Acoustic effects of holes on commercial cymbals.

Abstract

In recent years, several cymbal companies have begun manufacturing cymbals with holes cut into them. The 10 -in. cymbal used in this study (Sabian Ozone Splash) contains six symmetrically placed 1.5 in. diameter holes. Electronic speckle pattern interferometry (ESPI) has been used to collect mode shape and frequency data on brass plates and cymbals containing holes of various sizes. Data taken on a brass plate show that a single hole may cause mode frequencies to increase or decrease depending on the size and location of the hole relative to the modal pattern. As a hole can be treated as a region of both lower mass and lower stiffness, these competing frequency effects are to be expected. To illustrate the effect of the six holes on the Ozone cymbal, ESPI data are presented on a standard 10-in. Sabian splash cymbal (without holes) as six holes are added in a series of increasing diameters until the geometry of the Ozone cymbal is matched.