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Old Drummer
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- Joined
- Jan 14, 2019
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While there's a lot of discussion about selecting cymbals by musical genre and subjective tastes, it occurred to me that for those of us who are less than pros there may be an overlapping factor. I'm calling this overlapping factor "gigging years."
By "gigging years" I mean the years that the songs drummers have played or are mostly playing were released, not necessarily the years when they played them.
In my case, I gigged between 1968 and 1988, but these don't appear to be my "gigging years." Out of curiosity and covid boredom, I looked at Wikipedia's list of the top songs between 1954 and 1984. (After 1958, Wikipedia lists 100 songs a year, though in 1958 the list is only 50 songs and drops to only 30 songs in 1954.) From 1954 through 1975, there was always at least one song on Wikipedia's list that I remember playing in bands. But after 1975, I usually couldn't identify a single song that I'd played (1978 was a lonely exception). It was so sparse that I stopped looking after 1984. Probably had I gone back before 1954, I would have continued to find songs I'd played, but since the song lists had dropped to only 30 songs the data would be skewed.
Interestingly, my peak "gigging year" is 1964--I remember playing 9 of that year's top 100 songs--even though I didn't even have sticks and a pad yet. Close seconds with 8 songs each are 1966, 1968, and 1973. Also interesting is that my "gigging years" include years before I was born, while they exclude about the last 10 years that I gigged. Obviously I wasn't playing contemporary popular music in those later years. In fact, I know I was mostly playing old rock and country then.
Of course, I didn't only play songs in the top 100, so Wikipedia's lists are only a rough proxy. However, using them as a rough proxy, I'd say that my "gigging years" probably begin in the 1920s (I know I've played songs from then), start to take off in 1959, stay reasonably steady until 1973, and then darn near end by the late 1970s. Naturally I'd explain the end of my "gigging years" by saying that popular music started to suck then, but that's my irrelevant subjective opinion. The fact is that "gigging years" ended then, regardless of the reason.
Turning to my current cymbal selection, I discovered after mulling on another thread and consulting Steve Black's data that my current New Beat hat weights are typical of hats during the 1970s, not far from the average of hats during the 1960s, but significantly lighter than the hats of the 1980s and afterward. Curiosity propelled me to check out where my current ride cymbal fits in Steve Black's data. It's an A from the 1960s that's been re-lathed and hammered by a smith. The smith's modifications make me think that it has K characteristics while remaining basically an A. Sure enough, its weight is exactly average for the 1960s, within the standard weight range of the 1950s, but a tad heavier than is typical for Ks of the era and significantly lighter than similar cymbals of the 1970s and afterward. My left side cymbal actually isn't a Zildjian (it's a Mehmet) and is more difficult to place chronologically (using data from Zildjians). It is typical of the weights of similar size cymbals during the 1950s, 1970s, and 1980s, but strangely a little heavier than was common during the 1960s and 1990s. My guess is that the weight data for cymbals this size (18") are thrown off by whether the cymbals was played as a ride, a crash/ride, or a crash. My guess is that over time this size cymbal was increasingly used as a crash rather than a ride, and the typical weights reflect this changing usage. If so, my guess is that my left side cymbal is typical of a crash/ride during the 1950s, which is how I use it.
Complicating any cymbal chronology is that while I believe Steve's data are based on the year a cymbal was manufactured, the use of that cymbal on recordings and the like probably followed by a few years. Cymbals manufactured during the 1950s, for example, were probably still widely used well into the 1960s, although then again there are early adopters and celebrity drummers with a lot of money who may buy new cymbals soon after manufacture. Then there are the kids buying new cymbals in the shops and playing whatever music is fashionable. These kids don't make many records, but you hear them and their cymbals in clubs.
Anyway, when I look at my cymbal selection and compare it to my "gigging years," I almost wonder why I put so much effort into listening to and trying out so many different cymbals. Like arranged marriages, a salesperson could have simply asked me what my "gigging years" are, predicted what cymbals would suit me from them, and I would have been happy with those cymbals. All my shopping has really only resulted in a cymbal setup suited to the popular music between the 1950s and 1970s. An outsider could have simply looked at the data and outfitted me with those cymbals.
Of course, there is still a role for genre and subjective taste. Although I think my cymbal setup is fine for country, I have another ride that I suspect is better suited to it. If I ever started playing a style of music outside my most common experience, I might look for different cymbals for that too. Regarding tastes, well, I have a plain A Zildjian ride from the 1960s that based upon my "gigging years" should be fine, and is, but I don't like it as much as the one the smith reworked. Then again, usually those who have their marriages arranged have some choice in the matter. The family may recommend two or three prospective spouses, while the bride and groom have says in which one.
There's also the issue of the pro drummers, the niche drummers, and the kids. The pro's make a career out of it usually play multiple genres over many decades, which makes it difficult to narrow down their "gigging years." The niche drummers are off doing their things, sometimes oblivious to popular music, so their "gigging years" aren't a good way to pinpoint their cymbal type. The kids don't yet have "gigging years," so their cymbal selection has to be guided by the "gigging years" they aspire to.
