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Istanbul Agop Cymbals is a cymbal producer based in Turkey. Its products are well respected for their unique sound, which is formed by the method and the
alloy An alloy is a mixture of chemical elements of which at least one is a metal. Unlike chemical compounds with metallic bases, an alloy will retain all the properties of a metal in the resulting material, such as electrical conductivity, ductilit ...
used, the formula of which is known only to the owners of the
firm A company, abbreviated as co., is a legal entity representing an association of people, whether natural, legal or a mixture of both, with a specific objective. Company members share a common purpose and unite to achieve specific, declared go ...
, Armenians Arman and Sarkis Tomurcuk. It is one of two companies that formed after the split of
Istanbul Cymbals {{no footnotes, date=August 2017 Istanbul is the name of two brands of cymbals, Istanbul Agop and Istanbul Mehmet, made in Istanbul using traditional cymbal making methods. Another product range of the Agop factory is Istanbul Alchemy. Cymbals ...
.


History

The art of Turkish cymbal making dates back to the 16th century, the time of the
Ottoman Empire The Ottoman Empire, * ; is an archaic version. The definite article forms and were synonymous * and el, Оθωμανική Αυτοκρατορία, Othōmanikē Avtokratoria, label=none * info page on book at Martin Luther University) ...
. The very first cymbals manufactured in Turkey were actually
bell A bell is a directly struck idiophone percussion instrument. Most bells have the shape of a hollow cup that when struck vibrates in a single strong strike tone, with its sides forming an efficient resonator. The strike may be made by an inte ...
s, created for the use in churches. Later on, as the story goes, cymbals were produced for the
Ottoman military band Ottoman military bands are the oldest recorded military marching band in the world. Though they are often known by the word ''Mehter'' ( ota, مهتر, plural: مهتران ''mehterân''; from "senior" in Persian) in West Europe, that word, prop ...
. In the 20th century, it had become well known that Istanbul had evolved into the cymbal-making capital of the world. Generations of master cymbal smiths developed, refined, and redefined this art in their endless search for perfection. They formulated the most musical alloy and developed and tested hand-crafting methods which had been used for centuries. As the 20th century drew to its close, the traditional Turkish method for hand crafting cymbals had all but been abandoned due to the efficiencies and mass production facility provided by machines. In 1980, the first Istanbul Cymbals began to be produced by Agop Tomurcuk, who had been working in the business of hand-made cymbal manufacture since the age of nine and had worked at the only cymbal factory in Turkey becoming the chief cymbal smith until the factory's closure in 1977. Agop's friend and partner Mehmet Tamdeger established Zilciler Kollektif Sti and chose "Zilciler" as their brand name. Shortly afterwards the brand name was changed to Istanbul. The following years saw continued development of new designs that tried to maintain traditional methods. In 1996 Agop Tomurcuk died in an accident, and as a result the company began to be pulled in two separate directions. It was determined that the company must be split between Agop's sons, Arman and Sarkis—who continued in the tradition of their father—and Mehmet who started his own separate company.


Brands

"Alchemy Cymbals" is a brand of hand-made cymbals belonging to Istanbul Agop; the brand has its own
production line A production line is a set of sequential operations established in a factory where components are assembled to make a finished article or where materials are put through a refining process to produce an end-product that is suitable for onward c ...
. The main difference between Istanbul Agop and Alchemy Cymbals is the finishing process. Alchemy Cymbals also has low-cost cymbals in its production line for beginners and semi-professionals.Alchemy cymbals on Istambul's products range
/ref> Some of their lines have been designed in collaboration with notable professional drummers, including
Mel Lewis Melvin Sokoloff (May 10, 1929 – February 2, 1990), known professionally as Mel Lewis, was an American jazz drummer, session musician, professor, and author. He received fourteen Grammy Award nominations. Biography Early years Lewis was ...
, Cindy Blackman, and
Lenny White Leonard "Lenny" White III (born December 19, 1949) is an American jazz fusion drummer who was a member of the band Return to Forever led by Chick Corea in the 1970s. White has been called "one of the founding fathers of jazz fusion". He has won ...
.


