CYMBALISTIC: Shopify store coming!

UPDATE: Soft launch time— the new store is now active— I'm writing an official announcement as we speak. Feel free to swing by, check it out, ask questions. No doubt lots of little things will need to be fixed/made better, so let me know if any part of could be done better... announcement coming soon...

CYMBALISTIC: A pre-launch-of-something heads up here: I'm in the midst of setting up a Shopify store for this little cymbal business of mine. It will streamline and improve the getting-stuff experience for everyone in a bunch of ways: 

Easier ordering: You will now be able to order securely directly through the site.   

More cymbals: I'll be syncing my listings with the available stock at Cymbal & Gong, which will dramatically increase what I can offer.  

For cymbals from Cymbal & Gong's stock, I'll go to the warehouse and select the best, most representative of the model. You won't be buying at random.  

Discounted shipping: That's it, shipping will be cheaper, with free returns. 

More ways to pay: Including a pay over time option! 

Better communication: It will be easier to ask questions directly through the site, with a chat function so you can get answers in real time, as I'm available. 

Books: It will be an improved portal for getting my books, which will probably encourage me to publish some projects that have been languishing 90% finished for way too long.  

Merch: Branded stuff for CRUISE SHIP DRUMMER!, Cymbalistic, and Cymbal & Gong, and probably some cool other non-branded drummer related graphic items— coffee mugs, t-shirts, hats, and whatnot. You'd be amazed at the level of crap available to slap a brand on and have drop shipped. 
 

... I won't be doing that last thing. CRUISE SHIP DRUMMER! dietary supplements, lunch boxes, etc. I'll be very conscious of maintaining standards and not crapifying the whole thing— my entire brand is that you're getting some kind of expert guidance through the buying process, and getting stuff that passed my filter. We're not just hustling people to buy more crap here, the idea is that I'm helping drummers get what they need to do their thing, in a personalized way.  

Stay tuned, I hope to launch the thing next week, and will do some kind of special to kick it off! Get a jump on it by visiting cymbalistic.com and getting on my mailing list— I'll send an announcement when it launches. 

History of cymbal manufacturing

An interesting article by Fritz Steger, author of A History Of Drums Made In Germany, written in German: Welches Becken passt zu meiner Musik und Spielweise? In English that's “Which cymbal suits my music and playing style?”— which is a little misleading, because before he gets to talking about which cymbals passt zu meiner Musik und Spielweise, he gives a pretty detailed history of cymbal manufacturing, mainly in Europe, mainly since the 1800s. 

For you non-German speakers, and myself, also a non-German speaker, here is the English translation (from Google translate) of the history portion. Thanks for DFO user type85 for sharing the link— he has a cool YouTube channel you'll want to subscribe to.

This article is intended to provide a basis for the development of drum cymbals and their various metal compounds from ancient times to the present day. After a historical introduction and presentation of the important manufacturers, the second part deals with the sound properties of cymbals and the various alloys with their advantages and disadvantages.

Part I: Where do cymbals actually come from?

Cymbals are of Asian origin and can be found on Assyrian monuments (2nd millennium BC). They were also part of Indonesian gamelan music in the form of tuned bronze gongs. According to Greek belief, they took away the power of demons, so they were beaten at funerals for the deceased. Western miniatures show them up until the 15th century; then they seem to have been forgotten, probably because the art of hammering them was lost. 200 years later, they reappeared in what is now Turkey and found their way into local military music with their Janissary music during the Turkish wars. Soon after, they also found their place in classical music.

In the 1913 Real-Lexikon der Musikinstrumente, cymbals are defined as “a percussion instrument made of two convex bronze plates, hammered to the same thickness, about 40 cm wide, made in all sizes, without a specific pitch, with leather handles threaded through the hump.” “For special effects, the edges are gently clinked together or one of the cymbals is struck with a timpani mallet. Art music makes sparing use of this instrument; but in military orchestras and lower-ranking bands, which of course attach one cymbal to the bass drum and thus coarsen the effect, it has become indispensable.”

Since then, hand-made cymbals have fascinated drummers and percussionists in Europe and the “new world” with their complex sounds, rich overtones and unique character. But what makes them so special? The starting point of every cymbal is its alloy – the metal mixture that gives it its basic sound properties.

It's long, the rest of it is below the fold: 

CYMBALISTIC: new cymbals in!

CYMBALISTIC: A fresh round of cymbals is in— it's been a rather slow year, so I haven't been getting a ton of new stock. You should be using these things. Cymbals. Made by Cymbal & Gong. Every time I play I'm delighted to be using them. 

Let's round up everything I have in stock, all by Cymbal & Gong— hit that link for videos/descriptions of all of them. These are all “jazz-weight” cymbals— considerably lighter than your average A. Zildjian. I use them for all kinds of music, I haven't felt the need for anything heavier.    

10/2 UPDATE: Videos are up for two new Special Janavars, 20" and 22" and a newly-patinated 20" Extra Special Janavar. Check them out.... 

Also, fair warning: The few Janavars (Special and Extra Special) I have in stock will likely be the last ones available before Spring 2025. If you want one, you'd better act fast... 
 

Two thin 22" A-type Holy Grails - heavy patina
These are Blakey-style bruisers, with a big, aggressive sound. Very responsive dynamically— you can make some big mistakes with these, but they get out of your way fast. A skillful player should be able to do something great with these. 

NEW - 20 and 22" Special Janavar
The 22 is only slightly heavier than those two A-types, but is a whole different experience. Controlled and focused jazz sound, but with the feel and fullness you associate with a lighter cymbal. 

