Every good cymbal starts with a production strategy.

The more specific the end goal, the more specific the production strategy.

Things to factor into the design  -

Blank weight -

This will depend upon the end weight goal, the amount of lathing required (including taper), edging reduction range (which will be different depending on the size and shearing quality of each blank), types of lathing tools used etc.

Shaping method -

The initial shaping strategy installs the sonic foundation of the cymbal.

More than one method can be used, depending on the final goal.

There are huge numbers of possibilities and an awareness of as many as possible will be beneficial.

Profile height -

The profile affects a number of SC’s including the nature of the spread, crash-ability, sustain etc. Lower profile cymbals will be darker, higher profile cymbals will be more mid-rangey, dryer and less crash-able.

Bell size and height -

The bell is critical to volume, upper frequency activation, stick sound and many of the mid and upper register overtones, partials etc.

Hammer Choice -

Force, deformation to compression ratio and surface area impacted are all considerations. The article titled ‘Hammer Choices’ in the ‘Cymbal Workshop’ section covers these considerations in more detail.

Lathing strategies -

Amount of material to be removed, whether the surface is smooth or has lathing grooves installed, what depth and distance between lathing grooves, taper etc

The choices are virtually infinite and should be formed on your experience.

More experience and experimentation equals more choices.

I’ll update this section soon and add some case studies.