Avedis Zildjian Company Finger Cymbals – Thin

These finger cymbals are great. If you’re looking for something to actually use for music and not just as a prop for a belly dancing costume, this is probably what you’re looking for. The sound is clear and resonant, and the ‘thin’ versions I got are articulate and have a long sustain. They are slightly out of tune with each other which gives them a nice rich warble (it’s a feature), however you can always play a single cymbal with a brass mallet if you’d rather not have those tuning beats.

The only cause for slight concern was that I could find no obvious branding on either cymbal. Zildjan products normally have the name written or stamped somewhere, but both cymbals were free of any markings. The soft bag they came in was also unbranded, though there was a “zildjan” sticker on the bag with the font I’m used to seeing as well as a “Zilco” sticker on the bag in a somewhat generic sans-serif font. I’m not a finger cymbal expert and it’s possible that marking them in any way would have affected their sound since they’re so small (and the surface is heavily textured so it may not take ink very well). I mostly assume these are legit, but I’d be lying if I said a tiny part of me wonders if this is a counterfeit. They sound great so I it’s not likely they’re bootlegs (and if they are, they’re good enough to not really matter anyway).

The cymbals do not come with any sort of handle or string attached. There are small pieces of elastic which you may tie through the holes of the cymbals to create little handles if you like. I was a little put off by that at first, but I realized that it made it easier to customize how long you’d like the loops to be or if you’d like to use a different material altogether. I basically tied the elastic on like you would a piece of rope for an orchestral crash cymbal. I’m not a finger cymbal expert and part of me was worried the knotted elastic sitting on the bottom of the cymbal would mute some of the sound, but it has not been an issue. I could probably trim off some of the excess but I’ve yet to be bothered by it and I like having the option to elongate it later if I need, so I’m leaving it for now.

From the time I started belly dancing in the mid-1970’s, I heard about Zildjian cymbals, but never tried them. Although my first zils were one-hole, I was persuaded that the control of having two slots was better. And it is, for some things. But these zils (two pairs of the regular ones, not the dancer set) are wonderful. I find I can play faster on them and the little bit of instability in the single hole adds to the speed and gives another range of sounds. The tone is balanced and attractive. They do have a distinct, mellow sound. I have zils that I would prefer in a stage setting or when playing as a musician because they give a greater variety of quality tones, but the Zildjians are also pretty good in range of tones. For just dancing these are, at least for the time being, my zils of choice.

The sound is pretty good, but having only one hole was a challenge. Turns out I needed to use pins to keep the rubber band in place. Not ideal solution considering the price of the instrument. Also, I thought I was buying 2 pairs but it’s o ly a pair.

These guys fulfill their purpose of making noise in a percussion section.

The harmonic of the two cymbal don’t realy fit together.

LOVELY sound (no comparison from the cheap ones). Some have suggested you should always buy the ones with two holes.That is for all I know probably a really good idea if you are a belly dancer. However, I did the research after reading the review written by Shannon who appears to understand professional percussion settings and I appreciate her advice TREMENDOUSLY. Our little medieval style band bought both these and the belly dancers choice. The difference is like banging on a tupperware dish compared to tapping on fine crystal. Raucous versus clarity. Money talks. In this case, you can hear it SINGING!!! DON’T CHEAP OUT!!! You will be so glad for this choice. I also ordered the thin ones. They have less volume. BTW, to Matthew: I picked these up on the way to practice and was able to tie a simple overhand loop knot leaving lots of room for fingers. I won’t need to be heading for the needle and thread.

The finger cymbals are of high quality and sound. They came with two pieces of elastic strap and NO directions of how to assemble the cymbals so you could use them. I looked on YouTube for videos and found none. The issue is that it is difficult to use the straps by tying knots on the underside of the cymbals, without the straps falling through the hole in the cymbals. I ultimately gave up on the elastic straps and used something my wife had on a piece of old costume jewelry, which had a little ball which I could attach to a piece of leather and which was slightly larger than the hole in the cymbals. Now it works great!