The History Of Zildjian Cymbals | Interview with John Riley and Paul Francis

[@ArtOfDrumming]

What is your connection with Zildjian? Feel free to share your favorite Zildjian Story here in the comments...

[@retiredaccountbriant]

I have a 1950s 22 Inch Zildjian Jazzish Ride, 1980s Zildjian 20 Inch Medium Ride, 1960s Zildjian 18 Inch Medium Crash, and 1960s Zildjian 14 Inch New Beat Hi-Hats. I love vintage cymbals.

[@mikestevens5512]

Zildjian has such an understanding of jazz Applications more than other other mfg's It seems the old 50s A's sound so incredible With there lathing. old K's are so sought after. My question is: Are those glorious sounds Being replicated? For example Agop Signature 22 is a very very thin hand hammered ride that is quiet dark, but with Such depth and clarity, meant to mimick An Old K. My old Paperthin A's are so incredible as well. Can these sounds be replicated?

[@fortedrummer3026]

My dad is my connection with Zildjian. He owned a set of Avedis Zildjian cymbals that he bought in the early 1960s, when he was a working jazz drummer: a 22-inch ride, 18-inch crash, and 15-inch hi-hats. I grew up hearing his cymbals and they were the first cymbals that I ever played. My dad also owned a catalog depicting Zildjian artist cymbal setups, which Zildjian published in 1961. It featured Elvin, Max, Blakey, Krupa (who inspired my dad to play), Rich, Bellson, Morello, and so on. When I could afford to buy own cymbals, I chose a 20-inch K Custom Ride, 16- and 17-inch K Dark Crashes, 13-inch K/Z hi-hats, and 10-inch A splash. I prefer the K Zildjian sound for myself.

[@ArtOfDrumming]

@@fortedrummer3026 Thanks for sharing your story! It's amazing how Zidljian is around for so many years and has influenced so many drummers. Just the list of legendary drummers that are associated with this brand is outstanding

[@robertwallace7213]

Paul and John have taught me " a new drummer " more about Cymbals than any place I have found on the net! With no dog in the fight for brand loyalty, I started with a set of MEINL CLASSICS CUSTOM DARK's and then purchased a set of Zildjian A Customs and from there have purchased Zildjian K Custom hybrids, K Darks, K Sweets, Avedis, A Take Five " Joe Morello " Ride, K Constantinoples... 600 plus in the Zildjian Catalog, what a joy they bring to this short life!

[@itswillondrums]

My first introduction to Zildjian cymbals was at my church when I was 10 years old, I been in love with them ever since. Zildjian is an amazing company and to have a rich history like this truly is remarkable.

[@forgettable8365]

12:03 what an epic foreshadowing that was

[@DavesTrumpet]

Awesome video and two of the coolest people in drumming!

[@dadams1947]

At 77 years old I have been playing Zildjians for 62 years. I still have my original 1962 Ludwig Hollywood double 8 x 12 tom set with an early 60’s 22” A Zildjian ride and 14” high hats along with 16 and 18” A Zildjian crashes. I’m still buying Zildjian today. Just recently I purchased a 20” A crash / ride , a set of Sweet K 15” high hats and earlier a 24” A Sweet Ride. The only cymbals I have today that aren’t Zildjian are a 18” Ufip China , a Sabian 14” crash and some 14” Camber High hat cymbals. I love Zildjian cymbals. ❤

[@rhythmista7707]

Made the switch back from Paiste to Zildjian after almost 30 years playing Paiste.. Mind you, Paiste makes some superb cymbals, used by some of the finest drummers in the world. But there's just something special about zildjian that automatically sounds like what the quintessential cymbal sound is. I use Zildjian K's and A Avedis and couldn't be happier.

