My Custom Cymbals

    I'm a cymbalsmith from Bruges, Belgium. Sorry I'm writing in English but my German is very bad...


    I hammer and modify existing professional cymbals from Zildjian, Sabian, Ufip, Paiste, etc. to make the sound richer, warmer, deeper, trashier, or whatever people ask for. I work for drummers all over the world.


    My main goal is to make modern cymbals sound like the legendary handmade "Old Turkish K Zildjians", played by drummers like Tony Williams and Elvin Jones.


    Pictures and soundfiles of my custom cymbals can be found here.


    Feel free to drumcymb@yahoo.comme for further questions. I understand German but I cannot speak or write it myself.




    Fantastic work. Those Nefertiti Rides sound very, very good. Must be a lot of fun to work with "normal" cymbals, to rehammer and to lathe them. I wish I could do this. How did you get the necessary know how?


    Do you know Mike Skiba from the US? He's doing exactly what you do, some of his projects can be found on cymbalholic.com.

    Thanks Philippe. I started hammering cymbals many years ago because I was not happy with the cymbals I found in the shops. I wanted a very dark complex sound. The Tony Williams cymbalsound was my biggest motivation.


    To me, most factory made cymbals sound a bit one-directional. They often produce only one tone and lack a certain depth. I want cymbals that have different layers of sound.


    Actually I recently entered the Cymbalholic.com site, which is really THE site for cymbal lovers all over the world. Mike Skiba's work is known to me, he makes great cymbals.


    Through the years, drummers came to listen and appreciate my cymbals. Now drummers and percussionists from all over the world send me cymbals to hammer.


    On my webspace, you'll find this map containing "before and after modification" soundfiles. there you can hear the enormous change that cymbals can undergo when I hammer and lathe them.

    Oh Gott! Ich faß es nicht.
    An alle Cymbal-Geeks: Hört Euch die vorher-nachher-Beispiele an. Der Mann ist ein Künstler.


    @ Johann VDS: What's the price range for the modification of an 20" Ride Cymbal? For example 20" K Dry Light Pre Aged - > smoother, deeper, washier:-)


    Keep On Groovin'
    fwdrums


    Ja ich weiß, das gehört nicht ganz so hierher, aber wohin gehört's denn?

    nontoxic: kurze lange CD-Pause

    Zitat

    Original von scarlet_fade


    In eine PN? ;)
    Zumindest die Preisanfrage....


    wobei ich jetzt leider sagen muss, dass ich es ganz interessant finde wenn das nicht per pm sondern hier gelöst wird.

    Zitat

    Original von Nuukcould you make a cymbal sounding like the ride on "a kind of blue"?

    There are two rides on that album. One is a light ride with rivets, the other is a much drier one. But yes, I can make cymbals like that.
    But keep in mind that the cymbalsound you hear on a cd is influenced by the way the drummer plays it and by the way the recording is made (placement and types of microphones).
    Suppose you would get the chance to play the actual cymbal Jimmy Cobb used on Kind of Blue, it would sound different when you play it.



    Zitat

    wobei ich jetzt leider sagen muss, dass ich es ganz interessant finde wenn das nicht per pm sondern hier gelöst wird


    Trying to make both Nuuk and the mods happy, I suggest you check out :
    this post on Cymbalholic .


    But if you want to know more details, just send me a drumcymb@yahoo.com

    Jesus Christ, what tremendous work !!


    A warm "Hello" to our new member, the "Forum" can be glad havin' such an artist in his rows.


    But: To me the hammering of high class cymbals seems to include a very high risk of destroying them. In other words: How many cymbals you have crashed til yet ? =)



    See


    What is the price for modifying - for example - a 21' ride ?

    "Pommes/currywurst hat einfach seine eigenen Gesetze."
    (c) by frint / 2008


    "Es macht so viel Spaß, ein Mann zu sein, das können sich Frauen gar nicht
    vorstellen!" (c) by Lippe / 2006

    3 Mal editiert, zuletzt von Seelanne ()

    Zitat

    To me the hammering of high class cymbals seems to include a very high risk of destroying them. In other words: How many cymbals you have crashed til yet ?

    I don't break cymbals any more. I only broke a few cymbals when I started.



    Zitat

    What is the price for modifying - for example - a 21' ride ?

    It appears to be against the rules to say that here, but check this.
    Or drumcymb@yahoo.com me.

    Zitat

    Original von Johan VDS

    It appears to be against the rules to say that here, but check this.
    Or drumcymb@yahoo.com me.


    It is not strictly forbidden, the mods just wanted to avoid that everyone posts such questions within here.
    So, I dare to say what is written on the page.It costs appr. between 50 and 90€ per cymbal-customizing.

    8o


    Holla, great work!
    Especially the 24' Avedis is amazing.


    I am really interested in the tools you are using for this work, not that I would try to copy you, but how do you do this?!

    Zitat

    [i]Original von Jörn So, I dare to say what is written on the page.It costs appr. between 50 and 90€ per cymbal-customizing.

    Yes, that is for a 20- 21" cymbal.


    Zitat

    I am really interested in the tools you are using for this work

    You need a few hammers, an anvil and a lathe (a machine to make cymbals thinner). But most of all: experience.

    Zitat

    Original von Merrell
    Willkommen! Die "Before and after modifications" sind wirklich sehr interessant! Wie hast du die Soundfiles aufgenommen (Mics, Positionierung, Raum, Equipment, etc.)?


    kA ob er deutsch kann, ich übersetze mal...


    Translation of this text above: Welcome! The "Before and after modifications" are very interesting. With which things are the soundfiles recorded? Which Micros, where have you positioned the mics, what room size and shape...



    And now a bit text from myself ;). Some of these cymbals sounds are really nice. I can hardly imagine, that the sound could be changed this way by hammering cymbals, but your sound files showed me, that it works ;). Go on with your work. You are an real cymbal artist :D.

    The light at the end of the tunnel is always the headlight of an incomig train!

    2 Mal editiert, zuletzt von black-avenger ()

    Zitat

    Original von Merrell
    Willkommen! Die "Before and after modifications" sind wirklich sehr interessant! Wie hast du die Soundfiles aufgenommen (Mics, Positionierung, Raum, Equipment, etc.)?

    My recordings are not professional. I make them with a cheap Realistic microphone plugged into the soundcard of my computer. There are no soundeffects added. The microphone is about 50cm away from the cymbal.


    On the site there are still some older recordings that are of bad quality. I will replace them when I find the time.


    Most people who come to my house to listen to the cymbals say that the real cymbals sound much better than the soundclips.


    By the way, I understand German. At least if you write slowly :D .


    Thanks for all your nice comments !!!

    Hello again !


    Many amateur cymbals have hidden talents. Often they can be hammered into really professional cymbals.


    Let"s take this cheap Headliner 16" Crash. A very sharp and cold sounding cymbal. I decided to hammer this cymbal into a dark trashy jazzy crash cymbal.


    This is the sound before and after I hammered it:


    http://users.telenet.be/cymbzd…nd_after_modification.mp3


    If an amateur cymbal is made from a good alloy like B8, it has much more potential than one would think...


    Here you can see how it changed:


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