Cymbals play a massive role in the overall sound of any church worship team. They have the power to make or break the atmosphere you’re trying to create. So, it’s important to have a good worship cymbal pack that fits the situation.
Top 3 - Worship Cymbals for Church
Not all church worship teams sound the same, meaning you need to carefully select the cymbals you’re going to use for your church band.
Luckily, many companies have put together cymbal packs that provide you with all the tones you need. Let’s have a look at a few of them.
Best Church Cymbal Packs for Worship Music
The Zildjian K Custom cymbals exhibit ark and warm character that fits very well in worship settings. If you bunched a group of different K Customs together, chances are that they’d work for church.
Luckily, Zildjian has gone and picked out all the best worship cymbals and put those in a set that caters extremely well in church settings. Included in this set is a pair of 14” Dark hi-hats, 16” and 18” Fast crashes, and a 20” Medium ride.
The hi-hats have great stick clarity with an amazing amount of swell to them, perfect for heavy and light grooving. The crashes have short decays and get out the way quickly, making them the perfect accent tools.
The ride can be crashed on and is more subtle than you’d expect a ride cymbal to be. If you’re looking for warm character, these are the cymbal to get. They’ll do a fantastic job in laying low in the mix while providing just enough attack to be effective.
I love the mixture of cymbals you get in this set. Typically, cymbal sets come with a group of cymbals from the same series. They’ll all sound similar with a few differences due to their size and type. However, this particular set has varying cymbals from the K line, giving you excellent variety in all the tones you can achieve.
PROS
CONS
These cymbals are most commonly used by gospel drummers, thanks to their fantastic projection and varying tones. The pack includes 5 cymbals that will give you creative control over the number of sounds that you can make from all the cymbals.
The 10” Aero splash is a fantastic addition to this pack. It has a short trashy sound that is great for playing quick jabs in the middle of drum fills. Gospel drummers do this a lot and that’s why they love this cymbal so much.
The 16” and 18” X-Plosion crashes are powerful, packing a huge punch when played. There’s a good pitch difference between them, giving good tonal range.
The 14” Medium hats have that typical dark hi-hat sound. The tones are clean and cutting and change the further out from the bell you play.
The 21” Raw Bell Dry ride is a beast of its own, providing a seriously strong bell sound and a woody ping on the bow.
This cymbal set is the perfect choice for gospel drummers. The tones may be a bit too aggressive for drummers playing in very small churches.
I’d suggest getting this pack if you play in church as well as other music settings. These cymbals are amazing in pop, R&B, and hip-hop environments. Those styles are heavily incorporated into gospel music, which is why they’re an ideal option.
PROS
CONS
The Mike Johnston Byzance set wasn’t designed with church drummers in mind. However, these cymbals have musical qualities that fit wonderfully in many church settings.
Included in the pack is a set of Extra Dry 14” hats, an Extra Dry 18” crash, an Extra Thin 20” crash, and a Mike Johnston Transition ride that is 21”.
Let’s start with the Transition ride. It was designed to be one of the most versatile ride cymbals around and you bet it will sit fantastically in a church mix. It has good stick definition with just the right amount of overtones to keep it sounding subtle.
The hi-hats and 18” crash cymbal have similar sounds as they’re from the same line. The short decay and dark tones are music to the ears. Mike Johnston calls the 20” crash the ‘bwoosh’ crash. It has a huge sound that is great for ending fills with.
My favorite thing about these cymbals, and most Meinl Byzance cymbals, is how thin they are. As the cymbals in the pack are so thin, you can lay into them quite hard without the sound being too overwhelming. This is incredibly ideal for worship settings.
I’ve been to a few churches where noise from the drums has been a big issue. The reason for this is that the drummer is hitting the cymbals hard, and their thickness is making the sound overbearing. You wouldn’t have that issue with the cymbals in this pack. You can hit them as hard as you want while playing in church and you probably won’t get too many complaints.
Overall, a fantastic set of cymbals!
PROS
CONS
If you were a fan of the Mike Johnston pack, but are on a budget, look no further than the Meinl Classics Custom Dark cymbals. These things pack a punch and work well in gospel settings.
Included in the set are a pair of 14” hi-hats, 16” and 18” crashes, and a 20” ride cymbal. All the cymbals sound very similar to each other. They’re bright and punchy with complex dark overtones.
Mostly used by metal drummers thanks to their cutting tones, these cymbals can be used by gospel drummers because they cut through mixes very easily. This means they’ll be heard clearly in a mix that also has an organ.
Since they’re quite loud, they may not be the best cymbals for church to use in contemporary Christian settings.
PROS
CONS
The Paiste Signature Classics are arguably some of the best sounding cymbals around. They’re also some of the most versatile. You could use them in any musical setting and they will shine through the mix.
If you’re looking for some top-quality cymbals for your church, these are a great option. The cymbal pack has a set of Dark Crisp 14" hats, a fast crash that is 16”, and a 22” Full ride. On top of that, it includes two Paiste Full crashes that are 18” and 20”.
