I love playing a drum kit with only one cymbal, aside from the hi-hats. I've done this for a few years with a 21" Zildjian A Sweet Ride.

The Sweet Ride is fully useful here. I believe PRF faves The Rutabega use the same cymbal as the sole cymbal in the kit, and they sound great. But for me it's a bit too sluggish, a bit too weighty and low-pitched. I've tamed it a bit with narrow strips of tape, but fundamentally there's just too much mass. So I've been thinking I should swap it out and try for something else.

Would love to know about other people's one-cymbal solutions, and mull them over myself. This wouldn't be for any niche type of playing/sound, just standard-format rock music.

there used be a band from canada called Rockets Red Glare that had a drummer who only used one cymbal. combination ride crash. he was a beast.

for a long time i did the same because i could only afford one

Back in the late 90s I used a Sabian El Sabor cymbal as a crash/ride. I have no idea if they are still made, but they were my favorite crash/ride combo.

I think the 20" Zildjian Amir II ride I'm using as my right crash would probably be an OK single cymbal. The reason I say that is that, despite being... probably a crappy cymbal overall, it's functional as either a crash or a ride and doesn't sound bad. I'm still going to replace it with a 20" 2002 crash when I have the money, though.

I was a 21" A Sweet Ride user for a long time (not solely at the time, though it was the dominant cymbal). I still think it's a very good rock cymbal (though if making the same purchase today I'd probably go with the K Sweet Ride), but eventually wanted something with more stick articulation but still light and washy.

My one cymbal setup now is a 21" Paiste Twenty Masters medium ride (I don't remember the grams because I don't care). I tried dozens of cymbals at a store (and bought one I thought would be The One but isn't) and I think what drew me was the 'spongy' feel. I could tap on it all day, it's kind of hard to describe. I wouldn't say it's great as a hard crash but I don't do that much anymore. I've sometimes added a little tape on the underside to make it duller, other times I've dangled a chain on top because Elvin.. but whatever the case it's one of the few things I have that I truly love and don't get sick of.

The drummer from my soft-retired garage/trash band The Ka-Nives uses just a crash/ride. He also doesnt use a throne in this band....it's not really what you'd call a precision operation.

Agree with some other folks that a 21" Sweet Ride is a little on the heavy side if you want something washy. I have one, and for me it's more "ride" than "crash".

But it probably depends on the drummer? I'm a 5A guy with a 12/14/20 size kit, and don't really have the oomph to get a sweet ride washing without overpowering everything else. A 2B player with big vistalites might be a different situation.

the A Sweet Rides have changed a bit thru the years too. The ones I've heard made in the last 5 years or so have a noticeably shinier finish and are more crash-like to my ear.

akosinski wrote: Wed May 05, 2021 9:59 pm there used be a band from canada called Rockets Red Glare that had a drummer who only used one cymbal. combination ride crash. he was a beast.

for a long time i did the same because i could only afford one

These guys were so good. Drummer was awesome. Played drums like I'd never really seen before at the point in my life. I played in a band that played a few shows with them on the East coast of Canada (where I'm from) some 20 years ago or so. The Redshift/Halifax 7" is awesome. Some of those dudes played in a band called Blake before that and one called Holding Pattern after that. (I think they had to eventually change their name?) Awesome stuff. I mean, I like it and still spin that stuff.

Sorry if I'm derailing this thread. I was just so excited to see this.

Also for what it's worth. I played a lot of gigs with some AA 14" hats and AA 20" Ride. The not shiny ones. I liked them well enough that I kept them and still use them for recording and live regularly. Maybe I'm just used to them.

Any good drummer can get several, if not many, different sounds out of 1 thing. I am not one of these people, so I use 2 cymbals currently (they're both rides, good ones).