Two 20" A-type Holy Grails
They're modeled after “trans stamp” era A Zildjians, and everyone should have one. These are absolute work horse cymbals— which is not real inspiring as a sales pitch, except it is actually a big deal when you get a cymbal that just sounds like a cymbal, that you can do everything with. And they're not without character. They're jazz weight, but seem to function more like a light-medium. 

22" and two 20" Extra Special Janavars
These have been extremely popular— Janavars with K-type hammering and lathing. The 22 has the regular Holy Grail patina, and it's a very full, lush jazz ride sound. If you found a Turkish K that sounded like this you'd go out of your mind, and you would dedicate years learning to play it. One 20" has the customary heavy patina, that gives it a drier, more funky tone.

NEW: The other 20" Extra Spacial Janavar is a fascinating case— in its natural state it was problematic, with an indistinct stick sound and a rather viscious high pitched squeal. I had Tim at Cymbal & Gong give it a heavy patina, and now it behaves like an old, heavily played basher:

20" Special Janavar Crash-Ride, and 15" Hihats
Ordinary Janavars are bright, full, fairly uncomplex cymbals. The heavy patina (hence the "Special") gives them much more character, a bright-but-funky jazz sound. I have a couple of online students who have these, and I always enjoy listening to them in the lesson. People have been loving them.

UPDATE: Two more of these coming next week— a 20 and a 22!

Other Holy Grails— 16" Crash, 14" hihats
The 16" crash isn't a real hip size these days— see my list of cymbal size bigotry— but I've been using one lately, and I get it, the 16 has its own niche. This one is medium thin, and is very similar to my own. Rides well, like all Cymbal & Gong crashes. The hihats are a solid set of light-mediums, with a slightly exotic bottom cymbal that gives them a little wild edge when played open. Cool cymbals. 

14" Wide China
Seems like a niche effect item, but these are very fun. Not just for wailing on, you can touch it occasionally and it brightens up the whole timbre of your sound, in a slightly wild way. I keep one set up about half the time, and it blends nicely with the other cymbals.  

I'm pleased to see so few Cymbal & Gong cymbals available used, and there are a lot of them in circulation by now— people hang onto them. The solo artisan guys are getting a lot of attention at the moment, but I see many more of their cymbals for sale used, despite having vastly fewer cymbals in circulation. Curious.  

Anyway, hit the “email Todd” link here or the contact form on Cymbalistic to get one of these, or if you'd like me to select one for you at Cymbal & Gong, or custom order something for you! 

Andy Newmark's set up

Pilfered from a Modern Drummer interview in 1984, here is Andy Newmark talking about his drumming set up. He's a session drummer, and was real active in the 70s and 80s especially. I excerpted some more of this interview in 2011, and it is highly worth reading.

Everyone won't agree with every single one of the following decisions, but we get a real clear picture of his thinking about it:
  

 A four-piece drumset tends to make me play more groove conscious. Ninety-five percent of the time, I'm playing only hihat, snare and bass drum. So by not having too many other options around me, it keeps my approach more groove oriented.

I always had a problem having a second mounted tom-tom, because it never allowed me to place my ride cymbal exactly where I wanted it. I had to put my cymbal up higher and further to the right of the drum, and that's not where I like to play my ride cymbal. So by not having that tom-tom there, I actually get to have my ride cymbal in the most comfortable place for me to play it.

I also don't feel the need to play fills with lots of drums. I don't put down those who do it, but a couple of extra tom-toms tuned to various notes just don't do that much for me. I think it sounds great when other people do it, but I don't like the sound so much that I want to crowd my drumset with more toms. 

I like what happens to me when I play a real basic drumkit, because it alters my approach, as it would any drummer. You have to work within limitations, and when you put governors around yourself, trying to extract the most out of a little is a big challenge. Pop music is the same three or four chords over and over again, and the challenge is to find a new way to play those three or four chords and get something new out of it. It's the same idea with getting the most out of a little drumset as opposed to having lots of drums.

An aside: I don't see a smaller set up as a limitation to begin with. Playing pop, rock, R&B, whatever, having many gradations of tom tom and cymbal sounds is not a tremendous musical advantage; having the major categories of sound— high tom, low tom, crash, ride— within easy reach is. 

Also, I might add, in the studio, engineers get off on a small drumkit immensely, because it's a much more easily controlled sound. There's less spill into other microphones. It's a tighter drum sound and much easier to work with.

I play a Yamaha kit. I have a 24" bass drum for a big sound—I have a very, very heavy foot. A big part of my sound is the bass drum. I have an 12" tom-tom mounted on the bass drum, and I have a 16" floor tom. I also have a 13" tom-tom, which I sometimes will use in place of the 8 x 12, depending on what I'm doing.

Generally I lean towards the 12 , because I get a high note from it. If I'm only going to have two drums, I like a big difference in pitch, so I've got high and real low.

I have the Recording series, and I also have the same kit in the Tour series. I have a Yamaha snare drum, which is 5 1/2 x 14. I've never been able to play snare drums deeper than the regular depth of 5 1/2".

When I play live, I tune the snare drum real tight, and 99% of the time, every time I hit it, it's a rimshot, because it gives me a lot more volume and cuts through anything. With a deeper drum, I seem to lose that real sharp crack that I can get out of a 5 1/2" drum, which is a very fast response and very piercing. With a deeper drum, I tend to get a mushier sound.

I tune my snare drum tight for a high-pitched crack. It's not tuned to any kind of note. In fact, if you hit the drum softly, it won't sound very good, but if you hit it at the volume I hit it at, it works on stage. In the studio, I tune it way down and usually put a little piece of tape or a little Kleenex or something on the side just to take some of the ring out.

