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In western music, a China cymbal (or Chinese cymbal) is a distinct type of cymbal designed to produce a bright, crisp, and explosive tone that has brought it the nickname trash cymbal. The name "China cymbal" comes from its shape, which is similar to that of the Chinese Bo. Such cymbals are most frequently mounted upside down on cymbal stands, allowing for them to be more easily struck and for a better sound.
China-type cymbals are common in various kinds of rock music, particularly heavy metal and thrash metal. They are also frequently used in jazz fusion, Latin music, and Brazilian music, especially in arrangements with elaborate drum solos. In Latin and some other music styles, China cymbals are usually played in conjunction with other percussion instruments instead of a drum kit, such as timbales, , or the surdo. China cymbals may also be used for conventional jazz, often played with mallets or Drum stick to achieve a softer sound resembling that of a "dark crash" cymbal.
Occasionally these cymbals are featured in orchestral works; examples using a suspended cymbal include Olivier Messiaen's Turangalîla-Symphonie and Edgard Varèse's Ionisation.
Cymbals are classified into two or three tonal families: Turkish; Chinese; and some would say European, although others would include the European family of tones as a development of the Turkish sounds. The best Turkish (and European) cymbals have a rich, swelling tone that some describe as "sweet". To western ears, the best china types have an abrasive, cutting sound that is described by western drummers as "trashy".
The families do to some extent overlap. Notably, pang cymbal and swish cymbal cymbals have some characteristics of china types, and some characteristics of traditional Turkish cymbals. On the other hand, the Sabian rocktagon cymbals, and some Ufip models, are considered china types while having none of the physical characteristics of the normal china type, while the Paiste crystal crash is considered a European cymbal despite its squarish bell.
Cymbal making in China is claimed to predate the development of the art anywhere else in the world. The most universally acclaimed cymbal alloys, bell bronze, appears to have been independently developed in China. Today in China a wide range of cymbals are manufactured of both traditional and imported patterns. Traditional Chinese types with distinctive names and sounds include chung, jing, and water cymbals, as well as many other types. In Western music these are all referred to as china type cymbals.
China type cymbals are available in a wide range of sizes from down to , most types singly but some in clash cymbals. Those of or smaller are normally referred to in Western music as china splash cymbals. When used in a drum kit, they are regarded as and are used to give colour and variety.
In a drum kit, china-type cymbals can be mounted either with the bell facing upward (similar to other cymbals) as well as with the bell facing downward. When mounted bell-down, the upturned rim becomes a downturned rim, allowing a normal stick technique to be used for both ride and crash patterns. This assumes that the bell is formed in the typical direction; some china type cymbals (e.g., the Paiste 2002 Novo china) have an inverted bell and an upturned rim, and so must be mounted bell up to achieve this downwards rim orientation.
Sabian refers to both their nova Chinese models as mini Chinese.
For example, in modern metal music, players generally tend to play using the shoulder of the stick rather than the tip for a more "trashy" sound. In other genres, such as jazz (which can use less hammered cymbals for a lighter and less distorted effect), the drummer often plays with the tip for more of a "sizzle" sound.
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