Splash cymbal
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In a drum kit, splash cymbals are the smallest accent cymbals. Splash cymbals and china cymbals are the main types of effects cymbals.
The most common sized splash has a diameter of 10", followed by 8". Most splash cymbals are in the size range of 6" to 13", but some splash cymbals are as small as 4".
Some makers have produced cymbals described as splash up to 22", but a splash of 14" or more is more often described as a crash cymbal.
Splash cymbals include:
The original and traditional splash, like many of the cymbal types in a drum kit, was invented and named by Gene Krupa in collaboration with the Avedis Zildjian Company.
Widely used in the jazz music of the 1920s and 30s, this traditional splash cymbal was not seen for many years in mainstream music until Stewart Copeland playing in The Police brought it back to prominence. Heavier splash cymbals, more suited to this style of drumming, were soon available.
A third phase in the development of splash cymbals occurred when china splash cymbals became popular. These added a new dimension to drumming in their own right, and also led to the development of cymbal stacks.
Several other types that are now regarded as splash cymbals, such as bell and salsa cymbals, have more quietly been added to the kits of leading drummers and to the catalogues of major cymbal manufacturers over the years. Today much of the color of an extended drum kit is provided by the wide variety of splash cymbals available.
Traditional splash cymbals, as first popularized by Gene Krupa, are 8"-12" in size and medium in weight with little or no taper and therefore a thick rim for their size.
The name "splash" gives quite an idea as to how this cymbal sounds, the word rhyming with crash but a literal splash (in water) being very small. The normal function of a splash cymbal is to provide a short, often highly syncopated accent. For their size, they are hit relatively hard to produce a quick attack and decay. They tend to have little taper in order to provide the necessary strength for this, the bell being approximately the same thickness as the rim, resulting in limited richness of tone.
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