To Good Effect: Suppliers Report Strong FX Cymbal Sales in 2020

Nearly every acoustic drum kit includes the “standard” cymbals: crash, ride, and hi hat. While individual playing style and ability of course distinguish one drummer from another, for players looking for another way to stick out from the pack effects (FX) cymbals are a convenient option. This month, MMR touched base with reps from four of the most prominent brands in this particular market segment to learn about some recent significant trends.

For those who may a little unclear, what are “effect cymbals?” What purpose do they serve, what’s the appeal, what types of players purchase them, et cetera?

Mark Love

Mark Love: Effects cymbals are more popular today than they have ever been. The purpose of effects cymbals is to add unique sounds to music, whether it’s a tight, dry articulate sound or an open trashy sound that stands out from the other instruments. It seems most players are open to trying effects cymbals now, with the exception of jazz players, but they, in some cases, love Chinese cymbals, which was probably the first effects-style cymbal ever.

Andrew Tamulynas

Andrew Tamulynas: For drummers who are looking to create their own unique sound and aesthetic, but are already working with a core setup of cymbals that they love, one or two effect cymbals can really be a great way to add a little personality to the kit. Besides the desire to create a unique sound, part of the appeal for effect cymbals is price. Sure, there are expensive effect cymbals, but there are also plenty of lower cost options that give you a lot of bang for your buck (a lot of trash for your cash?). FX Stacks, Spiral Stackers, and Trashformers are great examples of versatile, multipurpose, low cost effect cymbals.

Gabriel Harris

Gabriel Harris: Effects cymbals can be a broad term sometimes used to refer to cymbals outside of the primary cymbals on a drum kit: hi-hats, crash, and ride. In years past, that would have been mostly splashes, chinas, and bells, but as the drum kit has continued to evolve, we now see drummers using newer styled effects cymbals such as trash crashes, trash chinas (“trash” just means we add holes to the cymbal for a darker, drier, and dirtier sound), and stacks (two or more cymbals stacked together for a short sustain, cutting, or white noise sound.) The appeal is diversity in sonic texture. The drum kit as an instrument has continually evolved since its inception because it is an instrument of individual components. This allows and encourages drummers to naturally look for new sounds and sonic textures to add to their kit.

Tim Shahady

Tim Shahady: Any cymbal that falls outside the basic models of cymbals: hi-hat, crash, and ride. Effects cymbals provide special functions and sounds that allow drummers to expand their creativity in music. Effects cymbals are used by players in all styles of music.

With respect to your brand’s overall catalog of cymbal offerings, what percentage of sales are comprised of FX cymbals?

GH: Without giving an exact percentage of sales, I would say that Meinl considers FX cymbals as necessary for our catalog due to the demand from our fan base and customers. The sales, of course, reflect that demand. We regularly have end users asking us for more stacks which lead us to introduce the Artist Concepts series a few years ago where our artists have created a unique combination of two or more cymbals to achieve a specific sound they want. This line has continued to be expanded and these models remain popular with our customers.

AT: Standard drum set models are still the majority of what we make in our factory, but there is no question that effect cymbals are on the rise.

TS: We estimate effect cymbals account for between one fifth and one quarter of sales.

ML: In the big scheme of things effects cymbals probably are about 10 percent of total sales, but that’s just an estimate. It certainly is a category that is growing.

Sales of absolutely everything have been impacted in 2020 for obvious reasons. How have FX cymbals fared during these strange times?

TS: We haven’t noticed any change in the levels or proportion of effect cymbal sales this year.

ML: I think effects cymbals are holding their own, percentage-wise. A lot players find they can add an effects cymbal without breaking their budget and add new sounds to their setup.

AT: Since effect cymbals are often multipurpose (can be used as a stacker, a hi-hat, a crash), they are tremendously valuable to today’s drummers who are trying to make their dollar stretch just a little further.

GH: Meinl Cymbal sales increased again this year, and sales of FX cymbals continued to rise within that increase.

For your brand what specific models of effect cymbals are currently the hottest sellers?

AT: FX Stacks have by far been our most popular effect cymbals since their launch in 2018.

TS: Our PSTX Line has several strong selling models. The 10” PSTX Swiss Splash has been a great fit for many drummers, The 18” PSTX Swiss Thin Crash is a great cymbal. We also have several stacking options that do very well. The PSTX 14” Flanger Stack, and PSTX 12/10 Splash Stack both do very well. Paiste also has a small group of cymbals (sold as sets or individually) in the PSTX family, designed with artist Daru Jones called PSTX DJ45 that have done very well.

GH: Luke Holland’s Bullet Stack from the Artist Concept series is a top seller for us. Also, two Pure Alloy models that were introduced this year, the 18” Pure Alloy Custom Trash Crash and 12” Pure Alloy Trash China. Also introduced earlier this year, the 18” Byzance Dual Trash Crash, and the 18” Byzance Dual China. Several drummers have said is this Dual china one of the best chinas they’ve ever played due to its fast response and explosive nature.

ML: For Sabian the models that sell the best for us are Choppers, especially the 10”, the O-Zone crash, and the most popular O-Zone: the 18” HHX Evolution O-Zone, which has been around since 2001. We were actually the first cymbal company to market a cymbal of this style and look at the what’s on the market now. We also have a lot of small effects that sell really well like the AAX Air Splash, AAX Aero Splash and the AA Holy China from 8” all the way up to 21”. Many players are also using stacks like the SBR and XSR O-Zone/China combination and this also carries over onto our high-end cast models, but for stacks you don’t always need a high end alloy to create a great stack sound.

Any recent or upcoming releases you’d like to share with our readers?

ML: Recently we have added 17” and 19” HHX Complex O-Zone along with a new 7” HHX Complex Splash to join its big bother the 10” by January this year. We also have a couple other surprises coming that you will have to wait a few more months before we can share.

GH: We introduced a cymbal at NAMM 2020 that was a new concept for us. We called it the Byzance Dual Multi-Trash. It is a thin 14” cymbal with holes and was created to be used in a variety of ways around a kit. First, it can be a trash crash or trash splash. However, it can be easily stacked with another crash or china for a great stack sound. The third use is with your hi-hats. Replace one of your hi-hat cymbals for a trash hat, or stack it in the hi-hat clutch with your top hi-hat cymbal for a tri-hat effect. This unusual combination adds a little crunch or grit type of sound to your hi-hat. Due to the versatile and unique character, this cymbal has become a top seller for us also.

AT: There are releases we’d like to share, but for now we’ll have to keep you in suspense and just say, “Be on the lookout for some exciting new stuff coming soon!”

TS: While Paiste is always working on new sounds, we don’t have anything to share currently.

Expectations for this market segment in the coming months?

GH: At Meinl, we know drummers are always looking for new sounds. Like I mentioned before, the drum kit is an instrument that is a sum of its parts, and we expect that drummers will continue to experiment with FX cymbals to find new ways to use them around their kit. This is why Meinl continues to be committed to innovation as well as listening to our fans and artists. We expect that FX cymbals will continue to impact the development of drumming as new ideas and uses for cymbals emerge.

TS: While the market (and world) are in unprecedented times, we expect the effects cymbal market to remain a significant part of our sales.

AT: Growth.

ML: We expect this segment to hold its own and probably grow with all the innovation and effort put into this growing trend.