ABOVE: Russell Lundgren makes cymbals the old-fashioned way: hammering the bronze discs by hand.
Specialized hammers and old-school metalworking gear share the space with a modified lathe, raw bronze disks and anvil blocks mounted in tree trunks. Listening to the sound of the workshop reveals its purpose. "You hear that sustain, that ring-out?" Lundgren asks, striking a freshly minted eighteen-inch crash cymbal with a drumstick. "That's from the hammering technique I used when making it."
As a professional drummer who performs regularly, Lundgren's always been obsessed with sound. He founded Big Island Cymbals in 2022 after his search for sonic perfection led to an artisanal cymbal maker in Pennsylvania. At first Lundgren was just looking to purchase a handcrafted ride cymbal (typically the largest cymbal in a drum set, used to keep time), but it turned out the maker would soon be conducting the first-ever cymbal-making class offered in the United States. Lundgren had to attend. "I took a five-day in-person class," Lundgren says, "and it was one of the coolest things I've ever done in my life."
“The big companies are pumping out cymbals like cookies,” he says. “But this is an art form, and I’m trying to develop new sounds.”
"We import authentic B-20 bronze alloy from Turkey," Lundgren explains, walking through the process of transforming unfinished flat metal discs into high-quality musical instruments. "It's all about hand-hammering to get the curvature and tone just right." Although top manufacturers offer cymbals labeled "hand-hammered," most of the hammering is actually done by machines following computerized patterns. But there's a trend toward more musicians seeking bespoke products. "We make cymbals the old way, like they did in the '60s," Lundgren says. While he might mean the 1960s, it's also true of the 1660s. Leading cymbal manufacturer Zildjian, founded in 1623 during the Ottoman Empire, has been operating—and run by the same family—for more than four hundred years. Lundgren's dream is to someday have his own foundry to make and melt the bronze alloy himself.
Big Island Cymbals might be an upstart compared with the four-hundred-year-old gorilla in the market, but their products speak or, well, sound for themselves. The hi-hats are crisp, the ride cymbals warm and earthy with gorgeous sustain. Crash and splash cymbals exemplify the onomatopoeia of their names. The products look impressive, too, with laser-etched logos and some with artful engravings. Lundgren also makes a special line of naturally oxidized cymbals with Hawaiian salt-air patina. "I call this the Ocean Spray Series," he says. "The patina creates a dryness in the cymbal that cuts down the wash and overtones. I like to incorporate nature into the process."
