Accessory Fetish

Today just happened to be one of those days where I had nothing to write about. To find a little inspiration, I decided to kill a little time at Cymbalholic. If you haven’t checked out this forum, it’s a great place to fill your cymbal obsession.

I’m typically not a huge banner ad-clicker, but one caught my eye. It was for a sound effects cymbal company called Hammerax. Of course, by stating this I’m risking that everyone else in the world knows about these guys and that I, as a supposed authority, is behind the curve. That’s cool.

If you haven’t checked these out, they’re kind of a cross between a cymbal and a gong. Although there are many variations, for the most part they tend to sound like a china cymbal with more sustain. What really caught my eye, though, was the look. I want one of these to hang up on the wall in my living room! These are absolutely works of art.

Instead of taking too much time explaining what these cymbals sound like, I’ve included some sound samples below. If you want more (plus a ton of videos), check out Hammerax’s product page.

Also, since every gear company needs a sweet artist to push their products, check out this video of jazz legend Danny Gottlieb using Hammerax gear. I actually don’t think this video does the product justice, as the sound quality isn’t exactly hi-fi. The drums and other cymbals sound pretty bad, but you still get the idea of what these are all about. Another nice touch is the dude that comes into the frame right at the end to adjust one of the cymbal stands!

 

 Dustbowl 12" Suspended Mode [0:15m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

 

 Meanie 28" Ride The Nose [0:18m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

 

 Boomywang 20": Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

 

 Jazz monster Danny Gottlieb utilizes Hammerax™ in his kit: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Adding to the already wide selection of cymbals in their “A” line, Zildjian recently introduced the Armand Zildjian Cymbal Series. This series of cymbals is named after the company’s former leader, the late Armand Zildjian.

Armand’s father, Avedis Zildjian, was credited with connecting with the great jazz drummers of the early 20th century to help develop the sound of modern cymbals. The Armand Series recognizes Armand’s strong relationship with the rock drummers of the ’60s and ’70s, who obviously had different needs.

The Zildjian website has recently added a very cool video explaining the sound and vibe of these new cymbals. Check it out here.

If you already know you need to have some of these babies, you can go ahead and buy them from Musician’s Friend.

InstrumentPro is running a 10% off sale on all Korg products through the end of August.

Although this is a blog about musical instrument accessories, it would be irresponsible of me if I didn’t mention that InstrumentPro carries a full selection of Korg digital recorders, digital pianos, Triton Series keyboards, and DJ gear. On the accessories side of it, they carry Korg Toneworks effects, tuners, metronomes, and other products.

To get the 10% discount, you’ll need to use a coupon code. When checking out, enter KORG as your code and the savings will come off of your order automatically.

Follow this link to find all Korg products at InstrumentPro.

Drum and cymbal mutes suck! We all know it. They suck for two reasons. First, the whole purpose of playing drums is to make noise. They take the sheer joy out of playing. Secondly, if you do need to be quiet, you still want to “feel” like you’re playing drums. Most mutes take the feel away, too.

HQ Percussion has done as good of a job as anyone of solving these problems. Their SoundOff line of products are high-quality and leave as much tone and feel in the mix as possible. They claim to do this while reducing volume up to 95%

They’ve expanded this line of products with their new 22″ SoundOff Cymbal Mute. The cool thing about these mutes is that they leave a large amount of surface area exposed (including the bell), so you can still ride on the cymbal, leaving a realistic bounce and feel.

HQ’s website does not mention what the retail price of this new cymbal mute will be.

Shop for HQ Percussion products at zZounds.

Woodwind and Brasswind is currently running a 10%-off sale on many of their accessories. This includes guitar, drum, keyboard, and band accessories.

I couldn’t find any mention of how long this sale is going on, so you may want to shop quickly. Here are a few examples of the sweet deals going on:

Korg CA30 Chromatic Tuner
Retail: $32.00
Sale Price: $19.99

D’Addario EXL125 Electric Guitar Strings
Retail: $9.79
Sale Price: $3.99

Wuhan S Series Cymbal Pack
Retail: $367.00
Sale Price: $159.99

Remo Drum Head Propak 12″ 13″ & 16″ Pinstripe and 14″ Powerstroke
Retail: $86.25
Sale Price: $46.99

Shop Woodwind and Brasswind now!

I know it’s Saturday, but this is a really good deal on something most drummers can use. This pre-packaged set of drum heads from Evans includes heads for your snare drum and three toms. This pack includes their single-ply, G1 heads.

Today’s Stupid Deal
Evans HP2A Standard PrePak
Regular: $29.99
Stupid Price: $9.99

Features:

Musicians Friend Stupid Deal of the Day

Perma-product link

We all know that the “Big 3″ cymbal makers, Zildjian, Sabian, and Paiste, rule this category. Of course, there are a few other cymbals companies, such as Istanbul or Meinl, who do a fair amount of business, but can’t compete on volume.

I love to see that a number of high-quality, low-volume boutique cymbal makers have really been making a name for themselves in recent years. It follows the trends of other categories, such as custom drum makers or boutique guitar effects builders.

The really cool thing is that many of them come from Turkey, the traditional epicenter of cymbal craftsmanship. In fact, I found no less that eight Turkish companies who are probably building your dream cymbal right now.

I won’t make you wait any longer. Here are your cymbal links.

I’m a big fan of Musicians Friend’s Stupid Deal of the Day. Even though I never buy anything(!), I check this stupid thing every morning. When “the deal” fits into what we’re doing here, I’ll let all of you know.

Today’s Stupid Deal
Nomad 6-Piece Fiber Drum Case Set
Regular: $169.99
Stupid Price: $99.99

Features:

Check it out here!

Perma-product link

I must admit that I am not a fan of “signature” gear. Also, when it comes to bags, I like any color as long as it’s black.

I did however, get hooked up with a Zildjian Adrian Young Stick Bag a few years ago. I needed a bag, so I took it, thinking it would do the job until I found a less plaid replacement.

Two years later…I still use it. Why? It’s a great bag. Heavy-duty materials. Large enough for all of my sticks. Tons of pockets. My only knock against it is that it didn’t come with hooks to attach it to my floor tom.

Barker’s new “Boom Box” bags replace the “Ransom Note” bags that were introduced in 2004.
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