hand cymbals

[Congaruent]

I'm new to the forum and percussion, been playing congas and djembe about 4 months and added a couple pretty lousy used drum kit cymbals about a month ago. i'm looking for actual hand cymbals so i don't cut one of my fingers off when i get excited playing. i have heard about the zildjian azuka series, but don't know much about them or the topic in general. so the question is what is the best plan of attack to get 3 or 4 hand cymbals and stands asap in the low to mid price range? ideas for set up? other hand cymbal lines? do they come in cymbal kits? used? what is a good website to checkout pics of other people's percussion kits/setups? or check out used hand percussion gear. sorry for greeting everyone with a million ?s. i would definately appreciate answers to one, some or all. just a bit excited. thanks

[MusicMan]

Hi -

I use all the Zildjian Azuka cymbals in my set up, and they work fine. However, the main thing with a "hand" cymbal is that it is very thin so that the soft skin of the hand and fingers can cause the cymbal to "crash." The Azukas are designed specifically for this purpose, but other cymbals work as well.

I've found that 10" and 12" splash cymbals (of any kind) also work very well. I'd suggest getting a couple of the Azukas (13", 15") along with an 11" Oriental trash splash and a 12" A-custom splash.

Of course, you should also have a cymbal or two for louder playing with sticks. The Azukas, as well as any of the other oriental type and thinner weight crashes and rides work well for this too!

I hope this helps ...

[DeepThought]

I believe Sabian makes a version too, under 'El Sabor', its in the AA or AAX line..

[Nez]

Yep, the El Sabor is in the AA line and is designed for hand percussionist and 'latin' drumset players - can be used by stick or hand. I use the Splash (13") as my main accent cymbal for my drumset.
There's also a few of the HHX cymbals that are desinged to be played by hand as well as sticks (in the Evolution range I think).

[Congaruent]

Thanks folks for the advice, I've been checking out all of these cymbals - problem I have is that they seem to be special order items at all the places i go, so i can't actually see/play/hear any of them w/o putting down a deposit. Anyone from southern california know a place that keeps them in stock?

[MusicMan]

Congaruent -

If you go to www.zildjian.com, you can hear sound samples of all of their Azuka cymbals!

[Nez]

To maintain a balance of fairness (or should I say Sabian bias!) I should point out that Sabian also have sound clips - check the Cymbal Catalogue at www.sabian.com (http://www.sabian.com)
I would add that I bought my El Sabor from a store, in the UK no less, where our stock levels are usually pretty poor....