16" Dream Bliss/Contact "Frankenhats" Review

Back Story:

Couple of weeks ago, I was chilling in Titus' car listening to John Mayer, when we started talking about Steve Jordan's awesome hihat sound. It never once occured to me that I should upsize my hats, seeing how I've been the proud owner of 15" and 16" hihats in the past. The thought stuck around in my head, and one fine Saturday, I headed over to MG|X (5 Coleman Street, Excelsior Shopping Centrel #B1-34) and picked out a pair of 16" crashes to use as hihats. 

I apologise in advance for being unable to give the accurate weights of each hihat as my weighing scale isdead. I can only give a guesstimation... which isn't too accurate because I have two ranges - Lighter and heavier. Enjoy! 

Top hihat - 16" Dream Bliss Crash (Lighter. ~800-900g?)

Bottom hihat - 16" Dream Contact Crash (Heavier... In the range of maybe 1100-1200g?)

Togetherness:

Sound:

- Warm/Mellow

- Full bodied stick sound (played with shaft), significant drop in both volume and body when played with the tip of my sticks (Vic Firth 5AW)

- Soft, woody and full bodied sound when played with left foot - will not cut through mix

- Full bodied splash with nice shimmery (silvery?) sustain when splashed with left foot

- Sloshy with shimmery sustain when played half open

- Slosh-ville with shimmery, yet trashy decay when played open  

Note to anybody trying this out - do not over tighten your hihat clutch on the top hihat. it will result in a very choked and tinny sound when played open. my top hihat is loose enough to swivel around, but not loose enough for it to be moving all over the place.

What are they good for?

These 16" hihats are great for filling up space. I wouldn't recommend them for metal drummers or hard rock drummers because the sustain/decay may be a little too much, and the overtones blend into the mix a little too smoothly. I highly recommend them for a top40s/pop drummer who wants to keep a pocket beat going with some "meat" in the high-mids region. 

What are they not good for?

Small enclosed areas, drumsets that are stuck in a corner or with glass around it. The natural reverb will make your band want to kill you.

Conclusion?

I love these pair of hats. I've been the owner of a pair of 15" K light hats and a pair of 16" A Custom/Avedis Medium Crash "Hihats", and I must say that this is a completely unique sound. The K Lights were beautiful, but they got dark and a little too loose after a while, whereas the A Customs were tight and bright, but lacked in the sustain/decay region. Don't get me wrong, I'm not ragging on Zildjians - they serve their purposes very well indeed.

What I love about my Dream Bliss hihats is the punch that it delivers. There's something magical about the warmth and decay present in the Bliss Series, and the aggressiveness of the Contact series. I find myself playing around with the hihat more often - for fills, to count in, for ambient noises and sometimes even during guitar solos, just to have that constant, trashy wall of shimmery noise. 

Big hihats are the "in" thing now, but there are still many drummers out there, both new and experienced ones, who aren't willing to experiment. We've started to break free from the traditional "Big 3" cymbal brands, and it definitely is time for us to experient with sound. Being a drummer doesn't mean that we only have that many things to work with. Mix and match your cymbals, play around with different configurations and find something that gives you a signature sound, something that helps your band out by filling space, or even something that simply sounds gorgeous to your ears.

Pricing

Contact Marvin or Lawrence at MG|X for more information, but trust me its a steal. 

18" Dream Contact Crash and 20" Dream Energy Ride

Long story short, I decided to make a trip down to MG|X (yes! this is their new name on Facebook, so do check them out at http://www.facebook.com/pages/MGX/137603549710780) to pick up a couple more cymbals since I needed more firepower on stage.

Picked out a 20" Energy ride and a 18" Contact crash/ride, and I must say that this was one of the harder decisions I had to make. The crash was a no-brainer, but the ride was a tough one! I was deciding between a 20" Contact ride, a 22" Energy ride and the 20" Energy ride. Settled for the 20" Energy ride because the 22" had a fundamentally lower tone that I felt was not what I was looking for. There's a tinge of regret on my end that I didn't pick the Contact, but that'll be mine in time to come.

