Enough on AI - let's get serious and talk about tambourines

I sometimes like the really old ones with skins on them, and the non silver bells.
I have also taken the damaged skins off old tambourines and found they sound amazing too.
I have a small collection of bright / dull / loud / warm tambourines - the music always dictates what I can use.
At times I tape up / mute 30% of the bells to get more clarity

I'm sure a $250 tambourine sounds great, but I also have a $3 tambourine (it's actually a kids version - maybe 6" diameter) that I think I got from Musician's friend years ago.  it had a head that was permanently attached to it and I cut it out with an X-acto knife. It's super cheap plastic with only a few jingles.  One some recordings it actually sounds perfect.  But I also have 8 or 10 tambourines (nickel, brass, aluminum jingles...) and usually just listen to each of them as the song plays (on monitors) before I start recording.  Usually one or more sounds better in context and then I go with that one.  So in other words, even if you buy a bunch of random, cheap, tambourines, you will probably use them at some point.

This is very useful thank you

Spend the money and get a vintage Ludwig double-row. I think they are 8” or 10”. Maybe they had both models. I don’t recall. I have a few. The best ones have the script “Ludwig” logo pressed into the wood or inked on there IIRC.

They go for a pretty penny ($100-200). But wow, they are great.


I usually buy up all sorts of used tambourines. For new models, I really like the LP aluminum double-row models. They’re a bit drier and lighter sounding.

I will also piggyback on the other posts that mention cheap models (like the $3 plastic ones). Tambourines are like potato chips. You can’t have just one.

I have my tracking tambourines, but I also like to keep a stockpile of “junk” tambourines that can be used like makeshift drumsticks for hitting toms, snares, cymbals, bass players, etc. Those have a tendency to fall apart, but they do add some interesting textures to drum grooves, for instance.

Oh wait, I thought he said tangerines.....nothing to add...

Cool recommendations - thank you.

Yes Xmas songs. Kidding I love them especially on AWB “Cut the Cake”. I love Brass cymbal tambourines and recently went on a splurge for percussion loops for my Greed Beats drum libraries. I must have gone from children’s packs to pro expensive ones. They all have a place with the right verb etc.

It's true, you can literally just buy any tambourine you come across. They will all find a use somewhere. One of my favorite ones is 3-4" with just 3 sets of cheap jingles. It doesn't actually sound good, BUT it fits in perfectly sometimes. I have a couple of older ones that have really wonderful sounding ringy jingles. I pulled on row out of a double row and put the jingles on a cheap headed LP, but the head has gone south...

And I have a Riq, which is normally played like a frame drum, but has make it's way onto a lot of records in a typical shaken way.

I need a Pandeiro...

And I want to check out those Meinl models.

One word;
lagerphone

You’ll thank me later
🥴

I got a big plastic one with double chrome steel jangles and an edge protector for drum sticks that someone left at the studio once (I found it in my box of percussion stuff and have no idea who left it) so I just use that. Never had anyone ask "can you use a better tambourine?" lol

They're kinda little mini cymbals mounted on a wooden hoop.

Once you view them like that, we all know expensive cymbals sound great!

I've listened to some $250 tambourines and the bronze and Beryllium copper bells sounded really beautiful .... so shimmery.

Not right for everything of course.

But I would like to get a couple of the Grover studio tambourines just so that I can add some very high quality shimmery top end patterns
to tracks that will suit that kind of treatment.

Nice to have options.