Contemporary Christian music often requires large cymbal sizes to cater to the big sounds of all the electronics and these cymbals perfectly fit that role. With a 20” crash and a 22” ride, you’ll have all the tools you need to achieve that big sound.
All the cymbals have smooth tones and there is a fantastic tonal difference between each one. You can’t go wrong with these cymbals. They’re incredibly expensive, so you’ll need to do some saving.
This is the cymbal pack that I would get if I had an unlimited budget. I’ve always seen the Paiste Signature Classic cymbals as the peak of cymbal production. They sound incredible no matter what setting you play them in.
PROS
CONS
When thinking of cymbals, there’s often a classic sound that everyone pictures. That classic sound often comes in the form of the Zildjian A. These are such popular cymbals and they’ve been used by so many different drummers over decades.
They have a full-bodied tone that perfectly exhibits what many people think cymbals need to sound like. They’re bright, cutting through mixes very easily. These bright tones make them a great choice for use in gospel settings.
The set comes with New Beat 14” hi-hats, Medium Thin crashes in the standard 16” and 18” sizes, and a Sweet ride which is 21”. The New Beat hats are incredibly popular amongst drummers while the crashes and ride cymbal have excellent tones.
Check these cymbals out if you’re looking for a brighter sound that cuts easily through mixes.
PROS
CONS
Christian Contemporary vs Gospel
Although all church music has the same goal in leading a congregation and setting a contemplative mood, there are two distinct styles of music that you’ll find in different churches. These are Christian contemporary music and gospel music.
Christian contemporary music leans more on the side of pop and rock, having many common drum parts such as playing four-on-the-floor for multiple songs. You’ll hear music like this coming from bands such as Hillsong and Elevation Worship.
Dark and warm cymbals work best in that setting as those types of cymbals blend very nicely into the mix, adding to that warm and contemplative mood.
Gospel music leans closer to R&B and churches that play this style will often have choirs to back the music. This style is more upbeat and requires cymbals that are a bit brighter and punchier.
Cymbal Size
You’ll often find that drummers who play Christian contemporary music have very large cymbals. It’s not uncommon to see someone with 20” crash cymbals and a 24” ride. Although that seems a bit excessive, the large cymbals cater extremely well to the style.
Gospel drummers, on the other hand, make very good use of smaller cymbals for playing accents in different drum parts. You’ll see gospel drummers using splash cymbals very regularly.
Playing Drums in Church
It’s important to remember that playing music in church is about creating a reflective environment for the congregation. From a drummer’s standpoint, this means that you shouldn’t play anything that is distracting. Instead, everything you play should support the song and the mood.
Knowing this helps in your decision of which cymbals to use. You should also consider what kind of drummer you are. If you have control over your technique and dynamics, you would be able to make bright cymbals work in church environments. If you’re unable to keep your cymbal playing soft, dark and dry cymbals will always be better.
Remember not to play the cymbals too much as that can get distracting. Space is just as important as the notes you play. This is especially true in worship settings where a few seconds of empty space could feel like minutes to someone in the congregation. Hitting the bell of a cymbal could pull them out of that zone completely thanks to its distracting nature.
Cymbal Brands
You may be wondering which brand is the best when it comes to choosing cymbals for worship music. The simple answer to this is that all cymbal brands are good, and you just need to look for the right cymbal qualities to find the best options.
However, I appreciate brands that offer cymbal packs that are specifically catered toward worship music. If in doubt, it’s usually better to go with one of those packs. So, the Sabian AAX Praise and Worship set and the Zildjian K Custom Worship set are solid options.
Both those packs include cymbals that the brands themselves have stated are ideal for church settings.
Number of Cymbals
Each cymbal pack comes with a varying number of cymbals. This may make you wonder how many cymbals you need for drumming in church. In truth, you only need a pair of hi-hats and a ride cymbal. That 2-cymbal setup will be enough to play all the needed drum parts that worship music has.
However, it’s more comfortable to play with more cymbals. Also, you get more tonal variety with more cymbals. So, an ideal setup would be having two crash cymbals, one ride cymbal, and one pair of hi-hats. That’s the number of cymbals you’ll get from most cymbal packs. A few of them will have a few extras as a bonus.
In typical church settings, splash and effects cymbals aren’t used too often. They’re important in gospel settings, though. That’s why you’ll always see gospel drummers using large drum setups with what seems like dozens of cymbals.
Conclusion
As a drummer, getting a good set of cymbals is one of the best investments you can make. There are several ways to treat your drums so that they sound good, even if they’re cheap.
There’s no way of doing that for cymbals, meaning a bad set will always sound bad.
So, getting a high-quality set of cymbals will boost your overall drum sound dramatically and it will especially help in your church setting. Every set that I listed above has fantastic qualities that could work for you.
Establish what your budget is, choose a set of cymbals, and get ready to experience their high-quality goodness.
