THE STORY OF TWO K RIDES

I'm an "A" guy. Until recently, all my Zildjian were A's. I love the brightness and shine of them. So it was fitting that my first two K's were unusual, even for K's. 

For decades I only had one ride cymbal, a mid-1970s Avedis Zildjian 22" medium ride, which I love to bits and have used in almost every style of music I've played. Since then I got two 20-inchers, A dark trashy Silken Trois, and a darkish Istanbul Agop Azure. When I completed my mini bop-frankenkit, I thought it would be fun to have an even smaller 18" ride. Fast forward to July 2023, and a 1990 IAK no stamp 18" K Heavy Ride showed up in the Facebook Marketplace. It fit the bill, and the price was right. So I snapped it up immediately. On the one hand, the sound fit the description perfectly. A heavy ride with more ping than wash. But on the other hand, the sound was bright with lots of top end, rather uncharacteristic of a supposedly "dark" K. It's small for a ride, but quite spunky, and punches above its size. 

Next up, a flat ride. I'm well aware of the characteristics of flat rides, like the legendary Roy Hanes’ 18” Paiste 602 on Chick Corea’s “Now He Sings, Now He Sobs” album, and Paul Wertico’s double Paiste 22” flat ride setup in the Pat Metheny Group. But they were so rare and unavailable here that I didn't have much hope of ever getting one. Sometime early in 2020, I saw a 20" Sabian AA flat ride going for cheap. But it was far away in Muntinlupa, from a young and naive seller, and at the time I didn't have so a way to pay remotely like gcash or paymaya. So I passed, and it got sold to someone else. Then in January of 2024, another one surfaced. My suki from Angeles, Pampanga had a 1997 20" K Flat Ride. Again, the price was right so I grabbed it. Its difference from a regular belled ride was conspicuous from the moment I first played it. The ping is defined but controlled. The wash is described as "dry". It's short, but the release is not just in terms of loudness. Onomatopoeiatically, it closes down like "aaaaooooouuuu". Also, it is a quiet cymbal, just right for small ensemble work. 

Earlier this year, I was invited to play drums for the UP Cherubim and Seraphim's 2nd sem closing concert. I decided to use my mini frankenkit. Between these two rides, I chose the flat because it was quieter, and would not compete with the children's voices. Read more about it here. 

I'm very happy with these two, as they are perfect for my mini frankenkit. In my next installment, I'll write about the rest of the cymbals I acquired for this kit.