I first heard a flat ride cymbal many years ago while listening to a Chick Corea album entitled Return to Forever. The great Brazilian percussionist, Airto Moreira, played drum set on this recording. His feel and groove on the drum set still amaze me to this day. One thing in particular that was very unique to me at the time, was Airto’s ride cymbal. It was not like anything I had heard before. There was so much stick definition! It was airy, tight, dry and just wonderful. I had no idea that he was using a flat ride or flat top ride cymbal. There’s no bell on this kind of ride cymbal, thus giving it these different sonic properties. It was quite a few years later that I learned of Roy Haynes and his use of a flat ride on another Chick Corea classic recording, Now He Sings, Now He Sobs. This recording has been credited as the first recording of a flat ride. Wow!
I take a flat ride these days to my jazz gigs — it doesn’t fit so well with louder groups. I continue to completely dig this sound and sometimes even use more than one at a time. I saw the Pat Metheny Group with Antonio Sanchez a few years back, and was inspired not only by the playing but also with the setup that Antonio used — two flat rides. His predecessor in that group, Paul Wertico, did this as well. Some of those fast ride patterns are performed by having both hands on two different cymbals at the same time. It’s not as easy as it may sound to make those fast patterns work well like this. It’s time to practice again!
Add Comment