how to warm up on cymbals

DOWNLOAD my cymbal warmup guide: www.robknopper.com/cymbalwarmup
it took me a really long time to figure out how to play one cymbal crash. here's some ideas on how to practice cymbals in order to get a better cymbal sound.
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every instrument has a range of individual motions that i work on as warmups in order to get better at chops on percussion - and i'm going to be talking about this for specific instruments over the next few weeks!
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ABOUT ME
i'm a percussionist in the metropolitan opera orchestra in new york city, and i create videos and blogs to help you stop sucking at drums and master your craft. there's so much more at www.robknopper.com.
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CREDITS
shot and produced by rob knopper
edited by adam tan

[@seanstolliker4562]

Watching the beginning where you bang music stands together had me dying laughing! Thanks for the great video!

[@robknopperstudio]

thanks so much for watching, sean!!

[@DanGrossDrums]

Great video. More nuance there than many think (even, to be honest, me before watching :) , and your approach really opened my eyes to all the "variables." Story: was once practicing (fortunately) in (small-town community) Symphony. Conductor stops Orchestra. Conductor: "Dan, that cymbal crash is a solo, so really bring it out." Me: *thumbs up* Cymbals: *full-on-takes-a-couple-seconds-to-pull-apart-air-lock* Postlogue: Nailed it in the concert. ;)

[@robknopperstudio]

haha we've ALL been there!

[@trubr8]

Roland Kohloff used to tell people to go out into the woods and experiment. I'm happy to hear you repeat that sage advice :)

[@robknopperstudio]

glad to hear! i took a few lessons w/ him during his last year of teaching but only on timpani. i got this advice from tom stubbs in the st louis symphony who studied at juilliard... maybe with roland.

[@trubr8]

Ah, that's interesting. Tom was my first classical percussion teacher and I still work with him when I am lucky enough to play extra in the SLSO. He's a master cymbal player, as you know, but I don't remember hearing that advice from him, though it's possible. It was long ago :) He was at Juilliard in the Saul Goodman, Buster Bailey era with Rick Holmes, John Kasica and other luminaries.

[@rafaelguzman3862]

Great information, presented with the right touch of humor!!

[@robknopperstudio]

thank you ralph!

[@paulmouradian8968]

good job on the cymbals Rob and also how you can interpret different crashes within the same piece of music

[@robknopperstudio]

thanks paul! it all depends on what musical things are happening. your goal is to have a wide understanding of all the 'vocabulary' of the cymbals, or the different ways you can make it sound. then, when you have to 'say' something, your hands immediately adjust and make a cymbal crash that represents exactly what you were trying to say. make sense?

[@fabianenriquecorreaguette6844]

Thanks for all the videos! I have watched the tambourine, snare drum and this cymbal one and they are all amazing. My question is on how often should I practice each. Taking into account that as a student I also have to prepare the marimba solo I am working on, Timpani lessons, multipercussion, Concertos, classes etc. I guess what I am asking is what is the right way to balance all that?

[@jarmolahtiranta9919]

One extra thing you might consider is how to hold the cymbals. In all your demos you have four fingers touching the bell which dampens the overtones. This is easy to test by holding just one cymbal, playing it with a mallet and changing the amount of pressure on the bell. You can basically kill all the sound just by applying pressure to the bell, so in most cases I've found that the less you touch the bell, the better it sounds. Of course this also depends on your sound preferences.

[@robknopperstudio]

thanks for the advice!

[@tetrachr0macy]

YAAAAASSSSS!!!!

[@paddydavies8831]

Please do triangle

[@tylerthestarjustforfun6918]

Hi

[@alexandershcheglov4653]

My conductor says that I play the cymbals too "heavy". All notes are in right places but because of the way I play the cymbals it doesn't sound right. How should I play the cymbals to achieve "light" sound? Maybe I "dig" too hard into the cymbals while a hit. It's one things I think about. Thank you for your great work.

[@robknopperstudio]

yeah you could try lightening up the moment of impact - try playing an "upstroke" rather than a "downstroke" and making sure that the moment of impact is as short as possible. also literally trying to use less force in bringing together the cymbals.

[@alexandershcheglov4653]

Thank you. I'll definitely try it.

[@garygordon4116]

@@alexandershcheglov4653did it work?

[@AndrewGordonBellPerc]

How you can tell this video was edited by a marimbist (Adam Tan, great youtuber as well) he thinks the quarter note rest at 4:45 is correct.

[@robknopperstudio]

it's a mistake in the part! supposed to be an 8th note on the + of 1

[@AdamTanPercussion]

Andrew Bell I blame IMSLP 😂😂😂

[@AndrewGordonBellPerc]

Adam Tan You've gotta keep up with your score studying ;) I love both of your guy's content and the way you present it! Keep up the amazing work!

[@Poempedoempoex]

Way to overcomplicate things...