How the swish cymbal makes its sound
In the Hornbostel–Sachs system, which classifies instruments by how they produce sound, the swish cymbal belongs to the struck idiophones: the body is struck directly – bells, gongs, xylophones and cymbals.
More broadly it is one of the idiophones, where the solid body of the instrument itself vibrates, without strings or a stretched membrane.
Press play above and watch the spectrum: the evenly spaced peaks are harmonics, and their relative strength is what gives the instrument its character.
From Wikipedia
The swish cymbal and the pang cymbal are exotic ride cymbals originally developed and named as part of the collaboration between Gene Krupa and the Avedis Zildjian Company. The current Zildjian Swish Knocker is a redesign of their original swish, with more rivets, deeper bow and shallower bell, based on a cymbal made famous by Mel Lewis, who coined the name knocker.
Originally a Zildjian exclusive, both swish and pang cymbals disappeared from their catalog for a time but have reappeared. Other makers have also offered explicit swish and pang designs from time to time. Typical sizes are 16" to 22" for the swish, and 16" to 20" for the pang.
Other struck idiophones
Frequently asked questions
What does a swish cymbal sound like?
As one of the struck idiophones, its sound comes from the way the body is struck directly.
What type of instrument is the swish cymbal?
It is classified as struck idiophones (Hornbostel–Sachs 111.242.12+112.12).
Sources & credits
- Wikidata Q7658823 – CC0
- Wikipedia: Swish cymbal – CC BY-SA 4.0
- Image by Bikinibomb at English Wikipedia – Public domain