Mattie Foulds Cymbals Start Up!!

Exciting times!! I would like you to join me on a new venture/adventure!

As you all know, I have been making music and making records my entire adult life. I’m about to turn 52, so since my High School days, that’s 36 years!! Crazy right… and believe me, I will never stop doing that, I can’t, it seems. But there is something seriously drawing me to another creative field… Cymbal Making!

Most drummers buy their cymbals from very large companies, where the cymbals are bulk manufactured. Please don’t get me wrong, these companies have hundreds of years of tradition and artistry. But for the last couple of decades, a handful of independent cymbal makers around the world have started joining in. They are making one of a kind, hand made, artist driven instruments to the highest quality. I want to join them. There are currently only three makers in the UK, and NONE in Scotland, so I would really be the only game in town here at home. Which puts me in a unique situation.

“Making Cymbals!!!” you say… “that’s crazy… what do you even do???” Well… there is a very clever and kind man named Dave Collingwood (www.collingwoodcymbals.com) that is teaching quite a few of the newer makers. People are coming from all over the world to learn from him, but for me he is only a six hour drive away, in Bristol. He is keen to help me and guide me through the first year of my journey. I feel very lucky about that and couldn’t imagine starting a journey like this without someone like him helping me.

The basic process is you order a cymbal “blank” from a forge, mostly from Turkey, where cymbals were invented. They have all the materials to deliver the highest quality metal pre-cut to size and weight that you specify. You then take that hunk of metal and turn it into a musical instrument. Just like a slack guitar string makes no note, a blank cymbal makes a very dull sound. Adding tension to the metal, like tuning a guitar string, adds tone to the cymbal. Tension to the metal is achieved by hammering and lathing. It is of course a lot more complicated than that, but in a nutshell that is the process. It is also highly creative! The type of hammering, bell size, shape, profile, lathing and patinas transforms this seemingly basic process into actual art! If you’d like to see the process, and have an hour to spend, check out this video of one cymbal being made in a small factory in Turkey. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uiDrypPeb8k

Making cymbals from scratch is one thing, but there is a whole other arm to this business… modification and repair! Every drummer is like me, they have a pile of old cymbals that rarely get used. Some of the reasons are that they have changed their taste and don’t like the sound of the cymbal anymore, I can change that! Another reason is there may be cracks from heavy use and the sound just isn’t the same anymore… I can fix that too! This is also a highly creative process. Doing mods and repairs will be a great way for me to learn and practise the craft. I’m told by other makers this aspect of the business will be my “bread and butter” especially as there is no one else in my area doing it. Which is also exciting.

What do I need money for?

Learning… It will cost about £2000 to get the instruction and support I need.

Setting up my workshop… There are specific tools I need to do the jobs. Some I can buy, others I need to make. A rough estimate to build and buy the tools I need is £5000. I have a workshop space ready and waiting for me on a friend's farm near my house. It’s a perfect location to be creative and productive.

Building a website… This will be my main point of sale. So spending time creating the perfect site will be crucial.

I know times have never been more tough, believe me. Since the streaming culture and systemic devaluation of music started over ten years ago and the way people are consuming music now, it is getting harder for me to make a consistent income from my chosen field. But it’s really all I know how to do, and it seems I’m not very employable at this stage in my life… at least not in something I feel anything for. I’ve also never had a ‘job’ my entire adult life, so working for myself seems to be for me. I know others are thriving in this current music climate, but not me… I don’t know why that is, but it is, so I need to add another stream to my income. It feels right that it is something creative. My favourite thing is making things. It’s always been music to this point, but now I’d like to make some things that live in the physical world. Things that can help inspire musical creation and help raise the artistic level of its user!

So, if you’ve gotten this far, can I ask for help? This bit is hard… I’m not very good at asking for help… I would really love to start this journey without a serious debt load. So any contribution would be extremely appreciated! You can either simply make a donation or if you're interested in owning or gifting a cymbal to someone you should contact me on here and we'll talk about what you want and come up with a price.

With your help I can build a future full of doing things I love… record making, live sound and tour managing and now cymbal making.

mx