Turkish cymbal makers Istanbul Agop made the entire XIST-line modular. Or, as we drummers like to say: stackable. While each cymbal has its own unique identity, and Istanbul Agop's new 2020 cymbals are due for another article soon, let's focus first on what can be done with these cymbal series.
Cymbal Modularity For many drummers, combining cymbals is almost as big as a goal as drumming itself to create their own sounds and grooves. Stacking cymbals is almost as old as cymbals themselves, but it is getting incredibly popular the past years. Virtually every brand is marketing sets with that one unique stack sound effect. All good, because Meinl's Benny Greb stack also sounds great in Camille Bigeault her videos.
Great stacks can also be made with any cymbal you have in your collection, even if they're broken. Istanbul Agop did something different: they made an entire line of stackable cymbals in the same sound realm.
In our coverage on Trevor Lawrence Jr's extended Clap Stack this year, you could already see how Istanbul Agop are a team of sound wizards with cymbals on their own, being recorded on Grammy winning albums. At Istanbul Agop they made an art of cymbal sound effects and based the whole XIST line on its stacking possibilities.
Watch how Burak Ersöz demos a few of the combinations possible with all cymbal sizes. From 13" or 17" hihats to rides or crashes, each combination gives a completely different sound effect to use in whatever situation you see fit.
