Should You Modify Your Cymbal?

Can we get any sound out of any cymbal? The short answer is “no”. Cymbals have been worked into the shape, tension, and size intended by the manufacturer. However, we find ways to work within the limits of the cymbal to bring out the best it has to offer. For instance, we cannot flatten out the bell of a cymbal to create a flat ride. However, a flat ride can have a bell hammered into it. Essentially the metal is workable within given parameters (those parameters being the shape that it has). Flatter cymbals (in the bell and the profile) have much more room for work and extensive change whereas cymbals with big bells and profiles are much more limited. Those cymbals tend to get weirdly tonal and gong-like when lathed thin and/or extensively hammered. It’s a good idea to think of cymbal modifying as a way to take a cymbal and “flavor” the original sound it has rather than thinking that it’s possible to take a “lemon” and turn it into a “strawberry” (silly analogy, but you get the point).