Everything You Need To Know About Cymbals | Finding Your Own Drum Sound

When we visited the Zildjian Headquarters near Boston, Massachusetts earlier this year, we had to take the chance and film some content about cymbals. In this video we want to give you all the information you need to go out and find your perfect cymbal setup.
What factors affect the sound? What parts of a cymbal are important? How do I pick my own cymbals?
We got two real experts in to answer those questions: Jordan Wright and Eric Gross.
While Jordan has all the knowledge on the technical side of things, Eric is super familiar with the cymbal picking process since he does it for all the Zildjian artists.

00:00 Intro
00:45 The Anatomy Of A Cymbal
03:27 The Weight
04:43 The Size
05:32 The Surface
08:01 Special Shapes
10:52 Introducing Eric Gross
11:41 Picking Cymbals For Artists
14:04 Finding Your Own Cymbals

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Equipment used in this video:

Zildjian Cymbals

Microphones:

Overheads: M 90 Pro X

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#cymbals
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[ZildjianCompany]

Thanks for stopping by, guys! Always a fun time hanging out ❤

[Superball]

I don’t play Zildjian anymore, but I’ll always take time out of my day to watch and listen to anything and everything about them, I still absolutely love their cymbals. I started with Zildjian, and I’ll always love them. It always amazes me how long they’ve been making their cymbals, and how great they’ve sounded over the past century.

[lucascritchfield]

Wow, these guys are great! Especially impressed with how articulate Jordan is. Not only knowledgeable but able to describe everything in a simple, concise, accurate, and intriguing way. Bravo!

[MilkForASnack]

10:29 "decays much faster than it's solid sibling, and is more trashy" I felt that, damn you Brian...

[GianVillegas]

Wow, I love it! Even though at the moment I’m using electronic cymbals that look real, there’s nothing more satisfying than great cymbals! Thank you for this great material!

[andrewhubbledrums]

Zildjian is definitely one of my favorite cymbals I've ever played for my whole life and they really mean a lot to me and they sounded fantastic! I absolutely loved Zildjian!

[fheering]

YEAH! Exploring and using different cymbals is one of the many aspects of drum playing that I enjoy the most. Thanks for the video!

[suffixion_]

My first set of cymbals were A Custom's and now I currently play Heartbeats, but I have nothing but great things during my time with the A custom's. Very informative video. Well done guys!

[felixjones]

I play mostly K's and A Customs, as they seem to fit into the mix most of the time, and they're extremely versatile across many musical styles, but my favourite hihats are a set of 15" Paiste 900 heavy, which I usually play upside down with the heavier bottom one on top, which makes them sound very sweet and crisp. IMHO, even very high quality 15 inch hats can sound a bit slushy, especially if the cymbals are on the thin side. My rule of thumb is to reduce the diameter of the hats as the cymbals get lighter, but there's no right or wrong way, it's what sounds and feels good to you.

[Klingonenchef]

Wohoo, makes me jealous. I play Zildjan for more than 30 Years. Shopping Cymbals always lead me to my beloved K's. Except an A 22 Swish Knocker you' find only K's in my Setup. Amazing Cymbals!!

[TheRealBKSchyster]