With the toms, I tune both sides identically, so that if I hit the top of the drum or the bottom, it's the exact same pitch. There would be no right or wrong side to hit—they're tuned the same. I tune the floor tom to the lowest possible note before the sound starts to distort and buzz from being too loose. With the mounted tom-tom, I look for the note that will ring the longest. I like the toms to resonate for the full life of the drum. So I find the note that will ring the longest on the high tom.

That's usually not its lowest note and certainly not its highest note. It's the place where the note seems to go on for the longest amount of time. I don't put any muffling on the tom-toms. I like them to be very natural and have their own decay.

The bass drum is not tuned to anything. The head is very flat. There's no pitch at all because I have a blanket inside. So I tune it down as low as I can before the head actually starts to wrinkle, and then I'll go up half a turn on each lug to take it out of that area.

I guess you can say, in the toms I look for a note that has a life to it and a ring and a decay. The bass drum and the snare drum are noteless—it's a "thump" and a "crack." I want a thump that hits me in my gut. Hopefully, people fall over if they walk in front of the bass drum when I hit it—their knees crack or demolecularize.

The cymbals are Zildjians. I use one 20" ride cymbal. I have a K., and I also have an A.—I switch back and forth. I use two crash cymbals: one over the little tom and one over the floor tom. Those two cymbals could be any combination of 16", 17", and 18", depending on the music I'm playing.

The hi-hat cymbals are the smallest that Zildjian makes—they're 13" New Beats. All of my cymbals are high pitched. The crashes are all bright, very high ended and die away very quickly—a quick explosion and it's gone. The hi-hats are small so that I get a very high-pitched "tick." The ride cymbal is also high pitched. I like to get a "ping" that is distinct so that each beat is distinguished. I find that with a lot of cymbals, if I start riding on them, they just turn into a big wash. Something else I should add is that I don't use the ride cymbal a lot because there's so much more definition in the hi-hat as far as keeping a rhythm section locked into something. The hi-hat is much more deliberate. If I do play the ride cymbal, I very rarely play in the middle or on the edge. I always play on the bell, because the bell cuts through.

For sticks I use Regal 5A wooden tip because I think that wood is more natural than nylon. When I'm playing the snare drum, I play with the back end of the stick, because it makes it fatter and bigger. I feel I'm getting more of the meat of the stick into the drum, and if you ever watch me play, you'll see that I'm often flipping the sticks; it's become a completely involuntary action now. I use the proper end of the stick on the hi-hat, but when I go to the cymbal, I usually use the back end of the stick because I get more volume out of the bell using the back end. So if you see me play, you often see the stick being flipped around depending on whether I'm coming back to the hi-hat or going up to the cymbal. 

When I play matched grip, I tend to use the back end of the stick also. If I'm playing my left hand in a legitimate [traditional] grip, then I use the proper end of the stick on the drum.

There's a mentality that's woven through all that I've talked about, and that is that there's nothing in the middle in my drumset. It's either super low or super high—super bottom or super top. Everything cuts through the band. The bass drum and the floor tom are like volcanoes. The high tom is high, like a timbale. It cuts. The snare drum is a high-pitched crack, and all my cymbals are high, quick explosions. The hi-hat has definition, just by the nature of it. And when I play the ride cymbal, it's on the bell because the bell has much more punch to it. So there is an attitude here that shows through the whole drumkit, and that is that every note on the kit is designed to have an impact. There's no middle-of-the-road in the drumset.

Another aside: Note that even within that philosophy of very high and very low sounds, we are still using normal-size drums— 12 and 16" toms, 24" bass drum. 16-18"crash, 20" ride, 13" hihats. A lot of players now would be inclined to take that further, into extreme ranges, where we begin losing the normal tonal functionality of the sounds.  

Messing with the EAD 10

I got a Yamaha EAD 10 recently— a popular interface/recording device for making drum cover videos. It's suddenly clear why there has been such a proliferation of those videos— there's infrastructure for it now. You can really do it with just the EAD 10, a phone and phone app, and a drum set.  

It's pretty cool, getting a reasonably decent recorded sound from the drums with just a little unit that clips on to the bass drum hoop. It has a lot of audio effects and triggering capability, which aren't of much interest to me. I'll do a more detailed post on it soon.   

I may as well share some videos I've made while figuring out the device, and my set up— like this one, playing along with a loop sampled from the intro of Herbie Hancock's Watermelon Man, from Headhunters:

The first part is drums and loop, at 4:50 you hear it again with the drums soloed. 

Here's another one of me playing with a longer sampled section of Tunji, from the John Coltrane album Coltrane. Drums are soloed after 5:18.  

I'm not trying to make good music or a good accompaniment to the recording, I'm practicing being at ease playing my stuff while being really self conscious about how my timing is going to sound with the recording. I had a lot to say about that, but it's not forming itself well into writing right now, so that'll have to wait for another post... 

Just throwing it out there...

A quick observation, during this period of light posting:  

A pattern I've noticed when I see people selling off their boutique cymbals: they rarely include any Cymbal & Gong. Every other hip brand of boutique item, but no Cymbal & Gong. It's not because they're not out there. There are a lot of them in circulation. 

It's because most people who buy them use them forever. A few of them I've sold have ended up getting traded to another drummer, who loved them and they used them forever, but they're not just getting them and dumping them. In the case of one drummer on this last Germany trip, Cymbal & Gong was what he was dumping the other cymbals to get.  

