Found a vid on subject…
https://youtu.be/AS3izRsM7eY

Why do people always lean towards making things more complicated makes them better?

Yes... This ^^^

What they are essentially talking about is creating conditions in which the bronze begins to tarnish as a protective method against more destructive corrosion. The bronze actually adds layer of material on its surface (commonly called 'tarnish'), while interior of bronze remains intact. This self-protection/stabilizing process thus counteracts the oxidation/corrosive process. Aluminum, for example, is another metal that creates a thin protective layer (aluminum oxide) to prevent deep corrosion. The additional surface material (tarnish) may/can sonically affect the timbre produced by the cymbal.

I'd argue that the downside of simply burying bronze in dirt is that you can't effectively control all the variables that well to produce repeatable/sustainable results in a reasonable period. The variables most important to manipulate in artificially 'aging' (i.e. control corrosion) bronze would be: oxygen; chloride (salt); moisture (water); and time. All of which of course could be better controlled via a chemical solution rather than some dirt pit 'out back behind the factory.'

I'm not completely familiar with Sabian's finishing treatments, but I'd be curious to know if those vault cymbals were 'nekid' or had a shot of clear coat / wax before being buried?

Originally Posted by vintagemore2000

Dan hello ole friend and Brian. I did a thread on the cymbals I buried. I used a brilliant finish Sabian and some Zildjian K's that didn't sound all that great, Left it in the ground for three months, It did indeed change the color and the sound of the cymbal, I was using it the Sabian at a gig and a drummer asked if I'd sale the cymbal he loved the sound of it, I told hime what had been done to it. He said I don't care if went thru a war. He now owns it and still going strong.

vintagemore2000!
You certainly know a hell of a lot more about cymbals than most on our forum, including me of course! I guess there is indeed something to the burying concept. I take your observations to heart and will now accept the theory as having merits! Thank you for posting, sir.
Brian

I had heard that when you bury a cymbal, it mellows out the sound because of the constant pressure on it. Supposedly, you can get the same result by doing the old “loud cymbal roll for an hour” technique.

Look who's back to stir the pot.....

I'm chuckling because I'm thinking about the average, gigging drummer playing a wedding or something...people are coming up to the band and giving the drummer compliments because of the cymbal sound...lol...

Or, how about the drummer playing at a loud nightclub on a Saturday night and suddenly the crowd stops dancing, goes silent and gathers around the stage, mesmerized by the subtle beauty of the recently unearthed hi-hat cymbals.

Should patent a cymbal-digging shovel O lugs. Make it out of rubber or something and hit shark tank. Hahaha

Ok I'm the weird one here. If my cymbal doesn't sound good IL just buy a new one. No patience to wait two years and take a chance on forgetting I have an expensive cymbal buried in the back yard. But if you guys are having fun doing that then we'll, have fun.

Originally Posted by O-Lugs

I would think that any change would be related to the chemicals in the soil and the alloy of the cymbal. Some soils are slightly acidic and some are basic and some are neutral. I used to get some pretty nasty "patina" on some of my older Zildjians from just touching them. Other cymbals never developed more than a fingerprint. Go figure.

I know that cymbal makers "rest" newly-made cymbals for a period of time. I have no idea why they do it or what it does....something about the molecules aligning or something...

In the machining world there is something called stress relieving. It is a process of heating a part to a predetermined temp and then letting it cool slowly. This helps to stabilize the part and remove a lot of the internal stressed introduced during the entire manufacturing process. I don't think thin any cymbal makers do this but letting them "rest" might be done for the same reason.


Since cymbals are cast, heated, rolled, stamped or hammered into shape, then hammered some more, pressed again and lathed, with perhaps a little more hammering on some models, I'm sure there are a lot of internal stresses on a cymbal. Actutal stress relieving probably would relieve that stress, but would also affect the sound, probably not for the better.