Many drummers don't necessarily realize that they have to have a respectable relationship between their tools of the trade and their subsequent ability to be continuously employed as "a drumming gun for hire, " or not employed at all ( at least as a working drummer, studio or live! ) Meaning, the single most important investment for a drummer in the industry is, the cymbals one has in their arsenal!! A reasonably decent drum set is certainly important to own, and yet the easiest ( bear with me here a second... ) to "fix in the mix" with regards to drumming timbre(s) available, by simple to complex EQ "tweaks" on the recording console!! So, I am simply stating that one doesn't have to have many drum sets, yet the other holds true for cymbals!! The broader your range of cymbals is, the easier it becomes to remain employed, as producers, engineers and artists will have a specific sound ( timbre ) of cymbal in mind and NOW IS THE TIME TO PULL OUT ALL THE STOPS... ok... "cymbals, as "fixing in the mix" is way harder to do with cymbals, due to the very nature of their character, which can cause, "run away EQ'ing frequencies!!"
This certainly is easier to do if you have not a cymbal "endorsement" that will somewhat "handcuff" you into a situation of less "tools" to choose from, simply because you are then "locked in" to a specific cymbal manufacturer. I have spent a lifetime of drumming and reinventing in myself by purchasing "working sets" of the three major cymbal manufacturers ( Zildjian, Sabian and Paiste. ) I KNOW THERE ARE MANY MORE CYMBAL MAKERS, to me, they fall under the category of "boutique cymbal manufacturers!"
These "sets" are... 13"/14" high hats, 16"/17"/18"/19"/20" crashes, 20"/22"/24" rides and 6"/8"/10" splashes and of course a proper "HARD SHELL" case for each set!! I too have four different weight variations on my crash cymbals, paper thin/thin/medium/heavy..., as well as the individual professional levels of cymbals, such as ( Zildjian "A's"/"K's"/"K-Cons"-- Sabian Paiste ) I also have ( and mostly in the four crash weights ) my line of "Boutique cymbals, " which is Soultones, Istanbul's and Supernatural's.
LIKE I SAID, A LIFETIME OF DEDICATED INVESTMENTS IN CYMBALS!!
That is how it happened for me and continues to be the single largest investment in my craft, and "secret" to staying employed as a working drummer!!! If it is said that, "happy wife, happy life, " then the same holds true for your "studio family!" If the producer, engineering team and artists are happy, so it goes for you the
ANYWAY, KEEP ON KEEPING ON BROTHER AND SISTER
PEACE

[peak]

I really love my older A Zildjians from the ‘50s. They’re fairly light and are perfect for jazz.

[BBT]

Love how Zildjian is using the A series. That is basically the gold standard of the modern day cymbal. I don’t play Zildjians anymore however I still have high respects for them as THE cymbal company that started it all for us here in the USA now for 400 years!

[diddyhayes]

That back to back comparison with the a custom and traditional a crashes were the most eye opening experience ever. Or ear opening

[Jimbo]

I absolutely love zildjian. I seem to not vibe with their sound on my kits as much, but I love the way they sound for others and I love the way they do things. I will always be interested in zildjian docs like this one!

[blakedmcDrumsHD]

i'm always loved Zildjian and always wanted to be part of tha Zildjian family

great video here

A Custom is my dream Cymbals i would love to have

[DrBackBeat]

You have no idea how incredibly helpful this video is. Well, of course you probably have a very solid idea how helpful it is as you've decided to make it. Aaaaanyway just deconstructing the simple variables of a cymbal is just something you don't often see, especially when you get to put identical cymbals next to eachother with only one factor differing.

Great stuff! I must ask, and this would be even more fantastic and interesting: when will you be doing this with drums? It would be INCREDIBLY useful if you were to go to a manufacturer and put drums side by side with only one variable changing, so we can learn about bearing edges, wood types, depth vs. diameter, thickness, reinforcement hoops, stave vs hope I'm not describing an Everest of work here but I would definitely put it on a loop and share this with everyone I know.

And, you know, perhaps a collaboration with Sounds Like A Drum would be very helpful in this!

[JohnnygSawyer]

I have played Zildjian my whole drumming career. I use cymbals from most of the Zildjian product lines. I mostly play K's or K Custom Darks but, I do use A's and A Customs for different gigs.
Thank you for this video. My dream job would be an AR Manager. I live a few minutes from the Remo Corporate Offices so, I'm going to try to get my foot in the door as an intern and work my way to that DREAM JOB! 🤩

[patdeniston]

Comparison videos are a great tool for figuring out what you like before you spend your hard earned money on expensive drum parts. I watched a lot of them thankfully before I settled on A custom 16, 18, 20 crash and a K sweet ride. Zildjian you guys rock! AOD you guys rock!!

[jackrevy]

Well, that was awesome! I just got back from a gig playing a mix of k dark and k sweet. Was great to get a bit of insight.