As posted on her Facebook page:
FINGER CYMBALS
By Susannah Melvoin
They are small, circular, and mostly made of brass.
Finger Cymbals were always part of my family’s arsenal of noise makers. On weekends, the Coleman kids and the Melvoin kids would be dragged willingly to either home so our parents could hang out. But, it was really to get the kids together for some inevitable musical play time.
Here is where I would find the Finger Cymbals sitting on top of a piano, a kitchen table or a bedside in either house. I loved playing with them. The top cymbal dangled itself perfectly off my middle finger and the bottom mate sat perfectly perched upside down on my thumb. Finger Cymbals do have a satisfying feel to them. I would say, it’s similar to what fidget spinners feel like for anxious kids or grownups, but with the added musical outlet. It satisfies a kind of finger feel for us fidgety musicians. That’s if you don’t have a guitar or large instrument to attend to. It’s a beautiful, clear-ting of noise joy. These small percussive jewels have a weighty grace and a physicality to them that you can’t deny. But, I digress.
It was all about Lisa’s brother David Coleman, who picked them up and started to actually learn to play them with skill, vigor and inventiveness. David, while teaching himself how to speak Arabic, had taught himself how to play the Oud, a middle eastern guitar, and the Darbuka, a middle eastern handheld tight drum. When he wasn’t playing his Oud, he’d take out the Finger Cymbals, that were always in his pockets.
The Coleman kids were the well rounded world music version of our two families, and us Melvoin kids were the bebop Blue Note insiders, but together we made our very own music together. Making music together since we were kids, even recording a record for A&M Records. I mention this, because we have always been extended family members, personally and musically to each other. Six kids; two boys, four girls.
We have tragically lost two of our members. Jonathan [Melvoin] and David. The Boys...
Jonathan and David were best friends and wrote music together most of their lives. During the time David was teaching himself to speak Arabic, write songs, play the Oud, Darbuka, and Finger cymbals. Jonathan was playing drums, piano, writing songs and recording what they would write together.
One of those songs they would record was, “Around the World in a Day”. It was recorded at Sunswept Studios in Hollywood in 1984. During the rehearsal for Purple Rain, Jonathan and David sent a cassette to Wendy [Melvoin] and Lisa to see what they thought. During this rehearsal, they stopped to play it for Prince in Lisa’s car. After listening, Prince would only say, “Can I have it?”
This would be the moment that changed the trajectory of his music.
While recording Prince’s version of “Around the World in a Day” Jonathan and David did play the finger Cymbals, while David played his Darbuka and Oud, creating the definitively explosive new sound for Prince. Wendy, Lisa and I sang the backing vocals. I don’t know when exactly, but at some point when leaving the studio that night, David offered Prince his Finger Cymbals as a gift. Those Finger Cymbals stayed with Prince for as long as I new him.
In 1986, Prince, and I had moved into our home on Galpin Ave in MN, where the home studio had been completed and was ready for tracking. The Finger Cymbals were always a staple in Prince’s studio. They were brought with all the other gear from the warehouse, and they now sat seductively on Prince’s home console.
Separating the first floor from the studio was a staircase off the kitchen. If you walked down one flight of stairs, then made a right you’d enter the studio control room. The console itself is just to the left, facing the north wall of monitors and speakers. But, further east of the console was the drum room. All glass, and Prince clearly visible to anyone watching.
It's late in the afternoon and he’s setting up his drum kit. He hadn’t yet recorded live drums in that room until this day. This would be the first. I was watching him set up his snare while Susan [Rogers] was getting the tape up. I picked up David’s Finger Cymbals fidgeting with my own sounds and stood watching Prince tune his snare. Prince came back into the control room and asked if I’d make him some tea while he played around with sounds. So, I went upstairs and made his favorite tea, Constant Comment, with extra honey... (I made a lot of it)!
Fifteen minutes went by and I came back into the room with his tea. He was already playing, the drum room closed off. Susan was working all the outboard gear, faders and EQ’s. While she was recording, I was astonished with his playing. I hadn’t heard him play like this in a long while. It was more Meters-esque than he would normally play, except maybe on the track “Tambourine”. This track, also, syncopated and as fierce with tons of bottom end. To his snare pattern, a counter rhythm on the high hat, and an independent kick drum pattern, that felt like he was part giant, part fat man with a big ass on him. Amazing to listen to and watch. He was done with this take and quickly took off his headphones, ran out from behind the kit and rushed into the control room. I picked up the finger cymbals again as I always did and watched him hurry to the board. It was obvious he was working on something intense. This was the take he wanted.
I don’t recall how many takes it took but my guess was, that by the time I got the tea to him, he was finished with it. I was standing behind the console with Susan, when he took the finger cymbals from me and put them on his own fingers. Noticing sweat on his face I lightly touched him and wiped the sweat from his temple. I remember well, Prince said to me, “one of the best kinds of sweat” and raised his eyebrows. Then instructed Susan to set up the bass, guitars and keyboard for more tracking.
I went back upstairs and spent the next few hours watching a movie by myself. An old VHS of the movie “Being There” with Peter Sellers and Shirley MacLaine. Prince and I watched this film many times.
Susan came upstairs for more tea and expressed how great it was all sounding and was ready to track his vocal. That was at 11 PM. When tracking Prince’s vocals at this hour I knew it was going to be a long night. By 5 AM the next morning he came upstairs exhausted and gently snuck into bed next to me to sleep... He could finally sleep and sleep deeply. He slept until late afternoon the next day.
Susan left a tape on the kitchen table for his mix approval. He would know if the mix was right by listening to it in his car. We got in the BMW and he put the tape in.
Turned the Volume Up!
Ting!!!!!!.......there were the Finger Cymbals!!!
The song was ...
“Make Yo’ Momma Happy”...
And... I was indeed.
The next day in the studio, Prince would ask Susan, Eric Leeds, and myself do go finish a few backing tracks at which point I would have the delight of singing the backup vocals.
Finger Cymbals in hand all the while I sang... Ting!