This year has been a little slow, so I haven't been acquiring a lot of new stock, but these cymbals I have hanging around are great. People have to get excited to make a purchase, but how's this for exciting: I'm holding your career cymbal, that you're going to be happy taking to every gig, recording session, and rehearsal you do for the 10 years at least. I was excited at that prospect when I started buying them for myself. 

End of random sales pitch. More erratic posting of drum stuff coming...

CYMBALISTIC: Oh, what the heck...

UPDATE: Bumping this to the top of the blog. 

CYMBALISTIC: Oh, what the heck, business has been a little slow lately, so let's goose this thing a little bit, and do a special on cymbals. 

I'll give the FIRST THREE PEOPLE who want to buy a wonderful Cymbal & Gong cymbal in the month of February an extra special deal— we're a tiny, tiny business, and normally the specials we can afford to offer are in the nature of free shipping, or 10-15% off, but we'll do something better than that. Contact me for details. 

The cymbals have all been individually selected by me as ones I would want to own and use— there are no dogs. And as I've ranted about endlessly before, the cymbals themselves are consistently the best available for a traditional sound— a 50s/60s sound. The other jazz professionals who play them know this, and go nuts for them. 

Right now I have a number of Extra Special Janavars, with regular patina— making them big and lush— and heavy patina— making them more dry and funky. These have been a very hot item. I took several to Germany in October and they all sold before the real meet even started. 

I also have a few great A-type Holy Grails— Cymbal & Gong's best selling cymbal. The 20s are a little stouter, and are great light-mediums. The 22 is thin with a heavy patina, for a big, rather rough Tony Williams type of sound.

And there are a few random items, on which I'll be inclined to make you an extra special deal: 

18" Turk “Rin” - Great cymbal, it's just been in stock awhile. Lovely, rather delicate Turk for combo playing.

16" Holy Grail “Bobby” - 16" cymbals used to be a left side mainstay, and this is a very worthy, versatile cymbal for that. Give it a shot. I just got a 16 very similar to this, and love it. 

14" China “Chi” -  Really cool effect cymbal. C&G's Chinas are excellent, with the real Chinese sound, but not obnoxious, and not too loud.

  

OK, visit CYMBALISTIC to pick, out your cymbal(s), and then contact me through the form on that site.  

CYMBALISTIC: new cymbals are in / SPECIAL

2024 UPDATE: All right, the special is obviously OVER, but, hey, Cymbal & Gong are such special cymbals that even if you have to pay the shipping they're a bargain. Career instruments for players, just waiting for you to grab them. 

UPDATE: Time is running out on the special, gang— expires with the new year's eve countdown! 

CYMBALISTIC: OK, new cymbal videos are up! Run check them out, and get back to me fast, because for the rest of December I'll be offering: 

•••  FREE SHIPPING within the United States
•••  $60 SHIPPING CREDIT PER CYMBAL internationally— up to the full cost of shipping 

Offer expires at 12:00 AM PST, January 1, 2024. Tick tock, people! 

There are also two cymbals I left in Germany that you can get with no shipping at all— you just have to get yourself to Berlin (or maybe Dresden) to pick them up. Go to Cymbalistic and look for the ones that say GET IT IN GERMANY. 

There is a pretty good selection of cymbals up right now— more than one of the most popular models: Extra Special Janavars (both heavy patina and lighter Holy Grail patina), Special Janavars, A-type Holy Grails. As always, if you're looking for something not listed, let me know and I may be able to go to Cymbal & Gong HQ and pick one out for you. 

And it's a good chance to compare the heavy patina Extra Special Janavars with the lighter-patina versions— I have two 22s that are almost exactly the same weight— 2425 and 2426 grams. 

Heavy patina, “Donna” [UPDATE: this one has been sold!]

Light patina, “Khan”:  

Both great cymbals, I won't impose my personal tastes any more than I already do by selecting which cymbals I sell. I believe you could use all of them your whole life— some are obvious star cymbals, others may make you adjust your ear or touch slightly, or be best featured for their role in your set up. 

Anyway: the sale clock is ticking, get in touch via the EMAIL TODD link in the sidebar here, or through the form on Cymbalistic, and let me know what you want!

CYMBALISTIC: December special

CYMBALISTIC: More news, a new batch of Cymbal & Gong cymbals is coming next week. And, I will be offering a rare SPECIAL for the remainder of the month of December:
 

Free shipping on US orders / $60 international shipping credit per cymbal (up to the total cost of shipping). 

I have a heavy week coming up, so videos of the new cymbals won't be coming until the end of the week. I do have a small selection of excellent cymbals available now, however. 

Just a heads up... stay tuned... 

Cheap jazz cymbals

During that Washington residency one of the students asked me for a recommendation on an inexpensive jazz cymbal. It's not really a budget category of cymbals, and I didn't have a great answer for him. 

First, for “jazz cymbals”, we're normally looking for lighter weight cymbals, that can act as both a ride and a crash, with some complexity, and a warmer, darker sound. Usually that means Turkish or Turkish-style hand-hammered cymbals.

Buying new is generally not the best value. The cheapest cymbal might be the one you only have to buy once, and everybody thinks whichever latest hot item is going to be that cymbal, and often it is not. They don't work out as well as the buzz surrounding them promised. The Zildjian company, for example, has gotten really good at hyping its new products. So people end up married to cymbals that don't work well for them, just because they spent so much on them. 

Sidebar: Cymbal & Gong is, I believe, an exception to that equation— any truly good cymbal is, when you find one. In selling them, many times I have seen jazz professionals, after playing them— against their natural bargain-seeking nature— enthusiastically buying them new and happily using them for years. To me that's a special situation. I believe they're very special instruments.  

