From time to time I've mentioned Sabian's Leopard range of cymbals in my dispatches. They have that characteristic unlathed finish like Earth but they embellish them further with a series of hammer blows. This marks the surface and gives a little more shimmer to the overall sound and allows more sustain. Leopards are rolled from an 80% copper, 20% tin ingot but aren't put onto a lathe and pared. Thus they have no tone grooves. All this makes for a thicker sounding, Rock-type cymbal with improved longevity. In other words they're made to take a hammering!

Anyway, the reason for this article is that a whole range of Leopards are being unleashed from Sabian's Canadian factory. They now have hi hats, crashes and Chinese instruments to complement their rides, which we commented upon last year. I tested them in the studio alongside my normal cymbals and with one exception, the Leopards are by far the most strident I've ever played. They're all heavy-weighted and with a slightly shallower profile with a deeper than usual overall sound.

The hi hats were exceptionally heavy so had a little more ding than usual but really cut. The 18" Chinese had an awful lot of gong for my taste, even in the reverse position. However, this would undoubtedly contribute to its longevity. I would say the 12" splash was my favourite; it too has a shallow profile with a huge bell; it works perfectly as a short crash, but I preferred it playing on the bell. It was really cutting and would be ideal for Latin-type music.

Leopard crash cymbals are also very loud but they're deeper-toned than usual. This means that they wouldn't be quite so audible in the band. However, you do know when you've hit them! I was surprised by the 20" Ride: because of its construction it has a some-what deep and mellow tone which I feel would be well suited for more Jazzy applications. There was no real blur at high speed and dynamically all the beats were distinct.

There was also one of Sabian's AA series Chinese cymbals with my test set. It was extremely fast with a very, very sharp sound. It doesn't have too much dirt in its middle frequencies, but otherwise it's quite the cleanest oriental cymbal I've heard.

All my test cymbals were in a Sabian case which resembled closely one made by Care 4. (Those of you with total recall will no doubt remember that I reviewed one of these quite some time ago.) The case itself is very simply made from two identical pieces of fibreglass to form a top and bottom. A piece of specially shaped rubber is fitted to one raw edge while another rebated piece is fitted to the other. The two strips press lovingly against each other and form a water-tight seal. Four catches locktop to bottom. The bottom of the case is flattened so it won't roll away and rubber feet are fitted to this section and to the actual bottom. Both sections of the case are fitted with a plastic handle and I found this to be just a little bit awkward. Mind you, it is safer like this. The valuable cymbals inside are kept safe by a spigot attached to one side and a tube attached to the other. Simply place your instruments over the tube then immobilise them by introducing the rod/spigot into it. On my sample the edges of the tube were a bit too sharp and could damage your cymbals.

The Leopard range of cymbals from Sabian marks a return to the signature painted inside the bell which used to be so much a feature of genuine Turkish 'K' cymbals. It was invariably put there by a guy called Kerope Zildjian who is, of course, a direct descendant of the original cymbalsmiths. He is now in Canada and, with his son, is responsible for hand-hammering the Leopards' and Sabian's HH cymbals. The inscription is actually not his signature at all it's simply the Turkish words for hand-hammered. A lot of people don't know this!