MEINL BYZANCE CYMBALS

98 RHYTHM AUGUST 2010
EXCLUSIVE
BYZANCE CYMBALS
entail time-honoured
Turkish hand-hammering
PRICES
Byzance Dark series:
20" Raw Bell ride,
£429
18" Dark china, £340
Byzance Extra Dry
series:
20" Extra Dry Thin
crash, £429
10" Extra Dry splash,
£132
18" Extra Dry china,
£340
Byzance Traditional
series:
16" Flat china, £285
18" Flat china, £340
CAST OR
PRESSED
Cast
ALLOY USED
B20
FINISH
Mixture of raw, natural
and polished
HAND OR
MACHINE
HAMMERED
Hand-hammered
COUNTRY OF
MANUFACTURE
Turkey, finished in
Germany
DIAMETERS
AVAILABLE
6" to 22"
MODELS
AVAILABLE
Mini-hats, hi-hats,
rides, Sizzle rides,
Ping rides, splashes,
crashes, chinas, Flat
chinas.
SUITABLE FOR
Every style: Jazz,
funk, r’n’b, soul, indie,
country, hard rock,
pop, punk, studio…
CONTACT
Active Music
Distribution,
Unit 7, Goose Green
Trading Estate,
47 East Dulwich Road,
London
SE22 9BN
Tel: [phone]
Email: info@activemu-
sic.co.uk
Website: www.
meinlcymbals.com
ESSENTIAL SPEC
too. Overall it has a thinner and more silvery
sound than the two other 18s. And lacking
bells, both Flats have less power than the
other chinas.
Now for the Extra Dry trio: the 20" Thin
crash, 10" splash and 18" china. Thin is an
understatement – this is probably the thinnest-
sounding 20" crash I’ve played. So responsive
you can crash the body of the cymbal with a
small stick tip. You can even crash the bell,
which results in a broad-edged ‘pahhh’. You’d
have to be the world’s lightest player to ride it.
It’s ultra-sensitive then, with a trashy, sizzling,
shimmering, gorgeous sound.
Likewise, the 10" Extra Dry splash is wafer
thin. Many 10" splashes chime like a cheap
F
or half a century Meinl epitomised the
European style of so-called sheet
bronze B8 cymbals. In order to
penetrate the American market, Meinl
took a crucial step in 2000 and opened a
factory in Turkey, home of the traditional
cymbal. And in 2001 Meinl launched its
Byzance range. Byzance cymbals were a
radical departure for Meinl, entailing
time-honoured Turkish hand-hammering
skills and cast B20 bell-bronze alloy.
Byzance cymbals are transported back to
Meinl’s HQ in Germany for fi nishing and
marketing. The selection we have are 2010
additions to what is already an extensive
range. This range encompasses six
sub-series: Jazz, Traditional, Dark, Brilliant,
Extra Dry and Vintage. The review cymbals
fall into three of these categories: Traditional,
Dark and Extra Dry.
Build
Byzance cymbals have remarkable looks.
First there are the 18" china and 20" Raw Bell
ride from the Dark series. The ride’s main
surface is completely mottled with dimpled
hammerings over a lathed golden brown (top
and bottom), while the un-hammered bell
has splashes of chalky green, yellow and
mauve. Apparently this has to do with “the
various re-heating and cooling processes
during the production”. The 18" Dark china is
just as wild – a mixture of pink and brown,
top and bottom!
Turning to the three Extra Dry models – a
20" Thin crash, 10" splash and 18" china –
they are similar to the Dark series on the top
surface, but are lathed to a shining
bronze-gold on the underside with larger
hammerings. The mottled tops again have all
sorts of colours – browns, golds, olives… the
splash even looks purple in certain lights.
The two remaining cymbals are Flat chinas
from the Byzance Traditional series and are
more conventional in appearance with the
familiar B20 rich golden-bronze colour,
completely lathed surfaces and very light
hammering. As the name suggests, they have
relatively fl at profi les with just a slight upturn
and no bell.
Hands On
The 20" Dark Raw Bell ride has indeed a raw
feel to it, quite a hard stick sound. There’s no
great spread, the stick sound being clear and
dark. It’s a medium-heavy cymbal you can lay
into and it will go with you, powerful but not
washy, with good projection. The crash is full
and sweet but doesn’t impede the forward
movement. The bell is penetrating, sitting
comfortably with the overall sound. This is a
versatile ride which both rock and jazz
drummers will warm to.
The 18" Dark china has the deepest pitch of
the four chinas here. The sound is ominous,
Oriental, thick, deep and meaty. You can get
umpteen variations by striking at different
places on the surface – from the edge whoosh
to the clanking upturned brim to the brighter
centre and the tinkling small bell.
The Traditional series 16" Flat china is
abrupt, great for biting accents, with a
high-pitched, coruscating smash, like dropping
a large saucepan lid on a tiled fl oor. The 18"
is similar but deeper with more sustain,
although still relatively terse. With more mid
frequencies, the timbre is smoother. The
clarity of tip stroke makes this a decent ride
MEINL
BYZANCE CYMBALS
From £132 Geoff Nicholls tries out a bunch of new additions
to Meinl’s traditional, Turkish-made Byzance range
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RHY179.gear_meinl 98 6/16/10 1:59:12 PM