Welcome - October 1, 2008
“Why cymbals?”
This is a question I have been asked many times. “Why cymbals?” I have never been able to adequately answer this question, least of all to myself. And trust me, in the many moments of frustration I have experienced with the instrument, I’ve certainly inquired.
“Why” is defined in the dictionary as an adverb used to seek reason, purpose, or cause. A means for people who misunderstand to find understanding. But when the question can’t be answered clearly, then the misunderstanding lingers. From the misunderstanding, there springs an even more pronounced concept of mystery.
The question of “why” has come from many different people. It has come from my peers I marched with who couldn’t understand why I put up with the painful blisters and swelling and bruising my cymbals were inflicting upon my body. It has come from fellow percussionists who couldn’t understand why I chose to further my abilities on an instrument that was, in their eyes, inferior to their own. It has come from people I know who are not involved in the marching activity who could not understand why I was giving up my summers and weekends, not to mention thousands of dollars, to do something they had never even heard of.
The perfect answer never came to me, and I found myself always using a stock response which usually included the phrase, “Well, it’s difficult to explain.” As a college student pursuing a degree in English, I have been regularly acquainted with the insufficiency of words when trying to convey a reason, purpose, or cause. When I started teaching cymbals, I was asked by yet another group of people trying to understand my affinity for the instrument–my students, who they themselves were now being asked by their peers. It was then that I began placing serious weight upon finding the answer, not least of all for myself.
That is how this website was born. This website was created in an attempt to answer the question of “Why cymbals?” On this website, you will find interviews with players, teachers, and designers. You will find stories of great cymbal lines from the past and present and editorials on different cymbal-related aspects of the marching activity. You will find pictures, video, and other media, as well as a wealth of valuable resources for people who seek to understand the playing of cymbals.
When considering the creation of a website based entirely on playing cymbals, I knew that I would once again be confronted with the question, “Why cymbals?” While this website will hopefully one day provide a satisfactory answer to this question, for now the best I can come up with is “Why not cymbals?” In his preface to The Cymbal Book, Hugo Pinksterboer wrote the following:
“During the years I spent working on this project, I was repeatedly asked if it were really possible to devote an entire book to the subject of cymbals. The answer, obviously, is yes. The result ended up being a lot bigger than I had dared think.”
Similarly, when considering this project I found myself asking whether it would actually be possible to dedicate an entire website to the subject of playing cymbals. I started writing down ideas for content, and when I was able to get three pages of topic ideas in around an hour I knew that coming up with substance to fill the pages wouldn’t be a problem. Coming up with a concise and clear mission for the website, on the other hand, proved to be much more difficult.
The official mission statement for this website says that “the mission of cymbalscene.org is to provide an outlet of relevant news and historical perspectives related to the world of marching cymbals as a way to raise awareness, recognize the achievements of the players and educators, and provide informational tools for those who seek them.”
It is my very great pleasure to welcome you to cymbalscene.org, and I hope that you will check back frequently, as we will be posting new content often and continue to add features which will enhance and improve the website. Perhaps more than anything else, it is my hope that this website will become a place where people who enjoy this great, challenging, and admittedly obscure art form can gather to discuss new ideas, old ideas, and share their own answers to the question, “Why cymbals?”
Again, welcome to cymbalscene.org!
Jack Borland
Co-Founder