page_title: Cymbal making
section_title: Hammering techniques
hierarchical_section_title: Cymbal making / Modern developments / Hammering techniques
caption_attribution_description: English: An unfinished Hand Hammered Cymbal being hammered.
context_page_description: Modern cymbal making comprises many different techniques, from traditional hand methods to completely automated mass-production.
context_section_description: Many manufacturers claim that their cymbals are "hand hammered", but again these words may not always mean the same thing.*
  Some hand hammered cymbals are hammered using a hammer held in the cymbal maker's hand. Others are hammered using a proprietary machine, but are still described as "hand hammered" because the hammering is under the control of an individual craftsman.
  In general, truly hand hammered cymbals tend to have darker, lower, richer tones, and there tends to be far more variation in character between cymbals of supposedly identical models. Istanbul Mehmet Cymbals are an example of traditionally hand hammered cymbals.
  Cymbals hammered by automated machines tend to be brighter, higher in pitch, and more cutting. Most significantly, the variation between supposedly identical cymbals is noticeably reduced, assuming adequate quality control.
  The difference in sound is due mostly to the nature of the hammering: hand hammering is done randomly (that is not in a regular pattern) and thus the cymbal has a darker sound-even if this "random" style is dictated and executed by a computer. Symmetrical hammering- which is almost always done by a machine- gives the cymbal a brighter sound. This fact is reinforced by the example of some cymbals from English independent cymbal maker, Matt Nolan, which are unusual in being truly hand hammered but made from Malleable Bronze. The results are darker sounds from what are normally considered brighter alloys.
caption: An unfinished cymbal being hand-hammered
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