Playing a Cymbal with the Butt of a Rod

Video Transcript

"JOEL SIEGEL: Now, I want to talk about, again, the secret weapon of the rods. Say you're in a kind of an open passage in the music and you're kind of--maybe it's a free chorus. You're going to build up to the chorus or build up to the bridge, whatever it is. It's been pretty mellow but you can--the music is intensifying. So from the tips of the rods, you can go to the butts. And you can do anything with these: You can go on the sweet spot of the ride; you can do the crash; you can do the dome. Experiment with all these sounds, but what I want to highlight is the ability to get a nice wash as if you're using mallets. You get a nice wash without all the attack as if--as what happens when you're using sticks. That's one of the nice things about playing with the rods. You can do the same thing using this part and playing against the edge of the cymbal, which to use is up to you."