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Sujet Hand-hammering and re-creating cymbals

  • 109 réponses
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Sujet de la discussion Hand-hammering and re-creating cymbals
Hello !

Sorry for writing in English but my French is terrible. I understand it a bit but I can't write it.

I am a Belgian drummer from Bruges who also hammers cymbals.

I once started hammering cymbals because (to me) no modern factory made cymbal has the "old Turkish K Zildjian" kind of darkness and complexity anymore.

I hammer pro- and also some non-pro-level factory cymbals into much richer sounding cymbals.
Besides creating light complex jazz cymbals, I also hammer heavier rock-oriented cymbals to dramatically enrich the sound.

The cymbals I've hammered can be seen and heard on this INDEX PAGE. Mind you, I have hammered most of these cymbals to suit my personal taste (dark and trashy) but I can also brighten the sound of cymbals with a different hammering method.

Some "before and after modification" files can be heard HERE.

Some student cymbals I hammered into professional cymbals can be listened to HERE.

Here are some pictures (the soundfiles can be found on the site).

This was a Paiste Signature Power ride, hammered to sound like the old 60's Tony Williams ride, but a little heavier:




This was a Zildjian ZBT 20" ride, now a very complex thin professional jazz ride.


This was once a Paiste 2002 22" ride:



Here's a "before and after" pic of a cheap 16" Headliner crash cymbal, now a professional dark thin crash:
See and hear my custom cymbals:JOHAN Custom Cymbals
2
Looks great !!

I'm not sure a ZBT could sound as good as a HH, because it's not B20 bronze.
Some of us have already tried to "re-design" their old wrecked carpy sound cymbals. Most of them by turning the edge to get a chinese like cymbal. But they were not really convinced.

But i must say it sounds. You re really self confident to get ready to touch the 20" K dre pallemaerts. Not surprisingly, it's, to my mind, the one that has change the least. (the AAX is really amazing :8O: )

thanks for sharing !

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3

Citation : I'm not sure a ZBT could sound as good as a HH, because it's not B20 bronze.

That is true, but if you hammer B8 very extensively the sound can become much richer and warmer, almost like B20. But it takes very much time, so the factories don't do that.

Citation : Some of us have already tried to "re-design" their old wrecked carpy sound cymbals. Most of them by turning the edge to get a chinese like cymbal. But they were not really convinced.

Changing a regular cymbal into a china must be done by hammering (only). Not bending the edge, that doesn't work. There are several china's on my site that I hammered from regular cymbals, like crashes or hihatcymbals.

Citation : You re really self confident to get ready to touch the 20" K dre pallemaerts. Not surprisingly, it's, to my mind, the one that has change the least.

Well the self-confidence comes from years of experience.
Dré Pallemaerts asked me to change the sound of his old K only a little bit, he only wanted it to be less stiff and a bit more mellow. So that's what I did. But I've had to change old K's very radically too.
See and hear my custom cymbals:JOHAN Custom Cymbals
4
I'm very impressed by the "new" sound of bottom-of-the-range cymbals... :8O:
Back to the Basics
5
:8O: bosphorus 17" & istanbul 16" crash 'after' .
for what I saw, both look and sound changes are really impressive.

where did you get these skills ? is it your job ?

do you work with your natural ear during rework or do you use some NASA-related
test and measuring devices ? do you have some pictures of your workshop and tools ?

http://www.reverbnation.com/deinmas

6

Citation : Dré Pallemaerts asked me


you know him ?! I'd like to !
I must say i m dreamming of K constantinople 22" thin nights and days. If I had one, I woul prefer cuting my hand, than hammering it :lol:

m1² is right, I'd like to know more and more.

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7
I learned it myself by doing a lot of experiments. My tools are very simple, just a few hammers, an anvil and a lathe (a machine to make cymbals thinner). I don't have pictures but if you go to the websites of Turkish cymbalmanufacturers you'll see about the same "old style" tools. When I hammer I constantly listen to cymbals. Factories don't do that, not even the Turkish.

I hope one day I will be able to make a living from it but the problem is that I am a cymbal lover and I spend far too much money on buying cymbals... :oops: All those cymbals on my website are mine and they have cost me a fortune. So far my costs have been much bigger than the reward for my work...
Many people say that I should have a more attractive website to work professionally. But I don't want my cymbals getting sold because the website looks nice. I want people to buy the cymbals only for their sound, not because of a marketing strategy.
See and hear my custom cymbals:JOHAN Custom Cymbals
8
I didn't even notice you were selling some :?!:
Don't you protect your ears?
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9

Citation : I didn't even notice you were selling some

That's because they don't have to get sold, I love them all !

Citation : Don't you protect your ears?

No, I want to be able to listen constantly to check the evolution of sound. Most of the hammering is usually not so loud anyway.
See and hear my custom cymbals:JOHAN Custom Cymbals
10
Awesome ! Nice work, Johan VDS !