In the age of digital, you can access information, shop online, and chat with a friend in a matter of seconds. It is key for retailers is to find an approach that balances the in-person experience of hearing and buying a musical instrument with the ease of purchasing online. To help address this, Percussion Source asked if I would record samples of their vast cymbal inventory, so musicians could have a clear understanding of what they are purchasing online. I thought this blog post would be a great opportunity to highlight the initiative and to describe what to listen for when selecting cymbals.
Over the years I have helped countless musicians select instruments – while each person has their own preference, we’re all listening for similar attributes. With cymbals, it’s necessary to hear the variety of timbres the instrument can produce because that’s how it will sound for the majority of its life. Here are the main points I listen for when selecting cymbals:
You can check out Percussion Source’s selection of cymbals, and the videos I made showcasing each one’s unique sounds in the Percussion Source Cymbal Vault.
Range
To illustrate the high, low and mid notes a cymbal can produce I like to play with drumsticks (tip) or mallets on various parts of the bow, and the stick shoulder on the bell and edge. On hand cymbal pairs, the overtones can be heard in the sustain after they are played.
Projection & Volume
Projection and volume can be heard when playing the bell and edge of the cymbal with the shoulder of a drumstick. On suspended cymbals, this can be heard at the end of a loud roll, and this is heard on the initial crash on hand cymbals. Keep in mind that cymbals with greater projection typically have one or more of the following relative attributes: larger size, larger bell size, and greater thickness/weight.
Sustain
Larger and/or thicker cymbals have more sustain than smaller, thinner cymbals. I like to play with the shoulder of a drumstick on the edge of a cymbal to hear the sustain. With a suspended cymbal, I let them ring after a crescendo roll, or in the case of hand cymbals, I crash and let them sustain.
Articulation
Articulation is the clarity of drumsticks definition heard when playing a cymbal, or how crisp the initial sound is when a pair of hand cymbals is played. Cymbals with very little definition are usually described as “washy.” I like playing different ride patterns on various parts of the bow to determine articulation and with hand cymbals, I prefer to play consecutive crashes.
Interval Between a Pair
For hi-hats I like to play each cymbal separately with a stick and for a pair of hand cymbals, I listen for a blend of sounds under a minor 3rd – rather than a widely-spaced interval.
Response
Response is how quickly a cymbal responds when it’s played. Thinner cymbals respond quicker than thicker cymbals. To hear this on drum set cymbals, I prefer to play single strokes with a drumstick shoulder on the edge. I use both mallets and sticks for suspended cymbals, and for hand cymbals, I listen to the initial sound produced to determine if it blossoms quickly or slowly after impact.
For hi-hats, I vary my foot pressure to hear how the “sizzle” changes as the cymbals vibrate against each other, and then closing the hats quickly at the end of a loud shoulder-on-edge stroke to determine if it’s a crisp and articulate end or if there’s a sizzle or ring that occurs.
This next consideration is a more nuanced “educated guess” but nonetheless relevant when selecting cymbals: Imagining how they will change over time.
The act of playing a cymbal is a mechanical process that essentially “hammers” it and darkens its timbre over time. The speed of that change is directly related to the frequency the cymbal is played (the more it is played the sooner it will change) and the thickness (thinner cymbals are more susceptible to change than thicker cymbals). In my personal experience, and from listening to recordings of instruments as they’ve aged, it seems to take at least 5 years of steady playing to start to hear a difference in timbre and it’s noticeable after 10 years.
If you’re in the market for a new cymbal, we hope you find the videos in the Percussion Source Cymbal Vault helpful. Make sure to also check out these accessories to enhance your performances. If you have questions or would like to suggest topics for my guest blogging for Percussion Source, please feel free to contact me at guestblogger@percussionsource.com.
Thanks for reading, stay safe, and keep learning,
Nick
Nick Petrella is on the faculty of the UMKC Conservatory, where he coordinates the percussion program and teaches courses in Arts Entrepreneurship. He has commissioned and premiered over a dozen compositions and appeared as a clinician, adjudicator, teacher and performer throughout North and South America, Europe and Asia. Nick has played with the Kansas City Symphony, the Fort Worth Symphony, Fort Worth/Dallas Ballet, Royal Liverpool Philharmonic, and Michigan Opera Theatre. In 2002, he and pianist Diane Petrella formed the Petrella Ensemble, which has appeared throughout the US, Europe, and Mexico.
A large portion of Nick’s career has been devoted to the music industry. From 2000 to 2019, he was the Director of Education for SABIAN Ltd. where he was responsible for sales, marketing and artist relations for the Band and Orchestra/Educational division. Nick has over 25 years of experience as a consultant to companies in the music products industry and has designed 14 percussion implements, accessories, and instruments.
Committed to music education, Nick launched nickpetrellapercussion.com for online lessons and presentations, and published numerous articles in US and European music journals. He authored two Carl Fischer publications: The Ultimate Guide to Cymbals and The Multiple-Percussion Book. In 2006, Nick and Diane published The Musician’s Toolbox, Thoughts on Teaching and Learning Music, now available as an e-book.
Nick received a DMA from the University of Iowa, an MM from the University of Michigan and a BSMusEd from Penn State University.
