A recording engineer cries out: […] I’ve been giving some thought to the one thing that pisses me off the most when recording rock bands: drummers who incessantly bash the cymbals so they’re the loudest […]
Category: cymbals
Perspectives on cymbals, part the first
You may have noticed that I’ve lately been advocating for heavier cymbals than are currently in fashion, especially among jazz drummers. After pursuing ever lighter cymbals for most of the oughts, finally settling on some […]
Mel Lewis on cymbals
More on cymbals from Mel Lewis’s 1985 Modern Drummer interview. This is pretty much the bible of the subject, as it relates to jazz: Number and type The average drummer usually uses two to four […]
Got my Chick cymbal
The original, signed by Roy Haynes. The nice thing about Paiste cymbals— most of them— is that when you hear a sound you like, you can duplicate it almost exactly by just buying the same […]
How to get real cymbals when you’re poor
The sort of thing you’re looking for. 2019 UPDATE: The economy has recovered substantially since I originally wrote this in 2012, so if you’re ready to spend a little more money on some great cymbals, […]
DBMITW: with a big hat tip to Chip Stern
I just got a couple of nice notes from drummer and writer Chip Stern (Modern Drummer, Jazz Times)- he’s made a bunch of big contributions to the literature of drumming, including an interview with Papa […]
1984 MD interview: Ronald Shannon Jackson
Here are some excerpts from an interview I reread many times on the long bus rides on drum corps tour, about the great avant-garde (that’s where he’s typically filed, anyway) drummer Ronald Shannon Jackson. From […]
Best values in used cymbals
By the way, during this recent bout of eBay-trawling, I noticed that the best deals on used cymbals appear to be: Dirty, filthy old Paiste 2002’s – A lot of drummers have the bad habit […]
Three Paiste cymbals
UPDATE: I think I’ve correctly ID’d one of the other cymbals. I’ve been on a vintage Paiste cymbal-buying kick recently. Here are the findings on my finds: 22″ Formula 602 Dark Ride – circa 1975-76 […]
Cymbal post coming up
We don’t write much about gear around here- there’s something of an epidemic of misplaced priorities surrounding the topic. But I’ve been on a cymbal-buying kick the past couple of weeks- a heavyish vintage Paiste […]
Sabian Raw Ride in action
I finally got to record with the 22″ Sabian Raw Ride I was so excited tell you about awhile back. I’d say it has an unmistakable “A” sound- neutral-seeming, but very pretty, with a lot […]