Drum tuning bible

Perfect Cymbal Setuprooms or areas without having heard your current cymbals in the same or similar acoustic environment.For example, if the room has lots of glass, make sure you also listen outside of the room once you'venarrowed it down. Glass makes cymbals sound brighter whereas cymbals in an open space, or carpetedspace sound warmer, less shimmer. They will not be as sibilant. Now with reference to the “budget” issue;If you find one you cannot afford but really like, use that cymbal for reference and look for one in your pricerange that sounds closest to that cymbal, or preferably, save and buy quality rather than quantity (easy tosay, right?).Step 8 – Distance Matters: Once you have narrowed your choices, listen from across the room withsomeone else hitting the cymbals, they will sound different. And seeing as you are playing for theaudience, or should be, this is a very important and often overlooked step in the purchase of a cymbal.Step 9 – You are the Judge and Jury: Most important, please let your ears be the judge, forget aboutpeople saying, go buy cymbal "X" or don't buy or recommend cymbal "X". You've got to be happy with itso keep an open mind and don't buy something you have not heard. Listen to opinions about quality andcustomer service.Step 10 – Age Matters: All cymbals do mellow with age - keep this in mind. No matter how much youclean them or how, they will still mellow. So you may want to buy them a little brighter than you wouldotherwise like. Many seasoned pro's will seek out used cymbals for just this reason, they want themellowed tone as it takes all the guess work out of what you'll end up with.Step 11 – Beware of Fatigue: Ears tire of sound this loud and with frequencies that a cymbal emits. DONOT buy the night after a gig, or right after practice. Give your ears a rest and do not play for extendedperiods. Try to move quickly through out the selections and let your instinct be the judge. The faster youmove, the more you can tell about what you'll like in the end.All rights reserved - J. Scott Johnson, Indianapois - "c" 1999http://home.earthlink.net/~prof.sound/id11.html (2 of 2)1/22/2005 4:13:11 PM