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Crash cymbals

Posted by Old & Retired on 4/23/2025, 9:28 am

I injured my leg and couldn't participate in the church music on Easter so I had to sit in the pews. As usual, it was beautiful, but I only had one comment to our director: It seems he borrowed a pair of huge, heavy cymbals appropriate for a 300 piece matching band in a major football stadium. The first crash made everyone jump out of their skin. Some ducked and covered, some plugged their ears. Waaaay too bright and loud!

So, now I've been asked to recommend a pair of smaller, lighter, darker cymbals more appropriate for a church choir in a 600 seat sanctuary. Percussion pros, what do you suggest? This is a professional level program, so they need to be good, just not so large and bright.

Re: Crash cymbals

Posted by Me on 4/25/2025, 10:32 pm, in reply to "Crash cymbals"

A thinner cymbal will be warmer in sound. Sometimes the company will go with descriptions like med-light, med-heavy, etc. but the old standard way of describing them was:
Viennese-medium weight, all purpose cymbals. If I had one pair of cymbals to buy for band it would be 18" Viennese.
German-thicker, heavier in weight. Pitch is higher, and attack can be brilliant and a little difficult to play with finesse. 17" German are my go to for marches, 18"-20" are appropriate for Mahler.
French-thinner. Very easy to crash, warmer sounding, less harsh in the attack as the plates are more pliable. Good for Debussy, Ravel, crashes for the sake of color rather than impact. I would take a pair of 17" or 18" French cymbals for a church service any day.

Re: Crash cymbals

Posted by Percguy on 4/24/2025, 3:22 am, in reply to "Crash cymbals"

Zildjian K Constantinople 18" medium-light

Re: Crash cymbals

Posted by I like… on 4/23/2025, 4:59 pm, in reply to "Crash cymbals"

Zildjian Classic Oechestral Selection -medium light. 18” is a good general purpose, you could go smaller and they are usually easier to play softer, but will be brighter.

Re: Crash cymbals

Posted by ForeverN00B on 4/23/2025, 1:05 pm, in reply to "Crash cymbals"

How about the percussionist not smacking them together so hard? Finesse is a beautiful thing.

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