So I don't want to drag everybody onto my amateur and antiquated boat. However, I suspect that for some of us, our "gigging years" are a good guide to our cymbal preferences. If you identify the years of the songs you play, all you have to do is identify the cymbals common to those years and buy them (or more recent copies of them).
By "gigging years" I mean the years that the songs drummers have played or are mostly playing were released, not necessarily the years when they played them.
In my case, I gigged between 1968 and 1988, but these don't appear to be my "gigging years." Out of curiosity and covid boredom, I looked at Wikipedia's list of the top songs between 1954 and 1984. (After 1958, Wikipedia lists 100 songs a year, though in 1958 the list is only 50 songs and drops to only 30 songs in 1954.) From 1954 through 1975, there was always at least one song on Wikipedia's list that I remember playing in bands. But after 1975, I usually couldn't identify a single song that I'd played (1978 was a lonely exception). It was so sparse that I stopped looking after 1984. Probably had I gone back before 1954, I would have continued to find songs I'd played, but since the song lists had dropped to only 30 songs the data would be skewed.
Interestingly, my peak "gigging year" is 1964--I remember playing 9 of that year's top 100 songs--even though I didn't even have sticks and a pad yet. Close seconds with 8 songs each are 1966, 1968, and 1973. Also interesting is that my "gigging years" include years before I was born, while they exclude about the last 10 years that I gigged. Obviously I wasn't playing contemporary popular music in those later years. In fact, I know I was mostly playing old rock and country then.
Of course, I didn't only play songs in the top 100, so Wikipedia's lists are only a rough proxy. However, using them as a rough proxy, I'd say that my "gigging years" probably begin in the 1920s (I know I've played songs from then), start to take off in 1959, stay reasonably steady until 1973, and then darn near end by the late 1970s. Naturally I'd explain the end of my "gigging years" by saying that popular music started to suck then, but that's my irrelevant subjective opinion. The fact is that "gigging years" ended then, regardless of the reason.
Turning to my current cymbal selection, I discovered after mulling on another thread and consulting Steve Black's data that my current New Beat hat weights are typical of hats during the 1970s, not far from the average of hats during the 1960s, but significantly lighter than the hats of the 1980s and afterward. Curiosity propelled me to check out where my current ride cymbal fits in Steve Black's data. It's an A from the 1960s that's been re-lathed and hammered by a smith. The smith's modifications make me think that it has K characteristics while remaining basically an A. Sure enough, its weight is exactly average for the 1960s, within the standard weight range of the 1950s, but a tad heavier than is typical for Ks of the era and significantly lighter than similar cymbals of the 1970s and afterward. My left side cymbal actually isn't a Zildjian (it's a Mehmet) and is more difficult to place chronologically (using data from Zildjians). It is typical of the weights of similar size cymbals during the 1950s, 1970s, and 1980s, but strangely a little heavier than was common during the 1960s and 1990s. My guess is that the weight data for cymbals this size (18") are thrown off by whether the cymbals was played as a ride, a crash/ride, or a crash. My guess is that over time this size cymbal was increasingly used as a crash rather than a ride, and the typical weights reflect this changing usage. If so, my guess is that my left side cymbal is typical of a crash/ride during the 1950s, which is how I use it.
Complicating any cymbal chronology is that while I believe Steve's data are based on the year a cymbal was manufactured, the use of that cymbal on recordings and the like probably followed by a few years. Cymbals manufactured during the 1950s, for example, were probably still widely used well into the 1960s, although then again there are early adopters and celebrity drummers with a lot of money who may buy new cymbals soon after manufacture. Then there are the kids buying new cymbals in the shops and playing whatever music is fashionable. These kids don't make many records, but you hear them and their cymbals in clubs.
Anyway, when I look at my cymbal selection and compare it to my "gigging years," I almost wonder why I put so much effort into listening to and trying out so many different cymbals. Like arranged marriages, a salesperson could have simply asked me what my "gigging years" are, predicted what cymbals would suit me from them, and I would have been happy with those cymbals. All my shopping has really only resulted in a cymbal setup suited to the popular music between the 1950s and 1970s. An outsider could have simply looked at the data and outfitted me with those cymbals.
Of course, there is still a role for genre and subjective taste. Although I think my cymbal setup is fine for country, I have another ride that I suspect is better suited to it. If I ever started playing a style of music outside my most common experience, I might look for different cymbals for that too. Regarding tastes, well, I have a plain A Zildjian ride from the 1960s that based upon my "gigging years" should be fine, and is, but I don't like it as much as the one the smith reworked. Then again, usually those who have their marriages arranged have some choice in the matter. The family may recommend two or three prospective spouses, while the bride and groom have says in which one.
There's also the issue of the pro drummers, the niche drummers, and the kids. The pro's make a career out of it usually play multiple genres over many decades, which makes it difficult to narrow down their "gigging years." The niche drummers are off doing their things, sometimes oblivious to popular music, so their "gigging years" aren't a good way to pinpoint their cymbal type. The kids don't yet have "gigging years," so their cymbal selection has to be guided by the "gigging years" they aspire to.
So I don't want to drag everybody onto my amateur and antiquated boat. However, I suspect that for some of us, our "gigging years" are a good guide to our cymbal preferences. If you identify the years of the songs you play, all you have to do is identify the cymbals common to those years and buy them (or more recent copies of them).
