On a kit, that is. Not a drummer, just very curious about the rudimentary positioning of a drum kit’s instruments and why cross-handed is the go-to formation for playing
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The hi-hat is traditionally placed on the left because the pedal for it is also on the left, because the right foot is on the bass pedal.
Most drummers hit the hi-hat with their dominant hand, which is obviously the right hand for most drummers, hence cross-stick is basically the default.
It’s not. Your dominant hand plays the 8th notes and your other hand plays the backbeat. If you’re playing 8th notes on the ride cymbal and backbeats on the snare, your hands aren’t crossed. Only when your right hand is using the hi-hat are they crossed. But if you put a snare to the left of the hi-hat, or a hi-hat on the right of the kit, which some players do, you wouldn’t be crossed over.
The bottom line is both hands move around the kit, and they’re going to cross over at times.
Most people are right foot dominant and right hand dominant.
The bass drum pedal is used more than the hi hat pedal, so usually played with the right foot.
This means the hi hat goes to the left of the bass.
If using the hi hat a lot, and you prefer to use the right hand, you end up crossing over.
If though you are using a ride (usually right), or not doing a lot of hi hat foot work, a splash to the right can be used instead.
There is nothing intrinsically good about crossing hands, it is just balancing the use of a dominant hand with the non-dominant foot.
To add to the other replies, your dominant hand often moves around the most on a drum kit, replacing high hat strikes with other cymbals or drum beats.
The typical way a kit is laid out, most of your other cymbals/drums are on your dominant side, and the high hat isn’t, so when you want to replace a high hat strike with a crash cymbal, you move your dominant hand clockwise around the kit.
If we use a clock face as an example, your dominant (for me, right) hand moves like the minute hand around the drum kit, and the left hand moves to support what your dominant hand is doing. You want your dominant hand to have the most freedom to move, which is why it goes over your non-dominant hand.
As others have stated its bc typically the dominant hand will play the high hat. For an example of a drummer playing not cross check out Louis Cole! This video blows my mind every time I watch. [louis cole vid](https://youtu.be/lj10_Br86iI)
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