[Cubefreak53]

Originally Posted by slingerland59

I hate to state the obvious but are you pressing down hard enough with the ball of your foot when you close the hats? Depending on how tight the tension is on the springs, it can take a lot of pressure to get that nice tight "chick" sound. You've got to have the bottom hat tilted a bit so the cymbals come together slightly off centre, like when you play a pair of marching band or orchestral cymbals with your hands.

Wow, you were right.. lol man is my face red..

I wish it didn't take so much pressure though so I can play em faster. Can you fix that by adjusting the spring tension?

[slingerland59]

It depends on the hihat stand. I've got three of them and they all have different designs, some allowing spring tension adjustments, and some not. The problem with loosening the springs too much is that you might end up with the top cymbal sagging. In other words you want to create a gap between the cymbals and have it stay consistent so that when you stomp on the pedal you'll get the chick sound and then when you release the cymbals open up again the way they were before.

I'm guessing there's no short cut to lots of practice. I've been practicing double bass work and now my left foot is stronger and faster for hihat work too. It's good to learn the heel to toe rocking pattern for the hihat. You use that for latin and jazz beats.