Moving onto the review of both the cymbals. I field tested both cymbals at Hood Bar and Cafe (http://www.facebook.com/ilovehood) on Saturday Night. The cymbal setup for the night was:

1. 14" Dream Bliss hihats

2. 18" Istanbul Crash (sorry Marvin!)

3. 18" Dream Contact Crash

4. 19" Dream Vintage Bliss Crash/Ride w/ sizzler

5. 20" Dream Energy ride

18" Contact Crash

Let's start with the 18" Contact Crash. Shape, profile, lathing and hammering reminded me of this Vintage A&Cie crash that I saw at yamaha once (albeit more brilliant), but the sound was an entire different ball game. This crash explodes when you hit it, and is significantly louder and brighter compared to the likes of the Vintage and Bliss (duh!). The crash was cutting through the band mix well, but decayed quickly, thus giving it a very nice punch with body - the closest comparison I can think of would be similar to a DARKER sounding 16" AAXPlosion. 

20" Energy ride

The 20" Energy is a bit of a hit-miss on my end. Don't get me wrong - I love this ride.. but before I go any further, Dream should have slapped on a larger bell on this bad boy. That would make it the PERFECT ride!

First impressions of this ride screammed "HHX!" at me - deep, wide hammering marks on the bow, unlathed bell (fine I know the HHX has a darkened bell, not an unlathed one but what the hell!) and a smooth finish on the bow. The ride is significantly heavier than the other 20" rides, and has a fundamentally pingier and brighter initial attack. The bell is a bit of a let down, as it is significantly smaller compared to the 20" Contact ride. Playing on the bell is a huge let down! I was hoping and expecting for a nice earthy tone, but what I got was a rather pussy sounding forced-ping. 

Playing it on the bow, however, has no such problems. On softer songs, the stick definition was fantastic, cutting through yet not overpowering. The sticking sounds a little "fragile" to my ears, but that could be due to the fact that my previous rides were ALL 22", and were all monsters in their own right, but make no doubt about it, this cymbal CAN cut through! Opening up on the crash gave way to a nice wash. The weight of the cymbal means that there's a certain amount of body and presence present, but the lack of a bell means that it doesn't get projected as much (or am I wrong about this?!) The ride doesn't crash easily, but when it does, the wash and overtones came very naturally. 

Personally I feel that the 20" Energy ride would be the perfect ride for a drummer who does more pop/rock or top40s. It isn't beefy enough to serve as a main ride, so it would be good to back this baby up with say.. a 22" Contact or 22" Bliss ride. The 18" Contact crash should be every drummer's main crash. It's so good that I had no qualms replacing my 17" Zildjian for it. Pair the 18" Contact with a 16" Contact crash, or a 17" Bliss crash, and you're good to go! 

Retail pricing for the 20" Energy ride is $328, and $178 for the 18" Contact Crash. They're slightly pricier compared to the Vintage and Bliss line, but that's because the production cost for the Contact and Energy line is significantly higher compared to Bliss and Vintage line. Nonetheless, the pricing is a huge steal compared to the Big 3s, and trust me when I say that these babies do not lose out in the ring with the big boys!

As an additional pull factor, Music Gear is having a 20% discount of all Dream Cymbals, which means you pay even lesser for these amazing pies! If this isn't a big enough factor, MG|X also stocks snares byCanopus, heads by Aquarians (ps: Just picked up a 13" Texture Coated from Marvin, and I probably will not be using any other brand any time soon!) and sticks by Vic Firth (Yes! 5As, 5Bs and all your bread and butter sticks that the OTHER outlet NEVER had stock for!). 

Dream Bliss Hihats, Crash and Ride

Disclaimer:

I'm a terrible reviewer. I wrote this a long time ago, and conveniently forgot to take photos of my new cymbals. Well... to appease everybody, I've attached some stock photos here. 

