Cymbal alloys
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Cymbals are made from four main alloys, all of them copper-based. These are: Bell Bronze, Malleable Bronze, Brass and Nickel Silver.
See also bell, gong, cymbal making.
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[edit] Bell Bronze
Bell bronze, also known as bell metal, is the traditional alloy used for fine cymbals, many gongs and, as the name suggests, bells. It is normally stated to be one part tin to four parts copper, that is 20% tin, and this is still the most common formula. But there has always been some variation. Larger and smaller bells are cast with differing amounts of tin, and some bell, gong and cymbal makers use small but significant amounts of other elements, notably silver, gold and phosphorus.
Tin bronzes used for cymbals are often named after the percentage of tin they contain, thus B20 is a 20% tin bronze, and B18 an 18% tin bronze.
Bell bronze is a two-phase alloy, meaning that some of the tin is not dissolved in the copper grains but exists between them. This makes the metal harder and more brittle than a single-phase alloy, and also affects the way the metal responds to hardening by hammering and lathing, and greatly restricts the use of mechanised techniques of manufacture.
One notable alloy in this group is Paiste Signature Alloy, the subject of patents in various countries. The U.S. Patent 4,809,581 reveals that it is phosphor bronze shaped in hot and cold state pretty much like other bell bronze cymbals.
Major orchestras generally use bell bronze cymbals, which are capable of a greater dynamic range than any others.
Examples: Anatolian, Bosphorous, Istanbul, Masterwork, Meinl Byzance and Marathon B18, Paiste Signature and Traditionals, Paiste 602 and some Exotic Percussion, Paiste Sound Creation and Sound Formula, Sabian HH and HHX, Sabian AA and AAX, most Sabian Signature, Saluda Mist, Saluda Expressions, Saluda Voodoo, Spizzichino, Stagg, Ufip, Wuhan, Zildjian A and A Custom, Zildjian K and K Custom, Zildjian Z Custom.
[edit] Malleable Bronze
Malleable bronze is an alloy of tin and copper containing no more than 8% tin. It is a single-phase alloy and can be cold rolled into sheets, unlike bell bronze. It is readily available as commercial sheet metal in many grades and thicknesses. Being less sensitive than bell bronze, malleable bronze cymbals are easier for a beginner to play.
Cymbal bronzes containing 8% tin are most normally called B8 alloy. Paiste refer to their 8% tin bronze as 2002 alloy.
From the mid 20th century there were attempts to make top quality cymbals from malleable bronze, originally for reasons of economy. As the Paiste patent referred to above says:
Less than three decades ago experiments were carried out for economical considerations with a commercial common bronze sheet or plating containing 8% tin by weight. The result was that the old bronze rule was confirmed and proven to be correct. One had to realize that with careful working and processing of the cymbal it was possible to achieve considerable qualitative results with the bronze sheet or plating containing 8% by weight tin, but these results could never approach the results obtained with traditional cymbals having a tin content of 20% by weight.
Not everyone agrees with this unfavourable assessment, written well after the development of the very successful Paiste 2002 series. In particular, top-line malleable bronze cymbals proved exceptionally suitable for the louder music then developing. The best of them now approach and some claim equal the best bell bronze cymbals in quality.
Examples: Harpy H, Meinl One of a Kind, Meinl Custom and Amun, Meinl Lightning and Raker, Meinl Classics and some Generation X, Meinl Trooper and Cadet, Meinl Meteor, Orion Solo Pro and Solo Pro Master, Orion Viziuss, Paiste 2002 and Giant Beat, Paiste 802 and Alpha, Paiste 502 and some Exotic Percussion, Pearl Pro, Sabian B8 and B8 Pro, Sabian Pro Sonix, Saluda Glory, Zildjian ZXT and ZBT.
[edit] Brass
Some of the finest traditional gongs and china-type cymbals, and nearly all zils, are made from brass.
However, most brass cymbals are toy or beginners' cymbals.
Many of the "show" cymbals provided by some drum kit manufacturers for use in shop window displays are also made from brass. These are typically very poor in tone, some even being simple disks of untreated metal and unplayable despite the reputable brand name they may bear.
The normal brass for cymbals is about 38% zinc in copper, which is very easily worked, readily available as sheet metal, and is easily the cheapest metal stock normally used for cymbals.
The tone of brass cymbals tends to be warm but dull compared to any sort of tin bronze, and very few drummers exploit it.
Examples: Harpy B, Meinl Marathon M38, Orion Twister, Paiste 302 and some Exotic Percussion, Pearl, Royal, nearly all zils of all makes.
[edit] Nickel Silver
Nickel silver as used in cymbal making is an alloy of copper and nickel, and an alloy with about 12% nickel is used for some beginners' cymbals. A very few specialised high-quality cymbals are also made from nickel silver, as are some top-quality gongs tending to the more modern and exotic sounds.
Some maintain that the term nickel silver should only be used for alloys containing an appreciable content of zinc, and would call this cymbal alloy nickel bronze instead, but the use of the term nickel silver for all cymbal bronzes with nickel as the main alloying metal is well established.
Nickel silver is malleable and available as commercial sheet metal, and gives a bright tone but without the shimmer and sensitivity of tin bronzes. In the early to mid 20th century nickel alloy cymbals were far more widely produced and used, and so many older recordings were probably made using cymbals with a significant nickel content.
