In cymbal making, taper refers to the gradual change in thickness from the bell to the rim of the cymbal. It is one of the key features that determines the tone of the cymbal. Modern cymbal making uses many different techniques, from traditional hand methods to completely automated mass-production. ... This article is about the percussion instruments made of metal disks, for the string instrument played with beaters see cymbalum. ... The word tone is used in several different fields with different meanings. ...

This change is typically not uniform, and it is extremely difficult to generalise on the effects of taper, just to say that they are profound. Crash cymbals tend to have the most pronounced taper, with the faster crashes and the richer tones the most pronounced of all. The bell of a paperthin crash or a fast crash can be thicker than that of many ride cymbals. On the other hand, china cymbals tend to have little or no taper, as do the heavy to medium weights of splash cymbals. A crash cymbal is a type of cymbal that produces a loud, sharp, but comparatively short-duration crash used mainly as an occasional accent effect. ... In western music, china type cymbals are cymbals deliberately manufactured to have a trashy tone in some ways similar to a chau gong. ... A splash cymbal is a small cymbal used for an accent in a drum kit. ...

Hi-hat and ride cymbals tend to have intermediate taper, with the washier ride cymbals having less than the pingier cymbals, but there are exceptions. A flat ride cymbal may have no taper at all and simply be a machined disk of uniform thickness, but a slight taper is more common. The hi-hat stand has changed little since its invention. ... A 20 inch Sabian AAX Metal Ride A ride cymbal is a type of cymbal that is a standard part of most drum kits. ...