It's with our deepest regrets that our dear family member an friend Johan passed away suddenly on the 25th of June 2008.
Johan was a wonderful and honest man.
His remarkable passion for cymbals and percussion and his deep sense of attention to detail was inspiring and will be remembered by many. Somebody very valuable and totally irreplaceable has just left this world.
We will miss you Johan.
Please note that old contact-details are no longer in use. Condolences or all other contact should be directed towards hojvds@yahoo.com .
Dear Friends
I've been asked to write a few words about Johan as a cymbalsmith and as my good friend. Losing him is devastating, I'll always miss him.
I got to know Johan firstly on a professional level, as I had heard of his reputation as a cymbalsmith that was able to transform even the worst sounding cymbals into works of sonic and visual beauty. I sent him some truly awful hihats which I believed were beyond hope. During our email and phone exchanges about this transformation (which incidentally was utterly amazing), I became aware of his mischievous, warm and generous spirit and his complete dedication to his craft. We talked and emailed a great deal in the following months and became good friends. I visited Johan several times at his workshop and home in Bruges and I will always fondly recall waiting at the side of the road to leap into his little car to go and spend a day playing drums, exploring his new creations and laughing heartily.
As a cymbalsmith his skill was unsurpassed. He managed to pull off some of the most incredible transformations I have ever witnessed, including inverting a massive tough B20 china cymbal and turning it into a gorgeous sounding ride, a mammoth feat. His range was never truly tested however as the majority of his creations and requested transformations were for a jazz market. He would often complain to me about not having the time to work on completely different styles of cymbals and its so sad that now we will never get to experience what he might have had in store for us. Once I was fortunate enough to witness Johan hammering a cymbal for me. I had selected a set of 12" hihats but there was a small barking tone at a very narrow frequency when the hats were tightly closed. I asked if he could remove JUST that frequency in that situation. 'No problem' was his immediate reply. He sat at his anvil (that he had ground to an acceptable shape himself) mounted on a particular tree stump he had gone searching for a good long time ago and began to rapidly hammer the cymbal with fluid strokes (reminiscent of moeller technique actually) then a few strokes with a different hammer and it was done. He handed them back and they sounded totally muted. He laughed and whisked them away again, performed a certain tempering technique and then said they must rest for while. A couple of days after I returned home I tested the hihats out and found that he had effectively notched out that frequency. He was blessed with 'future hearing' and a wonderfully musical taste.
I will cherish and jealously guard the large collection of his cymbals I am blessed to own. I will always try to play as if I deserve to be playing such amazing creations and most importantly, I will miss him always.
Much love to you Johan my dear friend...always
Emre Ramazanoglu
Ik hoop dat Johan nu de verdiende rust vindt, en daar ergens Tony Williams mag tegenkomen. Kunnen ze samen de ideale cimbaal ineenhameren.
Veel van Johan zal mij bijblijven. Hoe hij zijn drums bijna vloeibaar kon laten klinken als ie in vorm was. Zijn passie voor cimbalen (en ik was het proefluisterkonijn tijdens onze repetities, telkens hij met een nieuw bewerkt exemplaar kwam aandragen). Maar vooral nog zijn correctheid als mens en als vriend.
Johan Lagast
Het is pas al iemand er niet meer is dat we zijn volle waarde beseffen.
Zo ook met Johan. Hij was een vakman, een schitterend muzikant, een waardevolle vriend en een innemend persoon.
We zullen de leegte die hij achterlaat zinvol proberen invullen met het koesteren van de gedachten aan hem.
Bedankt Johan dat we je vriend mochten zijn, Bedankt dat we mochten genieten van je talenten.
Geert Rombout
“The story of life is quicker than the wink of an eye. The story of Love is hello and goodbye until we meet again. (jimi Hendrix)
Besides being a dedicated cymbal artisan, Johan was a great guy and a real gentleman. His specialty was making gems out of just average cymbals. These were works of art that were not only pleasing to the ear, but also pleasing to the eye as well.
I had many private conversations with him about cymbal manufacturing and about other things too. And even though I never had actually had a chance to meet him personally, I still feel like I've lost a friend.
Johan generously shared information about his work and about all things relating to cymbals in general. Many of us in the world of percussion knew about him from his work, and he was well respected and held in the highest regard. We feel a great sense of loss because we are keenly aware that a very valuable and a completely irreplaceable person has left this world.
He will never be forgotten. He left us with many examples of his fine cymbal craftsmanship which will endure on this earth for generations to come. And because he put his heart and even some of his soul into each of these creations, in a sense some of Johan still lives on here and will be immortal.
Bill Hartrick (cymbal historian and collector)
Speaking as a drummer, a cymbalsmith and a gongsmith, I can use the word genius without any hesitation to describe Johan. He did things with Bronze that were previously thought to have been impossible. His dedication to his craft was an inspiration to many who knew him and his works. He was generous with his time and also with his compliments and encouragement towards relative beginners like myself. It is a great regret that I only knew him at a distance - that long-planned trip to Bruges never quite happened. But, I will always remember Johan's hilarious dry wit and continue to use his sublime cymbals on my drums.
Matt Nolan. (Independent Cymbalsmith)
Some time ago, I was searching fruitlessly for some specific cymbal sounds for a new groove/drum 'n' bass project. I'd tried hundreds of different cymbals from a great number of manufacturers and began to realise that I'd have to get something specially made or modified.
I was regularly visiting cymbalholics (as a non-member) and noticed many positive responses to Johan's work. I bought an 18" crash from his website, to sample his work, and was so impressed by the beautifully complex mid to high frequency spectrum and balanced trash response, that I immediately sent him a number of other cymbals to work on. I also asked him to make a cymbal with the sound specifications I'd previously been unable to find.
Needless to say, the cymbals Johan returned some weeks later were works of art, both visually and sonically. Johan also took my sonic descriptions and turned them into the ride that I could find nowhere else. I was floored and I was inspired.
Johan could accurately create a cymbal based on my individual requests and he could also impart his own unique sound on others.
Around this same time, I'd been tinkering with my own hammering modifications and receiving some of Johan's work was a catalyst for taking my own endeavours to a new level.
Johan was generous and encouraging of my own pursuits and imparted a great deal of excellent information (and often humour as well) through our email correspondence and through the online forums.
As I continued to develop my cymbal hammering skills, I began to realise more and more what a complex and time consuming craft this is and my appreciation of the incredible gift Johan possessed grew even more.
Whilst in Europe recently, I tried to organise a time to visit Johan but unfortunately the timing was bad and so I never got to visit the incredible artisan that gave me so much inspiration and is certainly one of my cymbal-smithing mentors.
His unique artisanship and creative vision will live on in his works for generations to come.
Craig Lauritsen (Drummer and custom cymbal maker)
Although I only communicated with Johan through email, I experienced him as a passionate artist-- Johan "re-created" seven cymbals for me, all of which are in my "recording only " bag now, and will be cherished as long as I can play the drums. His memory and artistry will live on with the few lucky folks among the international drumming community that own and play a little piece of Johan.