Examples: Some Foremost, Meinl Streamer and Marathon N12, Paiste 402 and some Exotic Percussion, Sabian Signature Glennies Garbage, Sabian Solar, Saluda SSX, some Zilco, and Zildjian planet z.
[edit] Other Metals
Cymbals have also been made from silicon and aluminium bronzes but these alloys have not become generally popular.
Meinl FX9 is an alloy of 69% copper, 15% manganese, 15% zinc and 1% aluminium, and was used for the new Meinl Generation X line released in 2003. Previous Generation X models were made from malleable bronze. FX9 is described by Meinl as not being a bronze at all, and was previously described by their sales literature as containing tin rather than zinc. There is a minority view that the word "bronze" should be reserved for two-phase alloys, which may be their usage here.
The Saluda GH alloys were a series of four different alloys, all copper-based and composed of eleven elements in all. They are now all out of production. Saluda describe them as "flex bronze".
Unlike cymbals, some gongs are made from several different metals fused together. Many different metals have been used. Parts of some traditional gongs, notably the bosses of some "nipple" gongs, are made from iron based alloys.
[edit] Cymbal Secret Alloy
Zildjan and Istanbul Companies claim that they keep the secrets of Zilciyan Families secret cymbal alloy . Zilciyan protects the secret from generations to generations since 1623. Istanbul Cymbal Makers were the last students of Zilciyan Family and they claim that they learned the secret , watching the master from roof. Here is the calibrated , portable , 2006 model spectrometer analysis of an Istanbul Cymbal which is produced and used for calibrating the cymbal hammering machine. Istanbul Cymbal Makers founded by Agop Tomurcuk and Mehmet Tamdeger . This cymbal is one of the last cymbals produced under supervision of Agop Tomurcuk . And this cymbal is the few remainings of Istanbul Cymbal Makers factory at Bagcilar. They had been carried the tools to new factory when this cymbal bought from son of factory area owner.Hammering machine - single hammer , simple pneumatic machine - was still there. Istanbul Cymbal Makers are the last students of Zildjan family. Last cymbal making master of Zilciyan family moved to USA at 1970s. there are still Zilciyans at Istanbul. Are hammering machines still in use ? It is not clear to us yet.
Here is the output which spectrometer gave :
At the very beginning spectrometer gave %
Cu 73.56 or 75,67 , Sn 25.78 or 24.01 , Fe 0.26 or 0.19 , Nb 0.05 .
At the millionth to 1 analysis , spectrometer gave Mb 185 +/- 16 , Zr 320 +/- 24 , Pb 239 +/- 52 , Au 0 +/- 0 , Zn 5522 +/- 1063 , P 301 +/- 42 , S 209 +/- 24 , Ca 30000 , K 40000 , I 26484 +/- 1774 , Ti 16 , Ba 2321 +/- 264 , Cr 1834 +/- 133 , Sb 887 , Cd 519 , Ag 392 , Sr 38 , Rb 37 , Sc 101 , As 56 , Hg 385 , Ni 204 , Co 1764 , Cl 29863 .
It is noticed , there is extremelly low amount of silver in this era Istanbul Cymbals . But US Zildjan and Sabian claim that they use higher amount of silver in the secret alloy. It is clear to say that Istanbul Cymbals are not mixing high amounts of silver in to the alloy due to expense or to protect the silver and the cymbals in the 15 000 000 city. It is a joyful experience to hold a silverware in one hand like a cymbal and hit it. Sound is excellent and you can extract the same sound at cymbals when you closely listen from the edge. There are two strange elements in the alloy , Nb and Zr. If someone investigate the tin alloys , he could find them there. And interestingly Nb and copper alloys produce super alloys. And Ca , K , I and Cl can be come from quenching water. This can be seawater. At Bosphorus Cymbals web site , the secret alloys source pointed at the waters of Bosphorus. But Cl could be come from high Cl content drinking water of Istanbul. Son of Mr. Tomurcuk said at tv that if you dont put your cymbal in to the secret water mix , it breaks. If you read zildjan.com , there is said that if you do not follow zildjan process , copper , tin and silver mix breaks.Our alloy analysis and paiste patent can solve this mystery. It is the correct timing to say that analysis cymbals surface has not been tooled. As reader notices , there even no trace of gold in this cymbals alloy. This is contradictory to Istanbul Cymbal Makers old catalogs.They use electrolysis copper cables for to melt and the gold in the copper alloy was extracted before the cables produced.As reader might interest , Zilciyan Family was one of the small alloy makers of Ottoman Empire and the main technology was coming from weapon makers. At west Istanbul , there is a location called Tophane which all the cannons produced. It was a Ottoman Empire tradition to put few gold coins in to the alloy by a statesman. Another thing , the presence of zn in the alloy , it transforms the alloy bronze and brass. At TV , Mehmet Tamdeger said thay they were mixing phosphorus in to the alloy. But analysis points there is extremelly low of it when it is compared with paiste. There was no ventilation at Istanbul Factory and phosphor could be very toxic. At instruments , phosphor generally used by pipe organ makers at the vibrating plates of tin pipes. And Fe,Cr,Ni,Mb presence reminds stainless steel in the alloy , may be it comes from mixing tool ? And Ba and Co , it is time to investigate their reason of presence in the alloy analysis. In our method , we think spectrometer sensor mixed the surface quenching water remaings to real alloy . But may be this is not by this way. This chapter could not attributed to reliable source because its content is secret.
