Inside the Zildjian Cymbal Factory November 15th, 2009

Just spotted this pretty awesome look inside the history of famed cymbal manufacturer Zildjian over on A Continuous Lean, and learned a few things on the oldest maker of some of the finest cymbals around. Originally founded in 1623, the Zildjian family first produced cast bronze cymbals for the Sultan of Constantinople and were commissioned to produce them for the royal family. Responsible for what is known as the modern day cymbal, the Zildjian family formula for casting, molding and hammering has defined the standard for the industry.

Interestingly enough, the etymology of the name Zildjian literally means “son of the cymbal maker.” “Zil” is the Turkish for “cymbal” and “-dji” is the Turkish suffix for “maker” and “-ian” is the Armenian surname-forming suffix for “son of”.

Video of the Zildjian Factory Tour after the jump.