14" Dream Bliss Hihats

Top hats: Light

Bottom hats: Medium

The first thing that came to mind when I played these hats was that they sounded almost identical to a pair of 14" K Lights that I owned many years ago. The delicate "chick" sound when played with my left foot, the light and slightly-sloshy sound when played with my sticks, and the controlled slosh when played fully open. The hihats excel as a pair of hats that do not cut through the mix too much. Stick definition is great - playing 32nds on it with the tip of the stick gives a very nice, delicate and organic sounding definition. One of my favourite sounds would be playing it with the shaft of my sticks for songs like "Jason Mraz - Lazy Song". The lightness of the hats allow it to slosh just a tiny bit, not so much that it overpowers, but just enough to make its presence felt. 

The hats held up perfectly well for louder stuff like Summer of 69 by Bryan Adams, Somebody Told Me by the Killers, but were not able to cut through the way I would have liked it for the heavier stuff like Metallica and Nirvana. Then again, one cannot have the best of both worlds, and a pair of hihats like this were definitely not designed to be rock/metal hats! 

19" Dream Vintage Bliss Crash/Ride

This crash/ride will most definitely NOT be able to serve as a ride. The cymbal is so light and so thin that I can bend it with my bare hands! The bell is very, very low profile, and does not provide much projection. The lovely thing about this crash is how trashy it is. The size of this crash provides a fundamentally darker tone, yet the lightness of this crash provides some kind of explosive attack that you'd expect from say.. a 17" crash. 

What I do with this crash is to place a Promark Sizzler on it, mount it lower and use it as sizzle crash. I roll on it, crash ride on it and crash it without any fear that I'll overpower my band mates. This is [b]not[/b] something you'd use for a metal or hard rock band. This is also [b]not[/b] something you'd use as a main crash, as the attack is not as fast as a 17" or 18" crash. This is a great auxilliary or secondary crash, or even as an effects crash, and I do highly recommend it.

22" Dream Bliss Ride

The very first thing you'd notice about this ride is the umbrella-shaped profile, very similar to the 70s A Zildjian rides. The fundamental tone of the ride is lower and woody, probably due to the size at 22". Playing it with a pair of light sticks (and some control!) gives a very nice, woody and organic sound. The bell is medium sized, and doesn't cut through the mix as well as something more "rock". I laid into this ride with a pair of Vater 5B Nudes, and I was totally blown away by the sound. This ride opens up sufficiently to cover up the empty spaces because of the wash, yet does not fight for the spot light. The "roar" of the cymbal and the wash sits somewhere within the medium-frequencies of the entire band mix, and does not come across as being too obnoxious or jarring. The bell, as I mentioned earlier on, is skewed more towards a darker fundamental tone, thus "ensuring" that it doesn't cut through as well as my 22" Artisan Medium. 

One thing to note about Dream Cymbals is that every single cymbal is hand-made and thus, different. You have to head down to Marvin's shop and hand pick your cymbals individually. Make an appointment with Marvin, head on down and try all the cymbals there before making a purchase. Trust me, you will NOT find anything more value for money, or anything that sounds remotely similar to these cymbals anywhere. 

The lines of Dream Cymbals available are:

1. Dream Bliss 

2. Vintage Bliss

3. Contact

4. Dark Matter (check out the Moon rides.. those aren't my cup of tea, but they're unique indeed!)

Marvin's shop (Music Gear Pte. Ltd. http://www.facebook.com/pages/MGX/137603549710780 ) can be located at:

5 Coleman Street #B1-34 Excelsior Shopping Centre, Singapore, Singapore 179805

6338 2695

M-S 12:00 - 19:00

Apart from Dream Cymbals, Marvin stocks up on the following brands too:

1. Vic Firth Sticks

2. Canopus Drums and Snares

3. Aquarian Drumheads

4. GonBops Percussions

5. Typhoon Percussions

6. Yamaha Drums and Accessories