Dream Bliss Hihats, Crash and Ride

Disclaimer:

I'm a terrible reviewer. I wrote this a long time ago, and conveniently forgot to take photos of my new cymbals. Well... to appease everybody, I've attached some stock photos here. 

14" Dream Bliss Hihats

Top hats: Light

Bottom hats: Medium

The first thing that came to mind when I played these hats was that they sounded almost identical to a pair of 14" K Lights that I owned many years ago. The delicate "chick" sound when played with my left foot, the light and slightly-sloshy sound when played with my sticks, and the controlled slosh when played fully open. The hihats excel as a pair of hats that do not cut through the mix too much. Stick definition is great - playing 32nds on it with the tip of the stick gives a very nice, delicate and organic sounding definition. One of my favourite sounds would be playing it with the shaft of my sticks for songs like "Jason Mraz - Lazy Song". The lightness of the hats allow it to slosh just a tiny bit, not so much that it overpowers, but just enough to make its presence felt. 

The hats held up perfectly well for louder stuff like Summer of 69 by Bryan Adams, Somebody Told Me by the Killers, but were not able to cut through the way I would have liked it for the heavier stuff like Metallica and Nirvana. Then again, one cannot have the best of both worlds, and a pair of hihats like this were definitely not designed to be rock/metal hats! 

19" Dream Vintage Bliss Crash/Ride

This crash/ride will most definitely NOT be able to serve as a ride. The cymbal is so light and so thin that I can bend it with my bare hands! The bell is very, very low profile, and does not provide much projection. The lovely thing about this crash is how trashy it is. The size of this crash provides a fundamentally darker tone, yet the lightness of this crash provides some kind of explosive attack that you'd expect from say.. a 17" crash. 

What I do with this crash is to place a Promark Sizzler on it, mount it lower and use it as sizzle crash. I roll on it, crash ride on it and crash it without any fear that I'll overpower my band mates. This is [b]not[/b] something you'd use for a metal or hard rock band. This is also [b]not[/b] something you'd use as a main crash, as the attack is not as fast as a 17" or 18" crash. This is a great auxilliary or secondary crash, or even as an effects crash, and I do highly recommend it.

22" Dream Bliss Ride

The very first thing you'd notice about this ride is the umbrella-shaped profile, very similar to the 70s A Zildjian rides. The fundamental tone of the ride is lower and woody, probably due to the size at 22". Playing it with a pair of light sticks (and some control!) gives a very nice, woody and organic sound. The bell is medium sized, and doesn't cut through the mix as well as something more "rock". I laid into this ride with a pair of Vater 5B Nudes, and I was totally blown away by the sound. This ride opens up sufficiently to cover up the empty spaces because of the wash, yet does not fight for the spot light. The "roar" of the cymbal and the wash sits somewhere within the medium-frequencies of the entire band mix, and does not come across as being too obnoxious or jarring. The bell, as I mentioned earlier on, is skewed more towards a darker fundamental tone, thus "ensuring" that it doesn't cut through as well as my 22" Artisan Medium. 

One thing to note about Dream Cymbals is that every single cymbal is hand-made and thus, different. You have to head down to Marvin's shop and hand pick your cymbals individually. Make an appointment with Marvin, head on down and try all the cymbals there before making a purchase. Trust me, you will NOT find anything more value for money, or anything that sounds remotely similar to these cymbals anywhere. 

The lines of Dream Cymbals available are:

1. Dream Bliss 

2. Vintage Bliss

3. Contact

4. Dark Matter (check out the Moon rides.. those aren't my cup of tea, but they're unique indeed!)

Marvin's shop (Music Gear Pte. Ltd. http://www.facebook.com/pages/MGX/137603549710780 ) can be located at:

5 Coleman Street #B1-34 Excelsior Shopping Centre, Singapore, Singapore 179805

6338 2695

M-S 12:00 - 19:00

Apart from Dream Cymbals, Marvin stocks up on the following brands too:

1. Vic Firth Sticks

2. Canopus Drums and Snares

3. Aquarian Drumheads

4. GonBops Percussions

5. Typhoon Percussions

6. Yamaha Drums and Accessories