[@channingbartlett3334]

p.s. Zendjian or maybe Zenjian. Here's a cymbal story. I was in a band in high school, and a schoolmate went to a dance and somehow knocked over a cymbal stand, which put a crack in the cymbal; I guess he had to replace it and he gave me the old one. As I recall, it was an 18" Paiste from Ludwig. I tried to used it but it just sounded terrible, so one day in exasperation I threw it on the floor and jumped on it. That made it turn inside out. Hey, what do you know, it sounded much better that way! I guess turning it inside out had increased the tension in it. Then I found if I turned it half inside out it was even better, though a forceful crash might cause it to flip back to normal. So for a while in my drum set I had this cymbal, and a part of getting my drums set up was to take it out and turn it half inside out. It made a useful trashy sound. This was before trashy sounding cymbals were on the market.

[@channingbartlett3334]

Thank you! I'm a drummer, 69, and grew up with "Zildjian" as an elemental part of my landscape. Don't know exactly what it's like for young drummers now, as the market and culture have changed. My habit was to get a variety of sounds from a cymbal, but I gather nowadays many drummers want a separate cymbal for each sound. Anyway, I am also a piano tuner/technician, and wanted to say it's interesting to compare the histories of Zildjian and Steinway--old country to new, passing down to later generations, design and research, and marketing strategies. BTW, I first have the first cymbal I ever owned, a 12" paper-thin crash that says "Zendjian" on it. What is that??

[@boomerguy9935]

I bought my first set of Zildjian "Avedis" (no "A" series name at the time) in 1966 from a local drum shop. One 19" ride and a matched pair of 14" hi hats. I still have them. This was before Louis Bellson started the pattern of lighter weight top cymbals and my top was heavier than the bottom but still sounds lighter than the bottom because of the profile and bell shape. I can "spoon" the bottom inside the top but not vice versa. Wonderful hi hats. The ride sounds nice at low volume but has a tremendous hum starting at medium volume which makes it much better for rock than for jazz. After all these years, they still have no keyholes, no pitting, no "bites" and no corrosion - just beautiful patina with a satin shine.

[@MikeJamesMedia]

I've been playing Zildjian ("A") cymbals since 1968, and am always interested to see what's next for Zildjian. Thanks for sharing the interview.

[@ahchv]

Wish Paul were still at Zildjian

[@Luisifer_89]

His making his own cymbals now i bet they are 🔥🔥

[@TheCymbalProject]

The Avedis Series is money. They really sound nice.

[@davidcurtis4478]

Will look forward to watching this heading to the Smokey Mountains 👍🥁👍

[@jc3drums916]

When I started drumming, my cymbals were all Zildjians, mostly As with a couple of Ks. Got a couple more Ks, and A Customs when they were introduced, before I started checking out other brands. I also have a few vintage Zildjians. I don't use most of the As anymore, but I can't get myself to part with them.

[@channingbartlett3334]

p.p.s.: Don't know about today, but in the past I often saw drummers securing a cymbal tightly on a stand in order to hold it at a steep slant, and it seemed to me that might dampen off some of the cymbal tone. I'd like to know, has anyone experimented with drilling the hole off center (or drilling it larger) so that the cymbal will "hang" at a step slant without fastening it down tightly?

[@cheezruff]

Saw a pic of a ride cymbal with 2 holes in bell, one was off center, guess to allow that angle.

[@binker3108]

@@cheezruff Thank you-- Not surprised if someone has thought of it. Hey, maybe it was an accident, a Monday Morning Cymbal?

[@oskarfield8696]

What march is played in the "get yourself some zildjians"?

[@ArtOfDrumming]

That's March Grandioso, by The U.S. Army Band

[@JunkerOnDrums]

Buddy Rich, Elvin Jones, Tony Williams just to name a few :D

[@barrysoetoro8452]

nice

[@Twoholesofman]

Couple of gentlemen there.

[@matrixmodulator]

Ok but what happened in the first 200 years lol

[@chuckg4947]

Amazing he’s from the Zildjian company and he can’t correctly pronounce the names Aram, Avedis and Kerope.

[@NOAHCASAS]

IS PAUL JUST A HIRED C.E.O. AND NOT ZILDIJAN FAMILY AT ALL NOT A GRANDSON THAT WAS HANDED THE FAMILY OWNES COMPANY OR IS HIS HUSBAND LAST NAME "FRANCIS" ???