But generally, to get into jazz cymbals for the cheapest initial price tag, you have to shop used.

For students, the first move from lousy student cymbals is to get the cheapest available professional cymbals: dirty old A. Zildjians or Sabian AAs. That's still a good move; those are good, all-purpose cymbals. My very old how to get real cymbals when you're poor post still is mostly true. 60s-80s A. Zildjians and 70s-80s Sabian AAs can be gotten very cheaply. They're not considered “jazz cymbals” now, but they have certainly been used on many jazz gigs and recordings. 

For actual jazz-seeming hand hammered cymbals, in the last decade there have been some tantalizing  options, notably Dream and Agop Xist... each of which quickly got more expensive with the buzz surrounding them. Dreams are highly variable in quality, and it would be easy to get stuck with a pretty crummy sounding cymbal. Xists are better, but are not much cheaper than some real pro cymbals we'll talk about in a moment. They're good if they're a bargain, they're not good if they're more expensive than the cymbals I'll mention next. 

I think students should look for: 1980s American K. Zildjian ride or Sabian HH medium ride. Any random one will likely be a decent, versatile cymbal, that you can use for some years as your taste and ear for cymbals develops. The medium rides will be a safer random purchase than the jazz rides, and will be more versatile cymbals for students. 

That's the easiest move: get the dirtiest, funkiest example you can find of either of those. “Flea bites” on the edges and keyholing are acceptable, cracks and “repairs” are not acceptable.

If you want to shop a little bit, perhaps take a bigger risk, here are some general guidelines:  

The product lines in currently manufactured “hand hammered” type cymbals have expanded enough that we can distinguish between ordinary and top of the line, and recently, boutique— I'll comment on all of them, based on the premise of buying a lifetime cymbal once. Maybe also antique.  
 

Ordinary: Regular lines of the major companies. Zildjian and Sabian will be safest, cheapest, and most plentiful of these.  

K. Zildjian (American) ride, jazz ride; Sabian HH ride, light ride, Traditional series by Agop, Bosphorus, and Mehmet.   

TOTL:  Ambitious/innovative designs trying to be the ultimate in something, with a dedicated elite-seeming marketing angle, stylized appearance. More expensive, with more weird/specialty/exotic cymbals. 

Kerope, Constantinople, various K Custom, various Sabian HHX series, many Agop, Bosphorus and Mehmet series. 

Boutique: Enthusiast artisan individuals, usually one-off designs. It's good that people are doing this, and they should be supported, but purely in terms of value in getting a usable instrument, this is an expensive, rather risky category. These cymbals should really be chosen in person, by someone who knows what they want, and knows how to judge a cymbal.  

Bettis and Funch are perhaps most popular right now.  

Antique: Old cymbals with a lot of caché. Most expensive option, and a big gamble that you will get something you like— many individual cymbals in this category are not good. Or, from a player's perspective, not better than newer, much less expensive options. Can be very expensive, in the weight range we want.   

K. Zildjian, 50s or earlier A. Zildjian, Spizzichino.  

 

Note: Cymbal & Gong probably falls under the TOTL category, though the ones I carry I would categorize as great ordinary cymbals— the designs and sound are traditional. They're very safe to purchase— I select each cymbal I sell, and I only sell cymbals I would want to play. C&G is a very small company, but the cymbals are produced by a professional shop, with established designs and exceptional consistency, so I wouldn't call them boutique.   

There are a number of other smaller Turkish brands that you may be able to find some used bargains with them— lesser known brands will depreciate more, and be cheaper to begin with. Again, traditionally lathed cymbals will be safest. “Sultan”-type designs (with unlathed bell and a wide unlathed band in the riding area) are also reasonably safe.

For a student getting a set, the safest and most economical strategy might be to get one of the 20" K or HH rides above, with an A. Zildjian or Sabian AA 16-18"crash (thin) and 14" hihats (New Beat, medium, regular, light).   

Shopping for jazz cymbals, the ideal range of gram weights would generally be: 

18" - 1325-1425g
20" - 1650-1950g - Note that the recommended 20" K/HH rides will be heavier than that.
22" - 2050-2350g
14" hihats -  less than 1000g top / 1200g bottom

Within those weights, lighter = getting rather splashy,  heavier = trending towards a medium.

Good luck! Please feel free to contact me with any questions. 

CYMBALISTIC: Germany tour wrap up

CYMBALISTIC: Hey, I'm back home and recovering from a very successful Germany excursion, and about to resume regular posting!

I'm never sure how things are going to go, but I ended up selling almost all of the 14 cymbals I took— I left two behind (which are available to purchase in Germany) and brought home a little 14" China. As always it was a good scene hanging out with a bunch of great drummers. A high point was the drummer who bought two 22s and promptly moved to sell his workhorse Agop and an expensive boutique cymbal he just bought. 

And, as it has been going recently, there was the most buzz about the Extra Special Janavars, and Special Janavars*. 

* - Special Janavars just have a heavy patina; Extra Special Janavars have K-type lathing and hammering, and a heavy patina, often three rivets.  

Here's a little video I got mainly from the Berlin meet— the main event of the tour, there was nothing to show from Frankfurt, a few of us just gathered in my funky hotel room like we were trading Cold War secrets... 

If you visit my cymbal site Cymbalistic, you'll see the pickings are rather slim— I'll be getting more cymbals this week.  

If you're in Germany and want to get one of the cymbals I left behind— a 20" A-type Holy Grail and a 17" Special Janavar— contact me and I can let you know how to play them and purchase them. I also left a hard cymbal case, if anyone needs one. Everyone was acting like I will be coming back in April '24, so if you want to participate then, let me know!  