Endorsers

Many prominent drummers of multiple well known bands, as well as many younger contemporary players all spanning multiple genres from rock to jazz and indie to heavy metal all endorse the brand including: *
Mel Lewis Melvin Sokoloff (May 10, 1929 – February 2, 1990), known professionally as Mel Lewis, was an American jazz drummer, session musician, professor, and author. He received fourteen Grammy Award nominations. Biography Early years Lewis was ...
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Stan Kenton Stanley Newcomb Kenton (December 15, 1911 – August 25, 1979) was an American popular music and jazz artist. As a pianist, composer, arranger and band leader, he led an innovative and influential jazz orchestra for almost four decades. Though Ke ...
and
Woody Herman Woodrow Charles Herman (May 16, 1913 – October 29, 1987) was an American jazz clarinetist, saxophonist, singer, and big band leader. Leading groups called "The Herd", Herman came to prominence in the late 1930s and was active until his dea ...
*
Jimmy Chamberlin James Joseph Chamberlin (born June 10, 1964) is an American drummer and record producer. He is best known as the drummer for the alternative rock band The Smashing Pumpkins. Following the 2000 breakup of the band, Chamberlin joined Pumpkins fro ...
of
The Smashing Pumpkins The Smashing Pumpkins (also referred to as simply Smashing Pumpkins) are an American alternative rock band from Chicago. Formed in 1988 by frontman and guitarist Billy Corgan, bassist D'arcy Wretzky, guitarist James Iha and drummer Jimmy Chambe ...
* Zac Farro of
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* Cindy Blackman and
Michael Shrieve Michael Shrieve (born July 6, 1949) is an American drummer, percussionist, and composer. He is best known as the drummer of the rock band Santana, playing on the band's first seven albums from 1969 to 1974. At age 20, Shrieve was the second you ...
of Santana *
Joey Waronker Jon Joseph Waronker (born May 20, 1969) is an American drummer and music producer. He is best known as a regular drummer of both Beck and R.E.M., and as member of the experimental rock bands Atoms for Peace and Ultraísta. Background Waronker ...
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Beck Beck David Hansen (born Bek David Campbell; July 8, 1970) is an American musician, singer, songwriter, and record producer. He rose to fame in the early 1990s with his experimental and lo-fi style, and became known for creating musical colla ...
*
Jeremy Stacey Jeremy Stacey (born 27 September 1963) is a British drummer and keyboard player. His early works included the 1990s band The Lemon Trees (with twin brother Paul Stacey on guitars, Guy Chambers and others) and Denzil. He has also played with ...
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King Crimson King Crimson are a progressive rock band formed in 1968 in London, England. The band draws inspiration from a wide variety of music, incorporating elements of classical, jazz, folk, heavy metal, gamelan, industrial, electronic, experime ...
* Mark Pontius of
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* Michael Iveson of
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*
Jarrod Alexander Jarrod Fletcher Alexander (born August 13, 1981) is an American musician who has played with many hardcore punk bands. Alexander has been the drummer for the bands The Suicide File, A Static Lullaby, Dead Country, and more recently, My Chemical ...
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My Chemical Romance My Chemical Romance (commonly abbreviated to MCR or My Chem) is an American rock band from Newark, New Jersey. The band's current lineup consists of lead vocalist Gerard Way, lead guitarist Ray Toro, rhythm guitarist Frank Iero, and bassist ...
*
Aaron Sterling Aaron Sterling (born July 9, 1980) is an American drummer, producer, engineer, and session musician who lives in Los Angeles. The son of professional musicians, Sterling grew up in Texas and Nashville, Tennessee, before moving to L.A. in 2000. K ...
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John Mayer John Clayton Mayer ( ; born October 16, 1977) is an American singer, songwriter, and guitarist. Born and raised in Fairfield County, Connecticut, Mayer attended Berklee College of Music in Boston, but left and moved to Atlanta in 1997 with ...
* Mike Clark of
Herbie Hancock Herbert Jeffrey Hancock (born April 12, 1940) is an American jazz pianist, keyboardist, bandleader, and composer. Hancock started his career with trumpeter Donald Byrd's group. He shortly thereafter joined the Miles Davis Quintet, where he hel ...
*
James Gadson James Gadson ( James Edward Gadson; born June 17, 1939) is an American drummer and session musician. Beginning his career in the late 1960s, Gadson has since become one of the most-recorded drummers in the history of R&B. He is also a singer and ...
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Bill Withers William Harrison Withers Jr. (July 4, 1938 – March 30, 2020) was an American singer-songwriter and musician. He had several hits over a career spanning 18 years, including "Ain't No Sunshine" (1971), "Grandma's Hands" (1971), " Use Me" (1972) ...
and
Herbie Hancock Herbert Jeffrey Hancock (born April 12, 1940) is an American jazz pianist, keyboardist, bandleader, and composer. Hancock started his career with trumpeter Donald Byrd's group. He shortly thereafter joined the Miles Davis Quintet, where he hel ...
* Christopher Guanlao of
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*
Lenny White Leonard "Lenny" White III (born December 19, 1949) is an American jazz fusion drummer who was a member of the band Return to Forever led by Chick Corea in the 1970s. White has been called "one of the founding fathers of jazz fusion". He has won ...
of
Return to Forever Return to Forever was an American jazz fusion band that was founded by pianist Chick Corea in 1972. The band has had many members, with the only consistent bandmate of Corea's being bassist Stanley Clarke. Along with Weather Report, The Hea ...
* George Sluppick of Chris Robinson *
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*
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* Darren King of
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* Morgan Agren of
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* Andrew Marshall of
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* Witold Kieltyka of
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*
Moses Archuleta Moses Archuleta is an American drummer and multi-instrumentalist. He is best known as the drummer, occasional keyboardist and co-founder of the indie rock band Deerhunter, with whom he has recorded seven studio albums. Archuleta also records so ...
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* Kliph Scurlock of
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* James Culpepper of Flyleaf *
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* Joe Russo of Furthur *
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Ferit Odman Ferit Odman is a jazz drummer based in Istanbul, Turkey. Education Odman started his music studies in Sweden as an AFS exchange student in 1999, then received a full scholarship to Istanbul Bilgi University in 2001, where he obtained his B.A. ...
, jazz great *
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, jazz great *
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See also

* List of cymbal manufacturers *
Cymbal making {{Unreferenced, date=January 2009 Modern cymbal making comprises many different techniques, from traditional hand methods to completely automated mass-production. The traditional process Historically, cymbals were made from individually cast cym ...


References


External links

* {{cymbals Cymbal manufacturing companies Manufacturing companies based in Istanbul Companies established in 1980 Turkish brands Musical instrument manufacturing companies of Turkey