About the Avedis Zildjian Company
The Zildjian name is synonymous with cymbals since the 17th century. In 1623, in Constantinople, an Armenian alchemist named Avedis discovered a still-secret process for treating alloys, and used this process to produce cymbals. As the fame of the cymbal maker and his cymbals spread, he was given the name “Zildjian” – the Turkish word for “cymbalsmith.” Today, while that process has been refined and perfected over the years, it is still used by the Zildjian Company.
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Zildjian Cymbals were judged to be of such fine musical quality that their sound inspired composers to incorporate cymbals into classical music. Nowhere, however, was this interaction more apparent than after Avedis Zildjian III moved the family business to the United States in 1929. In the true spirit of Jazz, Avedis III improvised. Working with the great drummers of the day like Chick Webb, Jo Jones, Gene Krupa, Max Roach and Buddy Rich, Avedis Zildjian III not only named but invented Crash, Ride, HiHat, Sizzle, Swish and all modern cymbals as we know them today.
Zildjian continued its intimate involvement with music through the Swing years, Dixieland, BeBop, Mainstream and into the age of Pop, Rock, Funk, Electric Jazz and Heavy Metal. Today, the company is also one of the leading manufacturers of drum sticks in the world, owning its own fully integrated manufacturing facility in Alabama with direct access to extensive hickory timber holdings.