Looks as if major updates are coming for the Zildjian Gen16 AE Cymbals (First reported back in 2011, New Edrums at Winter NAMM 2011!). For those that don’t know, Zildjian Gen16 AE Cymbals are the world first electric acoustic Cymbals. Think electric guitar for cymbals. What’s the major update you ask? Zildjian has developed their Direct Source Pickup™. This new pickup looks to be a type of contact microphone that make the Gen16 AE Cymbals work much better.
It would appear that these new electric cymbals will be on display at NAMM 2013. Along with the new Direct Source Pickups, they will be releasing new presets for there DCP (Digital Cymbal Processor) unit as well. Pictures and a description were posted of new Direct Source Pickup™ over at Vdrums.com by a Zildjian Engineer JuliaDee (Vdrums.com member name), Zildjian hybrid cymbals [Acoustic-Electric]
When Zildjian first announced the Gen16 AE Cymbals, I thought they might be a game changer for the electronic drum market. They had a decent start, but it didn’t seem to be the changer I thought it would. A lot of that had to do with the pick-ups that were used. As cool as they were they just were not good enough. With the new Direct Source Pickup™ I think they will now be that game changer.
I can’t help but notice that Zildjian seems to be teamed up with Yamaha (and has been since the release of the AE cymbals). I don’t know if Zildjian knows or not but Yamaha has a patent on a perforated drum heads (US 7,642,439 B2) that look very similar (meaning the way it works) to the Zildjian Gen16 AE Cymbals. I would love to see Yamaha take this technology to similar levels as Zildjian has with the Gen16 AE Cymbals. If they can, that would open the door for true a electric drum kit.
For more info on this update please checkout these other posts at Vdrums.com:
And also be sure to check out Mikedolbear.com: NAMM 2013 – Zildjian Press for additional information about the new Zildjian Gen16 AE Cymbals update.
