My research took a different path when I realized that the pattern was being played on the cymbal much earlier than I had anticipated, and that the cymbal was being choked with the left hand. This realization occurred when I witnessed Oliver Tines playing the pattern on the small splash-sized cymbal, which was probably 10 or 12 inches in diameter, but simultaneously choking beats two and four and releasing the cymbal on beats one and three. The release of the cymbal on one and three allow the cymbal to vibrate on those beats.

The examples in the following section are representative recordings of pattern playing on a small cymbal. The drummer played the pattern on the small cymbal while choking the cymbal on beats two and four with the left hand. This screen shot from Oliver Tines’s performance with Louis Armstrong shows the placement of the left hand underneath the cymbal and the right hand in a position that shows the right stick ready to attack the cymbal.

Examples of Small Cymbal Playing

According to this research, the earliest example of the pattern being played on a small cymbal can be heard on “Clarinet Marmalade.” This track was recorded on 2/4/1927 with Frankie Trumbauer and his Orchestra with Chauncey Morehouse on drums. Morehouse can be heard playing behind the trombone solo from 0:43-0:48 and 0:50-0:55. Morehouse again plays the pattern from 3:01-3:04 and 3:07-3:12, which is the end of the track.

On 3/17/1927, Oliver Tines played the pattern on a recording of “Hot Lips” with Bill Brown and His Brownies. Tines can be heard playing the pattern beginning at 2:10- 2:23. He re-enters with the pattern at 2:25 and plays until 2:34 and again at 2:38-2:40.

This is one of the earliest representative recordings of the pattern on a small cymbal being choked by the left hand. It is interesting that Tines played the same pattern with Armstrong on “I Cover the Waterfront” and “Dinah” which became staples in this research (show below).

Baby Dodds’s playing on “Wolverine Blues” with the Jelly Roll Morton Trio is another example of the use of the pattern on a small cymbal (this track was previously analyzed but regarding Dodds’s brush playing).

Dodds can be heard playing the pattern on the cymbal from 3:00-3:12, which is right before the end of the tune. Dodds played two and four on the cymbal at 1:35 behind the clarinet solo and continued to play various rhythms behind him until 2:10 where Dodds began playing the pattern with brushes.

Beginning at 2:59, Dodds played the pattern on the small cymbal until the end of the tune. Recorded on June 10, 1927 in Chicago and under leader Jelly Roll Morton, this is one of the earlier representations of the pattern being played on the cymbal in this fashion.

Tommy Benford’s playing behind Jelly Roll Morton on “Shreveport” is another example of pattern playing on the small cymbal.

Benford plays the pattern throughout a lot of the track with brushes on the snare drum. Benford then plays the pattern on a small cymbal while choking it with the left hand. It is sometimes difficult to distinguish the pattern when Benford plays on the snare drum with brushes. There is a heavy emphasis on quarter notes and the backbeat, but for this reason, I only count the moments that Benford played the cymbal with the brush as seconds towards the total duration of the pattern played.

Benford first plays the brush on the cymbal from 0:42- 0:56. This is most clearly heard behind the clarinet solo from 1:33-1:47 and 1:49-2:04. The cymbal can be heard again from 2:40-3:14. This is a clear representation of how the orchestration of the pattern was increasing in popularity. The recording is easy to hear, even though the pattern was played with a brush on the cymbal as opposed to a stick.