Raw unlathed bell
Raw unlathed and hand-hammered inner 1/2
Lathed outer 1/2 with brilliant finish
22" Sabian Omni developed with JoJo Mayer
List price-$524
Have you ever felt like you had to bring way too many cymbals with you to a gig to cover all the sounds you needed? The Omni line of cymbals from Sabian was designed to tackle this problem. If you are at all familiar with JoJo Mayer, throughout his career, he has always had a wide selection of cymbal choices on any of his kits. But with the development of the Omni cymbals to be added to the already popular AAX line, he now utilizes these as the bulk of his arsenal. So far, the line only includes an 18" and 22" models and are designed to pull double duty as crash/rides. I recently had the opportunity to peep the 22" model.
At first glance, the Omni are striking with a raw and unlathed bell and bow with a brilliant finished edge. This a beautiful cymbal. Sabian has done an excellent job in the visual design of this cymbal. So now lets get a little deeper and see if its sound is as beautiful as its appearance.
Since the Omni are marketed as an all-around crash/ride, Im gonna review it as a crash and as a ride individually.
As a crash, it has a wide spread and speaks when crashed along the shoulder. The spread was a medium to high wash that would be better suited to blend than cut. To me, its crashing capabilities sound a bit closer to a thicker 18" or 19" than a massive 22" cymbal. I'd describe its tone as glassy. If you use it purely as a crash, I would pick your spots because this cymbal can get loud. The edge may speak quickly but you cant forget the unlathed and thicker middle of the cymbal. With the two different sections, you could easily get some interesting voices from this cymbal as a crash. If your guitarist is getting a little too comfortable turning up his Marshal stack, crashing on this bad boy would definitely let your presence be known.
With all rides, the stick size and tip have almost as much to do with the sound as the cymbal itself. Since its my stick of choice, I started off with a Vic Firth X5b with a wood tip. Playing a light jazz "spang-a-lang'' pattern on the brilliant edge, I noticed how much give there was with the stick. In other words, very limited rebound. Next, I switched to a 5a wood tip and repeated the same pattern. Rebound and clarity improved slightly but still felt inhibited. Although I NEVER play a 7a size stick, I tried the Vic Firth Steve Jordan signature which is 16.5'' in length and an extremely thin .525 diameter with a barrel tip. Normally, there isn't enough beef in smaller sticks for me to get the tones I need, but to me, your best bet for the outer-edge washy ride pattern was best served with a smaller diameter stick. Although I didn't have a pair of the Jojo Mayer signature models on hand, his stick is just a slightly shorter and thicker version of their regular 5a wood tip. I used the Vic Firth 5a for the bulk of my testing outside of outer edge rebound. On to the unlathed section and the super important bell tone.
I was blown away by the night and day difference in the tone when I went from the brilliant to non-lathed section. As far as im concerned, the "ride" part of the cymbal IS the hand-hammered, unlathed section. Its thickness added to its ride sound and brought in a sense of articulation to it. It has a nice warm spread that keeps controlled. I wouldn't worry about it "washing-out" while playing this section. Every stroke came through clearly and was pleasing to my ear. Since it is a medium pitched cymbal, it did have some overtones to it. BUT, once the band comes in, bye-bye overtones and hello to warm spread and cushion. It fills up the negative space without going overboard and getting out of control. The bell was interesting. I honestly expected it to be a lot higher in pitch and louder than it was. It was much more of a mid pitched sound that lended itself to very precise playing. This may however be what Sabian and JoJo were going for since drum & bass lends itself to needing many different sonic options. You need to be able to finesse the bell to fully explore its sonic capabilities. And its not very loud so even when you really lay into it, its sound peaks after a certain point. Personally, its sound inspired me to play some David Garibaldi style patterns. This ride sound is best suited for more ambient styles where blending tone is preferred.
Long story short, I wouldn't try using this ride to kickoff your band's cover of Korn's "Blind". If you're needing a bell that sounds like a train is crossing the street, this ain't the ride for you. Its better suited to blend than cut/project. When needing more of a wash, you should focus your playing on the brilliant outer edge. When needing more precision and clarity, the unlathed portion is right there for ya. Although this may not be the main ride of choice you'd pick for your variety show, overall, this is a solid multi-use cymbal that could take the place of two or three cymbals. This is a double edged sword for Sabian in that although its sure to sell well, players may not find the need to buy any more cymbals for their setup. Woops... : )
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