considering that cymbals are a relatively costly investment for every drummer, the question how to clean them correctly seems to be a never-ending issue. some drummers actually prefer to not clean them at all, which is cool too. a few days ago however i was talking to a drummer on facebook who told me that he had bought a byzance jazz ride. he also told me that he cleaned it with a usual polish for all metals and that the result was not what he had expected: unfortunately, black stains remained on the surface which made the cymbal look dirtier than before.

once again, cymbals are a costly investment. therefore we only recommend using our official cymbal cleaner. it's made for all regular and brilliant finish cymbals. simply spray on the surface and wipe it off. our cymbal polish is made for restoring the shiny finish on our brilliant series cymbals (mb20, byzance brilliant, soundcaster fusion, soundcaster custom, mb10, candela).

i told the customer who used the usual polish to try our cymbal cleaner in order to get rid of the black stains. whether or not it worked i don't know. i hope that he didnt accidently ruin his cymbal by using the wrong polish and that he will be able to enjoy the sound of his jazz ride for many years.

- norbert

here is something i would like to share in case you find yourself in a similar situation. a few days ago we got this email from a customer:

Hi, I have recently purchased the Benny Greb Sand Ride. Since it was the floor model it had been touched many times and came with many finger prints embedded in the finish. Since this new sand blasted fnish is fairly new im uncertain on how to clean/maintain this beautiful finish. Could you guys help me out with ways on how to clean the cymbal? Would just an ordinary wet rag ruin the sand blasted finish?

yes it would. if you used something like this or any other cymbal cleaner and the sand ride, the sand blasted finish would definetely change and won't keep its original appearance. the sand ride has been developed with a pre-aged vintage look in mind. it's intended that the look of the cymbal keeps noticeably changing over time. being able to restore the cymbal's original appearance is not what we had in mind when we developed it. the sand ride is a very unique cymbal and every single one has its own character in look and especially in sound.

i have been using the sand ride in my set-up now since about 6 months. every time i play i fall in love with it more and more. the look, sound, and feel of that cymbals definetely keeps changing. it feels like it changes to where it becomes a part of my personality that comes out in my playing. it keeps shaping its character, just like the drummer keeps shaping his own individuality as a musician. to me it seems like my playing and the sand ride have merged to one unity. i have never felt that with any other cymbal i ever played before. that's my personal experience with the sand ride. maybe some of you who also use it can relate to it as well :-)

- norbert

about a year ago i was in moscow preparing our 2009 meinl drum festival. while i was there i attended an event which was called monday drummer. it takes place in a club in moscow every monday night and is hosted by our russian artist igor javad zade. it basically is a casual gathering of drum enthusiasts. javad performs at the event either as a solo artist, or with other musicians. later on, visitors have the chance to sit in with him and play as well. all in all it's a great idea and something which i have never heard about from any other city in the world. monday drummer has become a constant and firmly established event in moscow's drum community. one recent monday drummer event has been dedicated to female drummers only and was called women's day. 13 girl drummers performed at the event with the youngest one being only 7 years old. here are some photos of the event. i am proud that meinl cymbals, together with our russian distributor o.k. & co., are official sponsors of such a great event.

why does an event like monday drummer has to be limited to moscow only? maybe some of you who read this will become inspired now to start a similar event anywhere else in world. keep the drum community alive and strong!

- norbert

ps: photos by leonid selemenev