The former cymbal player from the Boston Metropolitan Symphony Orchestra playing a pair of 20" Constantinople K Zildjian cymbals bearing the Constantinople K. type zero trademark. That would mean that the date of manufacture for these would be from anywhere from 1865 to about 1912.
A pair of cymbals like these today would be essentially priceless. But certainly $10,000 or more would not be out of the question.
Your mission, should you decide to accept it, is to locate these cymbals, obtain a soundfile, and share it with us on the Forum.... This message will self-destruct in hmmmm.... an undetermined length of time. Good luck, Drumaholic!!!... It would be great to hear them, if only through a soundfile... thanks for the post!!
Easy
Just listen to any older Boston Symphony recording. Any CD with Serge Koussevitsky or Charles Munch conducting will have that wonderful old K sound.
You also can't go wrong with any Philadelphia recording. Philly still uses the same cymbals (old Ks) that they've used since the 40's - in fact those are the ONLY cymbals they use.
Those cymbals in the picture don't seem to be 20" though. They seem to be much closer to 16" or 17" which was a far more common size.
Still . . . I'd love to have that pair. Boston doesn't use old Ks anymore so that means those cymbals are floating around somewhere. Hmmmmm . . . .
Drumaholic,
Fantastic picture! What is the date on this? Is there any caption on it? Frank Epstein has been here since 1968. His predecessor Tommy Thompson was here for 10 or 15 years before that. And the guy in your picture doesn't look anything like either of them! The molding in the background doesn't look like Symphony Hall either...
Tommy then and Frank now have always favored the A Zildjians. We still have some of those old As around (at least pre-1968) although it's mostly the more modern Classic Orchestral cymbals in play these days.
Jeremy is right on in that the K sound is more prevalent in Philly - more attack, darker / trashier character, and a quicker decay to the cymbal sounds in general.
-Lee
Unfortunately I don't have any caption for this. But I'm pretty sure that this was taken in the 1940's. And that cymbal player in this photo is a guy named Bob Keisow.
Drumaholic and company,
I think I figured this one out. Bob Keisow was in the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra (NY, NY). My guess is that the picture is taken from Life Magazine in October, 1944. Is this where you found it? Ebay is a beautiful thing! Cool Dude
Someone should email Duncan Patton or Greg Zuber. Who knows, they might still have these plates sitting around!
-Lee
Drumaholic and company,I think I figured this one out. Bob Keisow was in the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra (NY, NY). My guess is that the picture is taken from Life Magazine in October, 1944. Is this where you found it? Ebay is a beautiful thing! Cool DudeSomeone should email Duncan Patton or Greg Zuber. Who knows, they might still have these plates sitting around! -Lee
Actually no. The scan was sent to me by a friend.
Here playing an 18" Constantinople suspended:
[img]http://photos.imageevent.com/drumaholic/ebaycymbals1/websize/kiesow4.jpg[/img]
Here he's playing the bass drum along with what looks to me like a pair of 18's.
And just look at the profile of the bell on that 18" suspended. Where it first begins at the body of the cymbal it appears like it goes nearly straight up.
[img]http://photos.imageevent.com/drumaholic/ebaycymbals1/kiesow2.jpg[/img]