THANK YOU to Michael, Jakob, Guido, Hasan, Bernd, Conrad, Achim, Felix, Heinrich, and anyone I'm momentarily forgetting in my haze of jetlag! 

And actually, a double extra special thanks to Michael and Jakob, for putting me up, and driving me around, and putting the word out, and generally making this whole thing possible! 

CYMBALISTIC: BECKEN DEUTSCHLAND 2023 - LET'S GOOO!

CYMBALISTIC: OK everyone, I'm heading to Germany today, with a case of wonderful Cymbal & Gong cymbals for your approval, enjoyment, and merriment. 

The deets: 

I will show cymbals in Frankfurt on Wednesday, Berlin on Friday, Munich* on Sunday. You'll need to contact me for exactly where and when. 

* - See details below! 

The best ways to reach me, Todd Bishop, in Germany are:
SMS: +1 503 380 9259
Email: todd6ishop[at]gmail.com

Cymbals I will bring:

•  20 and 22" Extra Special Janavars - which people have been loving!
•  17 and 22" Special Janavars - which people also love.
•  16, 19, 20, and 22" Holy Grails - Cymbal & Gong's flagship line, people love them!
•  14 and 16" Wide Chinas - fun little Chinese cymbals people will definitely love.

Go to Cymbalistic to hear them! The ones that say GET IT IN GERMANY are the ones I'm bringing. All cymbals are the same price in $/€, no extra fees.  

For Berlin meet you can also reach Michael Griener:
Phone: 0163/5913357

The meets:

=== FRANKFURT ===
Wednesday, Oct. 11th – 5-9pm
Wirtshaus zum Schützenhof - Kelsterbach

Appointment only! A few people are coming to play cymbals at my hotel, and anyone who wants can join me at the wirsthaus for food and drinks. Text me at +1 503 380 9259 to let me know you're coming. 

=== BERLIN ===
Friday, Oct. 13th – noon-4pm
At Michael Griener's studio space, right next to the southern subway exit Bernauer Str. (U8). Contact me or Michael for the location. 

I will be in Berlin, staying in Moabit, from the 12th-14th, if you want to play the cymbals another time.

Text me @ +1 503 380 9259 or Michael at 0163/5913357 to meet. 

=== MUNICH ===

IMPORTANT: If you're in Munich and want a cymbal, you need to pre-purchase it, and I will meet you to give it to you. Go to Cymbalistic and see what cymbals I will bring to Germany, reserve the one you want, and contact me for payment info. Otherwise, all cymbals will remain in Berlin, or in the hands of other drummers! 

Sunday, Oct. 15th – afternoon-evening
1. HAUPTBAHNHOF - I can meet you at the train station in the afternoon to hand you your pre-purchased cymbal.

2. UNTERFAHRT - Einsteinstraße 42, 81675 / unterfahrt.de - I'm going to the jam session-- No guarantee, but I might have a couple of cymbals. Either way, come hang out! Session begins at 20:30.

That's it, gang— visit me on Facebook for photos from the road. I will resume normal blogging on or after the 19th. 

CYMBALISTIC: playing some 22s

CYMBALISTIC: OK, I got a couple more cymbals before heading to Germany tomorrow. Demonstrating some 22" Holy Grails for our man in Berlin, Michael Griener. And my new little 14" China is in there, too. All made by Cymbal & Gong. Michael plays a lot of fast tempos.  

The one on the far right later in the video we've seen before, and is called “Ibrahim.” The middle cymbal is going to be called “Abdullah”, which is fortuitous as it happens to be Abdullah Ibrahim's birthday today, and the two cymbals are the exact same weight. The cymbal on the left will be called “Brian”, after a friend who gave me a similar cymbal years ago. 

Here are those first two cymbals— and some other ones— before they got their patinas. The middle cymbal above is played at 0:53 in the video below. The cymbal on the left above I think is played at 4:29 below: 

On Abdullah the patina is quite light, and it changed the sound only slightly— I assume it did, I can't actually tell. On Brian, it changed the sound substantially; the plain cymbal would have been very difficult for me to use— in the past somebody would probably have put some tape on it. The patina has a similar effect, but in a much nicer, more natural way, not just deadening the cymbal, but bringing out a different aspect of the cymbal's character. 

CYMBALISTIC: Last new cymbals before Germany!

CYMBALISTIC: I've posted the videos for the last four Cymbal & Gong cymbals I got for my upcoming mini-tour... next week I'm bringing a case of cymbals to Germany for people to play and purchase. If you're anywhere near Frankfurt or Berlin you should come hang out. If you're in or new Munich, I can meet you there to deliver a cymbal you pre-order. Email me (see sidebar) for details. 

I can only bring about eleven cymbals, so let me know if you want me to bring a particular cymbal! 

And: a lot of my current cymbals will be sold on this trip, so if you're somewhere else and want one, order now!

The new cymbals are: 

•  22" Holy Grail Jazz Ride “Ibrahim” - Tony-like 22! Or compare with Joe Chambers's cymbal on the late 60s Bobby Hutcherson albums. 

•  20" Holy Grail Ride “Carter” - Slightly heavier A-type Holy Grail.

•  16" Holy Grail Thin Crash “King” - Nice solid 16 that will hold down the left side spot well. 

•  14" Wide China “Chi” - Funky little Ed Blackwell cymbal. The Cymbal & Gong Chinas are great

Go to Cymbalistic to check out the others, and to hear what else I have in stock. Contact me and stay tuned to this site and Cymbalistic for tour updates. 

