Stuart wrote:
I now have a slash about 1" deep and 10" long running across one corner of
my new bench. It's worse than anything on my old bench, which has seen
over 20 years of service :-(
It's like getting that first dent or scratch in a new car.
You're actually relieved to get it over with. :-)
Reminds me of drummers who wear gloves to handle their cymbals.
Umm, what about when you're hitting them real hard with big wooden
sticks? :-)
Sweat is acidic enough to corrode the metal and affect the sound.
Well, yes and no..... and all the more reason to touch 'em.. a lot.
I'll explain...
Technically yes, the sebum secreted by human skin is acidic and
therefore corrosive to metals.
High end cymbals are B-20 Bronze-- 80 percent Copper, 20 Percent Tin,
with trace Silver and a few proprietary trade secret metals.
Anyone who has bronze art will tell you the extent of corrosion that
takes place, even when it's left out in the weather. That pretty green
patina we all love is about all that would ever happen. If they can dig
up artifacts that are thousands of years old with little more damage
than some patination, I think my cymbals will survive my lifetime.
So, about those cymbals. Very few of them are in raw state, meaning
most either have a protective coating applied, or they've been buffed so
shiny, they are virtually impervious to sweat. (My cat peed on one of
mine and it produced a cool patina almost overnight, so if you're
looking for a good patination formula, well..... see the cat.)
But let's just say there is no protection and the cymbals are raw, like
many of my older ones. As a younger dude, I made the mistake of
cleaning a cymbal loaned to me by my drum teacher. I brought it back
all shiny and new looking, with a grin on my face. I was proud,
expecting all kinds of thanks and kudos from my mentor. I'll never
forget the look on his face as I handed him his vintage 60's Zildjian A
ride. He looked at it and said, "What's this?" When I told him it was
the cymbal he loaned me, he got this look on his face I'll never forget.
It was a mix of sorrow and rage, with a touch of bewilderment, which
immediately translated his thoughts to me, "What the hell did you do!?"
That was my first lesson in learning that corrosion does in fact effect
the sound of a cymbal, as you correctly pointed out..... in a GOOD way.
But young pups, like I was, don't know this because they haven't been
around long enough to hear their cymbals age. Cleaning all that
"corrosion" off the cymbal takes away a lot of the character and dryness
in the sound. It brightens it up too much and makes it sound like any
other cymbal you can go down to the music store and buy. Problem is,
you have to wait another 20 years for it to sound good. :-)
All that to point back to by original analogy. Young inexperience
drummers care more about having shiny new equipment, while experienced
drummers just want to make great music. The same can be said for
woodworkers and our tools.
--
-MIKE-
"Playing is not something I do at night, it's my function in life"
--Elvin Jones (1927-2004)
--
http://mikedrums.com
---remove "DOT" ^^^^ to reply