Hand Crash Cymbals

(Edit: if the video does not appear above on your device, here is the link http://youtu.be/KhiLQT3UDAo)

Here's a hand-crash cymbal video by celebrity cajónista Heidi Joubert. It's pretty long, but pretty good. I agree with her completely that the Sabian AAX X-plosion 11" Splash is the best all-around cymbal to accompany a cajón. It's responsive yet not overpowering and it fits well 99% of the time I need a cymbal with my cajón. It also fits conveniently into my cajón case!

I've used a couple of other hand crash cymbals with the cajón. Here are my impressions:

The UFIP 16" Experience Hand Cymbal is fantastic, but can overwhelm in a purely acoustic setting. I own this one, but I rarely use it. I really believe UFIP's "rotocast" cymbals are the best (and so must other people because they are expensive). On the occasions when I do play this, I use a homemade cymbal sizzler, similar to what Ms. Joubert demonstrates in the video (she uses costume jewelry, I use ball-chain from the hardware store). UFIP makes this cymbal in 14", 16", 18" and 20".

The Sabian 16" AAX El Sabor Picante Cymbal is good, too. This is less expensive and easier to find than the UFIP, but more trashy sounding. Again, I find 16" to be too much sound for quieter acoustic music. I know, with better technique, I should be able to moderate the sound, but even Ms. Joubert who is much more skillful than I prefers smaller cymbals overall.

Here are some other hand cymbals I considered when I was shopping last year:

The Zildjian Azuka 15" Latin Multi-Crash is probably very good, but I couldn't find one.

The Paiste PST8 Cajón 16" Crash was new for 2012. Paiste was my favorite cymbal when I played real drums back in the dark ages. I like that the new PST8 is cajón-specific (it says cajón right on it!). I couldn't find one in the USA.

The Meinl Candela 14" Percussion Crash sounded like a cheap toy to me and was the least impressive of the few I demoed.

The Wuhan 14-16" Thin  Crashes really are CHEAP, and they don't respond very well to bare hands. Nevertheless, these can be a good value for econocajóneros because they don't sound much worse than the Meinl Candelae that cost five times as much!