CYMBALISTIC: Playing some cymbals

CYMBALISTIC: I've just been doing a lot of cymbal-related business for people lately, and these are a couple of quick-and-dirty videos I made for that.  

Playing some different combinations of 20 and 22" Extra Special Janavars, by Cymbal & Gong: 

Those cymbals are all in stock on my Cymbalistic site. Grab them now if you like any of them— they'll be going to Germany with me in early October, and many of them will be sold.  

And some quick little demonstrations of cymbals I played at Cymbal & Gong HQ— 20" Extra Special Janavars, 20" "A-type" Holy Grails, 22" "K-type" Holy Grails: 

Many of these are on hold for me @ C&G— I'll be going Monday to choose a few of them to get for my site, the rest will be going out to other dealers. So.... act now if you like them, or want to hear more!  

CYMBALISTIC: SEATTLE - TONIGHT

CYMBALISTIC: Bumping this to the top of the site for tonight's event— if you're in the vicinity of Seattle, come on down, say hi, play some cymbals! 

SEATTLE: Monday, August 28th, 7:30pm - Seattle Drum School - Georgetown
1010 S. Bailey Street, Seattle, WA. 98108 – (206) 763-9700

Drummer hang with myself, Tim Ennis of Cymbal & Gong, John Bishop of Origin Records, Steve Smith of Seattle Drum School, and a lot of other great Seattle drummers who have been asking about these cymbals. I'll bring all the cymbals I have, and Tim will bring a few more things, so there will be a lot of cymbals to play! 

Visit the Facebook event page if you want to RSVP, or just show up! 

GERMANY - FRANKFURT / BERLIN / MUNICH: October 11-18
Oct. 11 - Frankfurt - Kelsterbach  |  Oct. 13 - Berlin - Brunnenviertel  |  Oct. 15 - Munich - Hbf
I will bring ONE case of cymbals— about eleven cymbals, several of which are already sold. Order in advance to be sure of getting the one you want, especially if you're in Munich!

The one serious meet is happening in Berlin at 12:00 noon on the 13th; Frankfurt and Munich will mainly be chances to meet people briefly and hand off pre-ordered cymbals. Contact me for details.

Here's my man in Berlin— friend, supporter, and great drummer Michael Griener, playing a couple of Cymbal & Gong sets he has assembled over the last 5 years:

Michael is one of the busiest drummers I know, and is constantly traveling all over Europe playing and recording. It's a big deal when someone like that decides an instrument is the one they want to use. Serious players love these cymbals. 

By the way, a companion (named “Spock”) of the 20" Extra Special Janavar “Kirk”, on the right side in the first part of the video, is in Berlin now, and available for purchase.  

Cymbals in the video:
First part:
Cymbal & Gong Holy Grail 14” hihats “Richie”
Cymbal & Gong Holy Grail 18” crash “Lyle” 
Cymbal & Gong XS Janavar 20” crash-ride “Kirk”
Cymbal & Gong Second Line Swish Knocker 20" “Melba”

Second part: 3:39
Cymbal & Gong Leon Collection Light Hihats 14" "Florent"
Cymbal & Gong - Leon Collection 18″ Thin Crash “Zénon”
Cymbal & Gong MerseyBeat Ride 20" "Alvin"
Cymbal & Gong  Project cymbal: Swish with cutout, drilled for 17 rivets 22" “Dizzy”

Cymbalistic: videos are up - event dates

CYMBALISTIC: Videos and descriptions of the new cymbals are up, check them out at Cymbalistic.

I'm putting a lot of ears on them ahead of upcoming events in Seattle and Germany (see below), so many/most/all of them will be going away in coming weeks. So if you want one, speak now. 

Here's a Special Janavar that caught my ear: 

I mean, they all caught my ear, that's why I got them to sell, that's literally the point of all of this. Like here's a 22" Holy Grail Jazz Ride with a heavy patina, definitely in the neighborhood of a Tony Williams cymbal: 

Here is the current state of information on the in-person events: 

SEATTLE: Monday, August 28th, 7:30pm - Seattle Drum School - Georgetown
1010 S. Bailey Street, Seattle, WA. 98108 – (206) 763-9700

Drummer hang with Tim Ennis of Cymbal & Gong, John Bishop of Origin Records, Steve Smith of Seattle Drum School, and a lot of other great Seattle drummers who have been asking about these cymbals. 


GERMANY - BERLIN / HEIDELBERG / ELSEWHERE?: Travel plans are forming, I will visit Germany in late September / early October. I will bring ONE case of cymbals. That's only about eleven cymbals— and I've already sold three. If you want one you probably need to order in advance.   

 Updates coming soon! 

CYMBALISTIC: SUNDAY - SW Washington drum gear swap meet

CYMBALISTIC: OK, if you're located anywhere in the Olympia/Kelso/Aberdeen triangle you'll want to make it to Chehalis tomorrow for a drum gear swap meet at Alexander Park. Hosted by members of Drumforum.org. Last year about a dozen people brought a considerable amount of gear, and there were some good bargains. More are expected this year. 

Of my stuff, you'll get first look at the big new order of Cymbal & Gong cymbals just in, including several Special Janavars and Extra Special Janavars, currently rocking the world of everyone who plays them.

I'll also offer special in-person discounts on a couple of items, and bring a couple of random cheaper non-C&G used cymbals.  

The details: 

Chehalis, WA - Sunday, July 30th
Alexander Park, 1101 Riverside Road West, Chehalis, WA 98532
11am-5pm

There will also be a meet at the Seattle Drum School, Georgetown, on the evening of Monday, August 28th. Tim Ennis of Cymbal & Gong will be attending, and probably bringing cymbals, too. 

