The Zildjian Tour
Kris & Andy venture to cymbal heaven
Andy says, "If I've told them once, I told them a thousand times...put Andy Farag first, then Kris Myers..."
While we where taking a couple days off Kris and I where invited to visit the Zildjian factory outside of Boston. Makers of the worlds best cymbals, Zildjian was founded in 1623! (Joel was just beginning elementary school at that time) As we entered Zildjian HQ it seemed more like a museum than an office. Steeped in rich musical history many of the walls are adorned with pictures of some the most legendary of drummers as well as some really classic drum sets of these famed musicians. It was really cool to be up close and be able to sit on Buddy Rich's actual set!
We then took a tour of the factory (of which we have no pictures due to the top secret process that they create cymbals) I will tell you that this was probably my favorite part of the day. It was so great to be immersed in the sites, smells, and sounds of the factory. Kris and I are so very fortunate to have the support of such a great family run business. We love our Zildjian cymbals!
This is the main vault where thousands of cymbals of different sizes and models are stored, ready to be shipped to customers, artists, and music merchandise stores all over the world. Andy is told he can swap out some of his original touring cymbals with new, brighter, shinier ones.....needless to say, Andy is very happy!
This is the orchestral cymbal vault, where classical musicians travel from all over the world, trying out their favorite cymbals in a sound proofed room with reverb modeling so you can hear your cymbals in a concert hall or a cathedral or whichever you prefer. "Riiiiccola!!"
It was amazing to see the process of how the cymbals are manufactured through machine hammering and ridiculous technology. First you melt them into a small metallic "globule"...then, they flatten the molten metal, then they cut them to size, then machine hammered with these giant dyes, then they are lathed by hand to make the shiny grooves of the cymbal. At this point they are buffed and coated with a protectant finish. After one final "secret process" they are stamped with the Zildjian logo...then swiftly grabs the cymbal and puts it throught the last man on the assembly line to rack all the cymbals to be lastly inspected by an "expert cymbalsmith". So cool to watch!
One of the great perks to the factory was the different drumsets donated by certain Hall of Fame drummers. This is a drumset given by the great Gene Krupa, who is one of my personal favorites. Gene Krupa was one of the most popular big band era drummers in history, and was mostly known for his raging performances with the Duke Ellington Orchestra. He was the predecessor to the incomparable Buddy Rich, as well as others like Louie Bellson, who was known as the first drummer to incorporate double bass drums in a big band setting.
Speaking of Buddy Rich, there so happened to be one of his kits there as well. Buddy Rich was arguably the greatest drummer of all time, with brilliant musicianship and had lightning fast technique that was almost unheard of. To my understanding, Buddy was very close to the Zildjian family and when he was practically on his death bed, gave his kit from his last performance to Armand Zildjian, saying "take good care of it for me." Hope he doesn't mind me sitting behind his beautiful white marine Slingerlands....I couldn't resist.
Travis Barker's Red, White, and Blue
Ginger Baker's setup
Ringo, baby!