sig like 1/16th or whatever just after you set up your basic kick / snare combo turn it to off. actually i think its t.c ( timing correct now ) but is t.s on the older 2000 models.

basically the quantize.

SonicLabsAudio wrote:Also remember a drummer has 2 hands and 2 feet therefore ( with the exception of double pedals and such ) can not make more than 4 sounds at any one time.

also remember that you are using a drum machine and therefore you can sometimes do what a real drummer cannot do...

some of the best beats ar so wicked a real drummer could not play it, probably not in hiphop but in drum´n´bass.
that is the beauty of endless possibilities in creative arts.

peace jo

jonathan morris wrote:rule number one: ignore the cat posted above me at all times.

lmao...

SonicLabsAudio wrote:you can set them to trigger any pad / sample. i use one for kick and one on velocity for open / closed hat sometimes.

That's a good idea...how much do pedals go for???