In
cymbal making {{Unreferenced, date=January 2009
Modern cymbal making comprises many different techniques, from traditional hand methods to completely automated mass-production.
The traditional process
Historically, cymbals were made from individually cast cymb ...
, taper refers to the gradual change in thickness from the bell to the rim of the
cymbal
A cymbal is a common percussion instrument. Often used in pairs, cymbals consist of thin, normally round plates of various alloys. The majority of cymbals are of indefinite pitch, although small disc-shaped cymbals based on ancient designs soun ...
. It is one of the key features that determines the
tone of the cymbal.
This change is typically not uniform, and it is extremely difficult to generalise on the effects of taper, just to say that they are profound.
Crash cymbal
A crash cymbal is a type of cymbal that produces a loud, sharp "crash" and is used mainly for occasional accents, as opposed to a ride cymbal. It can be mounted on a stand and played with a drum stick, or by hand in pairs. One or two crash c ...
s tend to have the most pronounced taper, with the faster crashes and the richer tones the most pronounced of all. The bell of a paperthin crash or a fast crash can be thicker than that of many ride cymbals. On the other hand,
china cymbal
China type cymbals from three continents
In western music, a China cymbal (or Chinese cymbal) is a distinct type of crash cymbals designed to produce a bright, crisp, and explosive tone. It is for this reason that they have been nicknamed "''tra ...
s tend to have little or no taper, as do the heavy to medium weights of
splash cymbal In a drum kit, splash cymbals are the smallest accent cymbals. Splash cymbals and china cymbals are the main types of effects cymbals.
The most common sized splash has a diameter of 10", followed by 8". Most splash cymbals are in the size range ...
s.
Cymbals
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