Testing, testing 1, 2, 3 ... are we rolling?? Hello folks, and welcome to my first blog for Istanbul Mehmet Cymbals ... I'd like to take this opportunity to introduce myself and let you all know what I'll be blogging about! Growing up in North East England, I was raised on a healthy if somewhat diverse diet of Blues, Jazz, Bob Dylan, The Beatles, Frank Zappa and Chuck Berry via my Dad's record collection ... That said, it was seeing the marching drummers from a visitng Scottish Pipe band to my hometown of Billingham when I was 3 or 4 years old that got me started on the lifelong obsession with all things drums!  A couple of years later, my destiny was to be confirmed when I heard Ginger Baker on a beat up cassette copy of The Best of Cream (more of which later) ... My Dad took to me to the local music shop and I left with a pair of warped sticks, a tambourine and a practice pad ... the rest as they say, is history! It's been an ever changing, always interesting and incredibly exciting journey since, taking me all over the world and giving me the opportunity to play with some of the finest musicians around; from The Cleveland Philharmonic Orchestra to Rhythm & Blues Originators Jimmy Thomas & Lazy Lester, from 1950's Doo-Wop stars The Teenagers to Rock Guitar Royalty Bernie Marsden, from the easy listening pop of Tony Christie to the hard hitting chicago blues of Angela Brown ... I wouldn't have it any other way! These days, I specialise in playing Roots & Blues music and this will be the focus of my blog contributions here - so let's get started with a run down of which cymbals I play ... and why! I mentioned Ginger Baker earlier - one of the things that really got me when I heard those songs for the first time was the SOUND of Gingers drums and Cymbals ... not only that unmistakable Ludwig drum sound that adorned so many records of the 60's, from Ringo and a pre-Gretsch Charlie Watts to John Densmore etc, but also those dark shimmering musical cymbals the guys played at that time too - beautiful!  You will have guessed by now that I am all about vintage tone!

My experience with Istanbul Mehmet cymbals

My introduction to Istanbul Mehmet Cymbals came at the London Drum show a few years back when my good friend Carl Thomson beckoned me across the noisy room to check out the Nostalgia range ... with the noise of the show I thought there would be no way I'd be able to hear the cymbals but went to take a look anyway.  On my way to the stand Carl played the 15" Nostalgia Hi Hats and they stopped me in my tracks ... They had THE sound!!  I was sold! No surprises, the 15" Nostalgia hats are a mainstay of my set up now.  I love the thick dark closed sound that reminds me so much of those 50's and 60's records, and they come into their own when playing a shuffle with them half open ... perfect for Chicago style blues and Memphis styled Soul alike! My other cymbals are pretty much all rides ... a 22" 50's Nostalgia ride that is tremendously musical, great stick definition with a beautiful controlled wash, this cymbal records beautifully and makes a great crash when things get a bit rowdy!  I alternate between this and an El Negro 22" Light Ride to which I have added 8 brass rivets.  This cymbal is one of the most musical I have played and I can get that great trashy sound heard on Little Richard and Young Jessie records when I lay into it on stage - lovely!  Added to these beauties is a 70's 20" Nostalgia which makes a superb crash as well as a ride - I have used this as the only cymbal on the kit when backing up some of the R&B stars of the 50's who are still touring and it fits the genre perfectly ... So there you have it, a little bit about me & a little bit about (some of) my cymbals ... I'll be back soon with some updates from the road and to talk more about Roots and Blues music ... See you soon! Matt

Hello, everyone! As you may know,  the 2016 NAMM Show is fastly approaching. For those of you who don't know, the show will take place at Anaheim Convention Center in Anaheim, California between 21-24 January 2016. If you will be there, come and say hello to us in Hall D at Booth no. 2870. The National Association of Music Merchants (NAMM), is a non-profit association that promotes the advantages and benefits of making music and strengthens the $17 billion global music products industry. The association and the trade shows such as NAMM serve as a hub for people wanting to seek out the newest innovations in musical products, recording technology, sound and lighting. NAMM's activities and programs are designed to promote music making to people of all ages. If you enjoyed reading this article, don't be shy and share it with your friends by pressing the share buttons below. Sharing is caring!

Hello...Is this on?... Welcome to my first ever blog. I have written several articles for the official magazine for the band I play around the World with & I post all the time on Facebook and Twitter, but this is a new adventure for me. My first blog, I decided should be me introducing myself. So, Im Scott Ottaway, I'm 43, Male, I play drums, I am the 5th drummer for the 60s legends, The Searchers & I use Istanbul Mehmet cymbals, which, as this is a blog on their website, is very lucky. When it comes to drum equipment, I am a geek! When you tour round the World, you do need equipment that won't let you down and gives you a sound which is 'your' sound. Before I was picked up by The Searchers, I was doing loads of studio sessions. I was also a deep for Tony Bourke on the hit Queen & Ben Elton musical, We Will Rock You. My hero as a kid was Roger Taylor & I know every drum part to every Queen song. It's through one of these studio sessions, (for a christmas single written by ex Radio DJ Mike Reid, with Dave Hill from Slade on guitar), that The Searchers got to hear about me & when in December 2009, Eddie Roth told them he was retiring, the band called me up for an audition. Before that I had many happy years as 'house' drummer on cruise ships (P&O, Costa) and holiday parks in the UK (Haven, Park Resorts, Butlins) as well as being in several tribute bands (Queen, Slade, Elton John) Because of all these different bands and situations, I became very versatile at different styles very quickly & my equipment adapted with me over the years. When I joined The Searchers, most of the songs are played on the ride cymbal. The rides I had at the time were a little to brash and loud, so over the first 14 months, I went through 6 ride cymbals. I was using a Sabian dry ride, which had a sound I liked, but I knew was still not 100% for the music. I played a show, I think in Germany, and the hire kit had an Istanbul Mehmet Sultan ride. I loved it! A few weeks later, after an email to Andy Anderson at drumshop, and I had the ride I had been searching for. A ride I still use in the band now. My crash cymbals have changed, (from Radiant to Traditional) but that ride has stayed firm. So now we are here, 2016 and my 6th year in the Searchers. On 1st February we leave for a 5 week tour of Australia. A tour we do every year and a country I have grown to love. The band this year will play between 140-170 shows around the globe. An amazing achievement when you realise that the founder member, John McNally is 74 and bassist Frank Allan is 72 Like every musician, sometimes there are days you just don't feel it, but when you have a 74 & 72 year old running past you to get on stage, you don't really have a valid excuse not to put 100% into that show. Well my first blog was painless and now the serious stuff is out of the way, I promise my next blogs will be more light hearted, more insightful into playing with The Searchers and more info on the equipment I use on the sessions I have lined up in 2016 Take care & see you all soon Scott