See you in Chehalis! 

UPDATE: Good times at the meet— great meeting and talking to Jeff, Sheldon, Robert, Greg, everyone else! 

CYMBALISTIC: cymbal day

CYMBALISTIC: I went to Cymbal & Gong HQ yesterday and played a lot of great cymbals. Picking out the “best” ones to sell on my Cymbalistic site is really a game of inches. Someone else could have easily picked out a completely different group of cymbals as good as the ones I got.   

This outing I was attracted to the thinner, more characterful cymbals. There were many good options for beautiful, clean toned jazz cymbals, with slightly more straightforward character, which would have been easy choices. 

I selected: 

2x - 18" Holy Grail crashes
1x - 18" Turk crash
1x - 20" Turk jazz ride
2x - 20" Extra Special Janavar - jazz ride
1x - 20" Special Janavar crash-ride
1x - 22" Holy Grail (K-style) jazz ride
2x - 22" Extra Special Janavar crash-ride
1x - 22" Special Janavar crash-ride

Note: the jazz rides and crash-rides are very similar in weight and handling. It's a kind of a C&G convention that all the Janavars are labeled crash-rides. Virtually all C&G cymbals ride and crash very well.  

I'll have the cymbals in hand at the end of the week, and will have videos and descriptions of individual cymbals posted at Cymbalistic next week. C&G has a lot of cymbals on hand right now, and this is a great time for me to pick out a cymbal or set for you. 

And a reminder: I have in person events coming up SOON in Chehalis, WA, Seattle, and in Germany.


About the cymbals:

Extra Special Janavar: Tim Ennis of C&G and I both are very excited about this series— Janavars with irregular K-type hammering and lathing. I'm happy that this custom design was my idea. He received several each of 20s and 22s. All of the ones I sell will get a heavy patina, and the 22s will get a row of three rivets.  

The regular Janavar series are excellent light weight, brighter timbred cymbals for rock/pop. I have Tim give them a heavy patina to make them Special Janavars. The patina seems to give them a funkier character, and makes them more appealing to me as a jazz drummer. They were a big hit in Germany last year, and continue to be very popular. A student owns one, and I love the sound of it just hearing him play it over Skype. They're really cool, a brighter jazz sound with character.  

I chose the lightest and most unusual ones for how they would handle the patina, there were also some great options available for anyone who wants a bright, clean, musical light-medium crash-ride. Again: let me know, they won't be around forever. 

Holy Grail (K-style): I haven't had a lot of these in stock— the last few took awhile to sell. Possibly the “regular” Holy Grail seems mundane now, just from the familiarity of the name? If so, that's a bad perception! People are missing out on some great cymbals for no good reason. They're such great instruments, and would serve well as any jazz drummer's main axe. I played several really nice 22s today, and was sorry I could only get one.     

For awhile they were making the Holy Grail crashes a little on the stout side— a lot of them were functioning better as rides than as very responsive crashes. The current round are generally thinner, while still riding well. I selected the ones that functioned best both ways. There are a few available that were better as pure crashes, with a more straightforward crash sound, if anyone is looking for that. 

Turks: He received several each of 18, 20, and 22", all it jazz weight. Usually they make them with no lathing, and with a hammered bell. This time they made them their usual way, which is similar to Bosphorus Turks, with a few mm wide band of lathing at the edge, and no hammering on the bell. That gives the tone a little more shimmer, where the non-lathed versions I prefer are a little darker and drier. Still, the ones I chose are excellent. 

You can listen to examples of all these types of cymbals on the available cymbals at Cymbalistic, and the list of cymbals I've sold. 

CYMBALISTIC: Cymbals are in!

CYMBALISTIC: I've just been informed that Cymbal & Gong has just received a big shipment of over 100 new cymbals, including 18, 20, and 22" Turks, and a lot of other good stuff. This is a great time for me to pick something out for you, if you're looking for something special beyond what I already have in stock. 

On Monday I'm picking some things up, including some Extra Special Janavars, which have been very hot items. Here's the one I have remaining in stock, “Beatrice”: 

I got this note back from the person who bought the other 22, “Emelia”: 

“Todd! The XS Janavar has arrived and I love it! You do have a great ear for picking excellent cymbals! This is the third cymbal I’ve bought from you and they are all wonderful instruments. Nice work. Thanks again!!!”

I'll also get one or two Hammered-bell Holy Grails— a nice variation on the regular K-type Holy Grail: 

There are also some events upcoming: 

Chehalis, WA - Sunday, July 30th
Alexander Park, 1101 Riverside Road West, Chehalis, WA 98532
Drum gear swap meet organized by members Drumforum.org. Last year about 15 drummers showed up with gear to sell and exchange, I'll be bringing new Cymbal & Gong cymbals, and a few personal used items. The meet runs from 11am-5pm, I'll arrive in the early afternoon. 

Seattle, WA - Monday, August 28th (tentative date may change!)
Seattle Drum School - Georgetown
1010 S. Bailey Street Seattle, WA. 98108
Currently talking to Steve Smith @ Seattle Drum School about rescheduling a meet we originally planned for April 2020, which was cancelled due to COVID. I'll bring cymbals, and a bunch of great Seattle drummers will be hanging out. Date/details TBA. 

Frankfurt / Heidelberg / Berlin, Germany - October '23
Plans are being formed, but I will bring one case of cymbals to Germany in October, mainly to deliver pre-ordered cymbals to each of those cities. Put your requests/orders in now to insure I will have room to bring yours!