Cymbals are one of the most personal parts of a drum set, that drummers like to choose in person, with a lot of time and care. As largely an online business, here are some suggestions to help you buy from Cymbalistic with confidence. Our goal is for you to use the cymbals you get from us for the rest of your drumming life— and we're confident you will, once you play them.
First: since every cymbal we ship has been personally selected by a player, you have some security in the knowledge that it has at least passed the filter of one discriminating professional. Every cymbal we ship we would happily take on a playing job ourselves.
Cymbal & Gong helps us out by making cymbals that are very consistent in sound, that are also consistently excellent as instruments— exceptionally so.
Audio files can be deceptive— players have different touches, they play different things, and use different sticks. The recording itself may not be exactly faithful to the sound of the cymbal. And however good the recording, the medium itself is different than having the instrument live in the room with you... which can be deceptive in its own way, playing in a drum shop, vs. your real playing.
So how do you know what you're getting?
Knowing the gram weight of cymbals is very helpful for knowing generally how a cymbal will perform. For example, in the following weight ranges, here is what I expect from a 20" cymbal:
- 1400s-1500s: Paper thin to normal-thin.
- 1600s: Light jazz ride.
- 1700s-1800s: Normal jazz ride.
- 1900s: Stout jazz cymbal.
- 2000s-2100s: Light medium, jazz medium
- 2200s-2300s: Normal medium (still often lighter than the equivalent from major brands)
- 2400+: “ping” ride, rock cymbal
As we progress through those weight ranges, we expect:
- The stick sound to become more defined, and finally very hard and narrow.
- The cymbal to be less responsive in crashing.
- Less background wash, less complexity. More metallic.
- The cymbal to feel stiffer under the stick.
- The pitch to become higher, and the sound perceived as brighter.
There are of course many other factors contributing to a cymbal's sound and handling, but those will be the general trends.
For your own education, play as many cymbals as you can, paying attention to their weight in grams. You can then watch videos of the same models and approximate weights, and have an idea of what you're hearing, even if the video is not very good. Or if it's too good— if it's unrealistically EQed.
It's especially helpful to have played other Turkish-made cymbals, including the defunct Turkish K. Zildjian brand. We feel that Cymbal & Gong compares very favorably with all of them.
Older Turkish made cymbals are certainly a major inspiration for Cymbal & Gong, but those cymbals were wildly inconsistent in sound and weight, often with considerable wild harmonics and other sonic quirks. In many direct comparisons, we have found Cymbal & Gong to have the same basic tonality, but with most of the larger sound quirks tamed, thanks to improved production methods. We feel that ultimately results in an instrument rivalling the most sought cymbals by that brand.
With any cymbal, whether bought on line or in person, there is an adjustment period where you learn to play it, and learn how it behaves in various situations. Playing a cymbal is a relationship, hopefully one that is not too demanding of you.
We've found most Cymbal & Gong cymbals to be very friendly in that respect, demanding minimal adjustment from average jazz drummers, or other drummers with a moderate touch— we include notes in the description any time we get a cymbal that takes greater than normal care to play, but that we feel is still a worthwhile instrument.
We think after you get your first cymbal from us, you'll understand our enthusiasm for these wonderful instruments, and will feel comfortable and confident shopping with us in the future.