I want to start keeping a record of something I've only ever talked about out loud, usually while hammering a bell or driving home from my 9-5 to my ever so patient wife. This week I put the first real marker in the ground - I purchased the domain britishcymbals.co.uk!
There's nothing there yet. No site, no logo, no real plan I'm ready to commit to. This blog post is just getting the idea out of my head (a head full of half-formed versions of the same idea) and written down so I can watch it change over time rather than pretending I've already worked it out.
Why this exists at all…. The blog exists because the internet says it's good for my reach and SEO - so here we are!
The UK has a tiny handful of people who actually hand-make cymbals. I'm one of maybe 3/4. That's a strange thing to acknowledge and we're not really competitors in any normal sense, there's barely a "market" between us. What there is, is a craft that almost nobody in this country knows still exists here, apart from the hardcores in the drumming world. I'll admit I was blinded by the "big boys" throughout my drumming life now something in me wants to give that a home.
I've briefly spoken to Dave Collingwood, who taught me most of what I know about this trade and that conversation is part of why I need to think about this out loud rather than just in my head. And he joked about stealing the domain etc. and in turn forcing my hand to do something about it!
So what are my options?
Well, I don't have one plan. I have just a few ideas:
• A free directory. No membership fee, just a place where UK cymbal makers can be found. Simple, low-effort — but honestly it's the option I like least of the ones on the table. But, could be a starting point…
• A product range under The Ashmore Cymbal Co. itself. Rather than a separate entity, a British-focused line that lives inside what I already have. Similar to my Miras range - it will have its own identity!
• A side company with its own remit. Related to Ashmore, but its own thing — its own identity, not just a category on my site. I have seen this done with other cymbal makers where there face is on one social and then minutes later in another…
Right now I am leaning towards one of the final two over the free directory. But that's today's answer, not a final one.
There is also a bigger version of this… British Cymbals doesn't have to stop at a just a name, a directory, or a product range, It could become the source of the metal itself. Not just British-made but British bronze also. I understand that Cornwalls tin industry is seeing serious government backed investment to bring production back. Copper on the other hand, Wales' copper industry hasn't been active for a very long time and maybe I'll have to reach out to the commonwealth for this one... The nitty gritty - I understand that Industrial rollers alone run to around £400k and then we add the melting, pouring, and cooling equipment etc. needed to make the metal in the first place.
It's a decade away, not a this-year plan. But it's the direction that matters most to me, and it deserves a place in this record.
The thing prolonging my decisions.
I'm not sure it's my place to do this, yet. I'm still a relatively new cymbalsmith compared to people like Dave as he has been doing this for years. Setting myself up as any kind of figurehead (even with good intentions) for British cymbal making could easily look brash. Like I am trying to stand above people who have not only helped me but earned far more right to that position than I have. That's not a small worry, I don't want to just ignore it and say "fuck it". It's part of the record too.
There is also a more practical concern, the name! "British" cymbal anything sits close to the existing British Drum Co. and I don't want confusion with an established name that isn't mine to confuse potential buyers, I may be bald but I'm no Al Murray.
What's already out there?
Worth noting that there is already talk of a Cymbalsmith Guild on its way existing as a global body for the trade, but as far as I know, nothing has actually happened with it yet. It's not running. So whatever this becomes, it isn't replacing something active, but I also don't want to build something that just gets in that project's way once it does exist, as I would do everything I can to join that set up.
So, what have I learnt…
Nothing yet. Three years on the britishcymbals.co.uk, no site, several directions and a genuine question mark over whether I'm the right person to be doing this at all. I would rather post that than a tidy version that isn't true yet. Let's see if part 2 has more to say...
Written by Ryan Ashmore, Cymbalsmith and founder of the Ashmore Cymbal Co. AKA Ashmore Cymbals, one of a few cymbalsmiths in the UK.
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