History Of Cymbals



Today every drum set has a pair of cymbals and such a set is incomplete without the cymbals. However, the cymbals were not created to be a part of the drum kit. Cymbals are a musical instrument in their own right, invented sometime in 1100 BC in what is now known as Israel. They were made a part of the drum kit mostly due to their sharp contrast to the ‘bass’ sound of the drum (and the fact that they were percussion instruments that you could ‘strike’ while playing the drums)


Cymbals were used in Egypt in 300 BC for religious ceremonies and rituals. The cymbals made back then were pretty similar to the ones made today. There were slight differences in size from region to region though; for example the ancient Persians used large brass plates as cymbals and the Greeks used bell or cup shaped ones. Along with large Cymbals that had to be played with the hand, and there were also tiny cymbals that you could place on two of your fingers and strike together. The cymbals we use today closely resemble the ones used in Egyptian times. The British Museum has a pair of cymbals that were unearthed from the tomb of a mummy called Ankhhape, who was considered a sacred musician in Egypt.



Primarily, cymbals were made in two places – China and Turkey. The Turkish cymbals have an interesting history. It seems that a Turk discovered a way of making cymbals sound better, more musical and louder than other cymbals. These cymbals impressed the then Sultan of Turkey and he bestowed upon the creator the name of Zildjian, which means cymbal smith. The 400 years old Avedis Zildjian Company that manufactures cymbals takes its name from this interesting history. The Avedis Zildjian Company is the largest cymbal manufacturer in the world.



Traditional cymbals were entirely handmade, as opposed to the machine produced cymbals of today (although Sabian does produce the HH – hand hammered variety). The cymbal blanks (plates) were cast individually. They were then given a rough shape by forging them with heat. After that they were hammered to give them the uneven surface that is responsible for the characteristic sound of traditionally-made cymbals. The cold hammering was followed by lathing i.e. turning on the lathe which would be followed by more hammering – all done by hand. The lathing process as well as the cold hammering were all carried out to ensure that the surface remained uneven and create what are known as ‘tone-grooves’ on the blanks. Today, of course all these processes are performed by machines.
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