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Originally Posted by Der Trommler  This is a very informative article about cymbal alloys I came across on Global Oneness (adapted from a piece on Wikipedia), and I thought it would be good information for our members to have. |
Your post mentions Gold as being one of the elements used in the mix of modern cymbal making.
Yet not one current contemporary cymbal manufacture uses Gold... You are however quite correct, because Gold was used by the Sufi 600 years ago to make their cymbals. This was a closely guarded secret... Mostly because of the fear of being robbed by dishonest non believers and foreign invaders.
Recently by pure good fortune, and a dash of good luck, was able to have the inscriptions from the under side of a 300 year old cymbal translated. Because no two Sufi cymbal was the same, they would engrave the alloy composition and % under the bell of the cymbal for future reference.
Yes, there was a high volume of Gold used, because it adds a huge amount of sustain to the sound. No nasty overtones, and a complete lack of jarring or uneven harmonics.
In short the sound was orgasmic, rich with shimmering overtones. Nothing like you would hear from any contemporary cymbal.
I am sworn to secrecy about it's exact location, all I can say is Konya Turkey.
Commercially speaking, the cost using gold at today's prices would be prohibitive. However my current project is to save my pennies to buy ??? ounces of gold.
I will then contract a Turkish cymbal workshop to hand beat my new 25" cymbal using the secret Sufi formula I have in my possession.