Suspended cymbal

Suspended Cymbal

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Suspended cymbal

A suspended cymbal is any single cymbal

Cymbal

Cymbals are a modern percussion instrument. Cymbals consist of thin, normally round plates of various cymbal alloys; see cymbal making for a discussion of their manufacture....
played with a stick or beater rather than struck against another cymbal.

term comes from the modern orchestra

Orchestra

An orchestra is an Musical ensemble, usually fairly large with string, brass, woodwind sections, and possibly a percussion section as well. The term orchestra derives from the name for the area in front of an theatre of ancient Greece reserved for the Greek chorus....
, in which the term cymbals normally refers to a pair of clash cymbals

Clash cymbals

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Encyclopedia

A suspended cymbal is any single cymbal

Cymbal

History

The term comes from the modern orchestra

Orchestra

Clash cymbals

Clash cymbals or hand cymbals are cymbals played in identical pairs by holding one cymbal in each hand and striking the two together....
. The first suspended cymbals used in the modern orchestra were one of a pair of orchestral cymbals, supported by hanging it bell upwards by its strap. This technique is still used, at times, but has largely been replaced by specialised cymbals with larger mounting holes that can be mounted on a cymbal stand.

Occasionally the term suspended cymbal is still used in the original sense of one of a pair of orchestral cymbals hung by its strap, and this is the usage in older scores and may be the wish of modern conductors in playing them. It is essential to check this before committing to a particular technique.

On the other hand, some orchestras now forbid use of cymbals in this way. Thin cymbals are particularly liable to damage if played energetically with a beater.

Technique

In an orchestral

Orchestra

An orchestra is an Musical ensemble, usually fairly large with string, brass, woodwind sections, and possibly a percussion section as well. The term orchestra derives from the name for the area in front of an theatre of ancient Greece reserved for the Greek chorus....
setting, suspended cymbals are most often used for rolled crescendo

Crescendo

Dynamics , in musical notation, refers to a passage of music during which the volume gradually increases.It also may mean:In music* Crescendo are a Liverpool based electronic pop band...
s, or swells. To do this, the player uses a single-stroke roll on the outside edge of the cymbal, using soft mallets, one on each side. At times, a score also calls for hitting the cymbal with a stick or scraping it with a triangle

Triangle (instrument)

The triangle is an idiophone type of musical instrument in the Percussion instrument family. It is a bar of metal, usually steel in modern instruments, bent into a triangle shape....
beater.

Other uses

In a drum kit

Drum kit

A drum kit is a collection of drums, cymbals and sometimes other percussion instruments, such as cowbell s, wood blocks, triangles, chimes, or tambourines, arranged for convenient playing by a single drummer....
, nearly all the cymbals used are suspended cymbals in the broadest sense, the main exceptions being pairs of hi-hat cymbals.