I'm pretty sure if you sample a snare hit or a note, artists don't consider
it infringement. When you sample part of a song, that's when they start
getting unhappy if you haven't asked permission. Or let's say a guitar lick
or a obvious drum fill, that's when they start frowning. By all means, ask
permission from Zildjian to use the existing samples, you never know, they
might say yes.
Denny