We had a minute to sit down with Burak Sirin, the director of Turkish Cymbals USA, and we asked him a few things about the cymbal business and his reasons for getting into it.
| Tom Tom Magazine: Tell us about your history in the cymbal business.
Burak: My story began in 2001 when I took up drumming and then in 201, I started working with cymbal companies. I spent lots of time with cymbals learning materials, process and what make for different sounds. I now design cymbals for drummers and the companies I work with. What is the most important thing to you about a cymbal? First mixing the materials then hammering and lathing. These process are the most important things about Cymbals. What are your tips to finding the perfect cymbal? First you have to trust your ears 🙂 And you have to know what you need or what you are looking for. Also you have to know your style or genre of playing. You should definitely try out new cymbals with your drum set. For example, if you play Jazz you won’t like thick or heavy cymbals. Or if you play Rock Music you won’t like particularly thin cymbals. But of course, that depends on the drummer as well.
What do you look for in a ride? For me, the bow side and bell parts are so important. After these parts, shape is really important for sound. If the cymbal has good shape, a good bell and a good bow side, it means you are so close to finding a good cymbal. What do you look for in a crash? It is similar to what I look for in a ride, I look for bow, bell and shape. But for crashes, shape is more important and more effective. What do you look for in a hi-hats? For Hi-Hats there are two cymbals and both weights are different. So you have to match weights perfectly. Then look for shape. When you put your Hi-Hats over each other, they have to cover each other. Why do so many cymbals come from Turkey? The journey began in Istanbul. Hundreds years ago. I believe so many cymbals come from Turkey because of the process, materials and quality. In Turkey there are many factories for cymbals. And they are still dedicated to producing 100% handmade cymbals. I believe that’s what drummers are looking for.
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