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.
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