Meinl Percussion was born in 1951 in Gutenstetten, a village in middle Bavaria, when Roland Meinl started making cymbals on his own in a one-man workshop. Three generations on the company is still family-owned and German, and has earned its place among the big four of cymbal making, alongside Zildjian, Sabian and Paiste.
What sets Meinl apart is breadth: few houses cover both high-end hand-hammered cymbals and percussion from all over the world. In cymbals the Byzance series is the flagship, with Traditional, Dark, Extra Dry, Vintage and Brilliant finishes, while the HCS range covers the entry level for players starting out.
At DJMania its catalogue is the largest in the whole instruments section, with over a thousand references: crash and ride cymbals, congas, bongos and djembes, flamenco cajons and a huge depth of small percussion — tambourines, maracas, shakers, guiros, bells and frame drums — which is the most searched part of the brand here.
From the music classroom to the stage: Meinl is one of the few brands where a child's first tambourine and a professional drummer's ride both fit.
