Give and Tape: Gaff Tape On Cymbals


Cymbals are loud. Churches don't like loud noises. You see the problem?

Sometimes it's not that a cymbal is too loud, it's that certain high frequencies are emphasized too much, making it piercing. Sometimes it's not that it's too piercing, but that it just rings forever and bleeds into all of the drum mics or vocal mics. 

There's this wonderful invention popular among musicians called gaff tape. The wonder and magic of gaff tape is that it doesn't leave residue and has too many uses. One such use is to dampen drums and cymbals. For this post, I'd like to specifically focus on gaff tape on cymbals.

First, I am by no means an expert on taping cymbals. I don't know what I'm doing. But that is the fun part! It's exploring the sounds you can get by doing _____ . There's no wrong answers; there's just sound. Be an explorer! Find what sounds best to you.

So when would I put tape on my cymbals? Let me give you a few scenarios:

Scenario 1

Let's say your church meets in a gym or any live room for that matter. Any time that a single noise is going to last a bit longer than normal, a cymbal is going to DESTROY the mix without mercy. So, the goal in putting gaff tape on my cymbals would be to make the sound shorter, or in other words, lessen the cymbal decay. So when I crash my cymbals, it will sound short to me, but the room's reverb will act as the sustain of the cymbals, and will sound much more natural and mix better to the listener.

Scenario 2

Let's say your church meets in a smaller room, and the sound guy keeps everything at a low volume. In this instance, it's very easy to play louder than everyone else. My goal in using gaff tape is now to take out some of the piercing frequencies and maybe just a little cymbal decay, too. I still want the cymbal to sound natural, but I don't want it to be overbearing. 




For any scenario, just because you put tape on your cymbals doesn't mean you don't have to worry about being too loud. You need to approach the drum set (including your cymbals) in a manner that is very conscious of the volume you're putting out. I think the ultimate factor in playing quieter, is your approach. Things like, how hard you're hitting, where you're hitting, your technique, etc. are going to make a bigger difference than putting gaff tape on your cymbals/drums. Listen to yourself as you play, and ask yourself, "Is this an appropriate volume?"


Here's a neat video related to taping cymbals that will let you hear the differences between the different placements of a single piece of gaff tape on a cymbal.  


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