The history of how the modern day hi-hat was invented is a subject that many drummers and drum historians will continue to debate. In this article, I am going to give you historical facts and present actual examples of the development of early cymbal mechanisms that led to what we know today as the hi-hat. Many of these are owned by the Northup Drums Museum. A brief history of how drums were played before the hi-hat was invented is where we will begin. The drum set or “trap” set was born at the turn of the 20th century out of necessity when one drummer could play the snare, bass, and cymbal together, instead of employing three drummers. Vaudeville and silent film drummers helped to develop things like a bass drum pedal with a “clanger” that would strike a cymbal mounted to the bass drum. This was the first pedal driven […]

January 2024 Issue