Anatomy of a WurliTzer Theatre Pipe Organ
CRASH CYMBAL
The cymbal is hung from the top arm at the hole near the clamp block on top of the arm.
The felted beater strikes the cymbal near the outer edge from below. No return springs are
needed on the pneumatic as gravity does that work.
The adjustable up-stop restricts the opening of the pneumatic
to a point where the beater is a little below the cymbal. The momentum of the beater allows it
to continue moving on its spring to strike the cymbal and then return clear of the cymbal so that
it does not interfere with the motion or vibration of the cymbal after it is struck. The two
sprung buffers in the top arm prevent the cymbal swinging too much and stiking the top arm after
the cymbal has been struck.
The outer wire nut on the secondary valves has a spring between it and the valve. This allows the
opening to the outside air to be kept small, which limits the speed at which the beater and power
pneumatic are able to fall back after an operation, and it enable the inner valve to be opened
by the amount the outer valve moves plus the amount the spring compresses. The result is the inner
valve opens much more than the outer valve to enable the power pneumatic to be inflated as rapidly
as possible to maximise the striking force. The spring also causes the outer valve to close during
the first part of the movement of the inner valve when the action is activated and remain closed
until near the end of all the movement when the action is deactivated. This minimises the loss of
pressurised air to the outside while the valves are in motion, which reduces the amount of unwanted
air loss and noise.
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