[Dixielandjazz] Symbols, Sizzle

[Robert S. Ringwald]

Listmates,

As far as I am concerned, a good drummer will use whichever drum, symbols,
etc that the gig & music calls for.  There is no absolutes.

However, what drives me up the wall is the use of sizzle symbols.

I suspect that, since a drummer is sitting right there, within a stick's
length of the sizzle symbol, he is hearing the stick hit the symbol.

However, get 10 feet away from the drums and you do not hear the stick hit
the symbol.  All you hear is the steady, incessant, boring,  hiss of the
staples or chain or whatever is making the sizzle sound.  There is no
rhythm, just a hiss.

Just try and convince the drummer of this fact.  No way do they believe you.

IMHO- a sizzle should be used very sparingly.  Perhaps one swipe with the
brushes at the end of a ballad.  But not as a ride symbol on a up-beat tune.

--Bob Ringwald
Fulton Street Jazz Band
The Boondockers (Jazz and Comedy)
Amateur Radio Station K6YBV
37,000 feet above Novascocia
On my way to Athens via London.