Can You Use A Hi Hat As A Crash? Yes And No..

Crashing On Hats

If you need more cymbals or want to experiment, can you use a hi hat as a crash? This is actually something that I’ve always wondered about and it’s strange (in a good way), so let’s talk about it!

You Can Do What?

You can absolutely crash on a hi hat cymbal! In fact, you can also use crash cymbals as hi hats if you want. If one hi hat cymbal sounds enough like a crash, then it should work for you. 

There’s no real rule book to how you use your cymbals and if it sounds good to you, press on. 

Exceptions With Your Hats

There are some exceptions you may want to keep in mind with this, however. Let’s look into some guidelines you may want to consider.

A Few Key Things To Look At

There are a few things you may want to consider when trying to crash on your hat cymbal. It’s not that it’s impossible to do, but it may not be the best long-term for the life of your cymbal. 

There are some key differences in how cymbals are made and if we look at the hi-hat, it has different characteristics and tonalities when compared with crash cymbals. 

We can look at things such as the tapering and thickness. If you really look at a crash and a singular hat cymbal, you’ll probably notice at least one difference. 

With crash cymbals, they tend to be more tapered than hi-hats. This just means there’s a gradual change in thickness from the bell to the edges. 

This tapering is crucial in giving a crash cymbal the specific sound qualities it has (though there are other things involved such as alloy, profile, hammering, lathing, etc). 

If you look at your top and bottom hi-hat, you’ll notice that there isn’t really a huge change in thickness towards the edges of the hats. 

This is one of the characteristics that give hi-hats their distinct sound, among other things. If you hit closer to the edge of a crash cymbal, you’ll get more of a washy sound. 

If you hit closer to the edge of most hi-hats (individually, either bottom or top hat), you’ll get a more clearly defined and sustained ring. 

Thickness also goes hand-in-hand with tapering and is another thing to look at. You can have extremely heavy and thick crash cymbals, but because they are tapered at the edges, you’ll still be able to crash. 

So, it really doesn’t matter what thickness a crash is because along with the thickness and taper, the other things involved that I mentioned earlier go into the cymbal making process that are specific for crashes to sound the way they do (and be crash-able). 

With hi-hats, you really can’t crash on the thicker ones individually. They aren’t tapered, so you just get more of that sustained ‘ting’ sound. 

If the hats are thinner though (the thinner the better), then you’ll be able to get a decent crash out of it, even with the lack of taper! 

If you like the way a thicker hat sounds though, go for it! This is all subjective and based on my own experiences. 

You may just hear something that sounds more closely to a bell when you do that though. Also, it’ll be more higher pitched (fun fact: the thicker a cymbal is, the higher pitch it will be). 

I’ve only recently discovered that the top hat of this pair of hats I got a couple of months ago crashes well. They are 15” Sabian Legacy hats and the top hat is thin and it crashes pretty well. 

It has a dark and fairly washy tone. Remember, thinner cymbals are lower pitched. It sounds more washy too because the hammer patterns are larger and more irregular. 

If you are going to use a hat as a crash long-term, I’d recommend making sure you don’t plan on using them as actual hi-hats. 

If you’re crashing on them for long periods of time, the edges may be more likely to crack on you. This is because the hats aren’t tapered like a crash, so the edges won’t be able to take the impact as well. 

You could still use your hats when they are cracked, but who really wants cracked cymbals? All I’m saying is, if you plan on using a top or bottom hat as a crash, it’s probably best to not also expect it to last as long.

Other than with my newer hats I’ve been telling you about, I’ve never liked the crash sound of any of the other hats I’ve played.

Wait, so you may also be asking, can you use crash cymbals as hi hats? The answer is also yes! Remember that you may not have a distinct hi-hat ‘chick’ sound or the articulation you get from a pair of hats, but it is possible! 

Just take a couple of crash cymbals that are the same size and swap them out for your hats. You may have the best results using a heavier crash as the bottom hat and a lighter, thinner crash as the top hat.

Back to our hats, If you’d like to crash successfully on some, I’d recommend buying a pair of thin used hats. As far as brands and series, that’s completely up to you. 

I think you’d get the best results with that and you’d also be saving some money in the process by purchasing used cymbals. 

Moving Forward With Cymbal-palooza

So to recap, thinner hats will probably be your best bet. Buy some used ones or use old ones specifically for this purpose. 

I wouldn’t get too attached to using them as actual hi-hats though if you plan on using them as a crash for prolonged periods. 

Can You Use Crash Cymbals As Hi Hats?

For using crash cymbals as hi hats, I’d also recommend buying some used cymbals, though you don’t have to worry as much about cracking crashes as hats.

I’ll always say you should go with whatever hat/cymbal sounds good to you. When I was first starting, I felt like I cared too much about what my gear sounded like. 

“Be yourself, even when no one is looking.”

– Quasimodo

It’s your gear and your sound, so if you like a thicker hat rather than thinner to crash on, go for it and have fun! 

Just remember, if you crack your hat at all in the process, don’t say that I didn’t warn you. 

Go Out and Discover New Sounds

So, can you use a hi hat as a crash and can you use crash cymbals as hi hats? I’d say it’s a sure thing with both of them. 

If you do an experiment, could you leave a comment and tell me about it? I’d love to hear what sounds you have discovered playing around with cymbal placements!

I hope my personal insight and experiences have offered you some help. 

Be sure to check out the gear that has made my life easier as a drummer here.

Until next time!

– Evan C.