[Press Release]

Responding to requests from R&B, funk, jazz, pop, and fusion drummers for a faster variation of its popular X-Plosion crash, Sabian has introduced the AAX X-Plosion Fast crash. Thinner, more responsive, and with a glassier, higher pitch ensuring extremely quick response and decay, this extra-thin model—available in 14″, 15″, 16″, 17″, 18″, and 19″ sizes—delivers a super-fast response. The bright, shimmering sound is so pure, clean, and concentrated that it blows through everything going on around it.

“The AAX X-Plosion Fast crash is great for players wanting a big, explosive response with a faster, brighter sound,” said Sabian master product specialist Mark Love. “Its AAX ‘Dynamic Focus’ design means it responds accurately at all volume levels, so it’s fast, glassy, and extremely versatile with a bright, explosive attack, penetrating definition, and total presence.”

Tony Royster Jr. (Jay-Z), Jim Riley (Rascal Flatts), Cora Coleman-Dunham (Prince), and Todd
Sucherman (Styx, Brian Wilson) are among early adopters of the AAX X-Plosion Fast crash cymbals.
The AAX X-Plosion Fast crash is crafted from Sabian B20 bronze and is quality protected by Sabian’s two-year warranty.

[Press Release]

The popularity of Sabian’s HH Raw Bell Dry Ride and recently released, brighter sounding AA version has prompted the company to introduce the innovative AAX Raw Bell concept into its AAX series. Design-wise, the 21″ AAX Raw Bell Dry Ride is medium-heavy weight and fully lathed with the exception of its large and solid raw bell. The cymbal surface is fully hammered from edge to center. The Raw Bell Dry Ride design is popular because it offers players a highly effective versatility at virtually any volume and in any style of music. Being an AAX series model, this cymbal includes Sabian’s innovative AAX “Dynamic Focus” design, which ensures optimum response at all volume levels, from low to loud, and a consistent purity of sound.

“The Raw Bell Dry Ride design is possibly the single most versatile and effective ride cymbal ever designed,” said Sabian master product specialist Mark Love. “Not only does this AAX model deliver consistently bright and pure sounds, it is ideal for any player wanting the absolute best in terms of consistently pure and bright stick definition across the bow and bell areas, as well as a level of dynamic sensitivity that ensures crisp clarity and accuracy at all volumes.”

Created from pure Sabian B20 bronze, the 21″ AAX Raw Bell Dry Ride is available in a natural finish or glossy brilliant finish and is quality-protected by Sabian’s two-year warranty.

I caught a quick demonstration of this model at the Sabian press conference on Thursday. The cymbal has both a good crash and a good ride sound. If you got room for only one cymbal on that tiny-ass Holiday Inn stage you’re stuck playing on every weekend, you wouldn’t go wrong grabbing a Memphis ride.

From the press release:

Combining dry, crisp stick articulation over a wash of glassy bright tone, the Memphis ride offers a range of versatility that makes it an ideal choice for drummers in search of a ride that does it all. Designed with a high profile and AAX hammering, the bottom of this 21″ medium-thin model is cut with narrow pin-lathing to enhance the feel and increase the crash response capability, while the top is line-lathed, resulting in clear stick definition.

“The Memphis ride is a great combination of ride and crash without compromise,” said Sabian master product specialist Mark Love. “It’s ideal for many styles of music, with prototypes popular with gospel drummers and other soulful players. Aside from the design, the magic in this cymbal is its weight. The Memphis ride is just heavy enough to ensure it performs perfectly as a ride, a crash, and as a crash-ride.”

Fuck off, Father Time. Instead of waiting decades to get a beautifully aged cymbal, you can just bury that baby in the ground. Or at least that’s what some of the mad-genius cymbalsmiths at Sabian are betting on.

For a project titled “One of 100,” the company has buried 100 of its primo 21″ Vault Artisan ride cymbals in a specially designed container in eastern Canada. In mid-2009, they’ll be dug up, sonically approved by the Sabian Vault Team (keep in mind the cymbals will have been subjected to the cold, heat, and general misery of the Canadian climate), and then individually packaged in a deluxe wood box, complete with official documentation of authenticity signed by master product specialist Mark Love. Details on how to purchase one of the 100 cymbals will be announced on Sabian’s website in February.

More info from the press release:

In a move driven by market curiosity, Sabian has buried 100 of its premium Vault Artisan ride cymbals and will dig them up from the ground in mid-2009. Why? According to Sabian VP of sales Peter Stairs, the company receives hundreds of queries annually regarding the “aging of cymbals by burying them in the ground.” So the specialists in the Sabian Vault have buried the cymbals in an undisclosed spot near the Sabian factory in eastern Canada. The project is entitled “One of 100.”

Continued Stairs: “Buried cymbals are the stuff of legend. Anecdotal comment indicates that aging the cymbals by burying them in soil actually helps shape their sound. Of course we are as curious as anyone to see what these cymbals sound like when they’re pulled up from the earth. These are custom-sized 21” Artisan medium ride models in a natural finish. They will have endured about eight months of dry, wet, hot, and cold soil including the freezing temperatures of our Canadian winter. We anticipate they will be dirtier looking, and if what the legend says it true, they should be dirtier sounding as well.”

The cymbal of choice for “One of 100” is no accident, says Stairs. “The Artisan ride exemplifies Sabian cymbal-making artistry in that it is hand-hammered traditional-style, and its tone is darker and dirtier…quite earthy. It’s the ideal choice.”