(SOUNDBITE OF CYMBAL CLANGING)
SCOTT SIMON, HOST:
Wow. That's a Zildjian cymbal. Drummers across the globe know that name. It's emblazoned on them all. What's less known is that the Zildjian family has been making their famous cymbals with a secret process for more than 400 years. That's almost as long as BJ Leiderman has done our theme music. Member station WBUR's Andrea Shea got inside their factory in Norwell, Massachusetts to find out more about the world's oldest cymbal company.
(SOUNDBITE OF FACTORY MACHINES RUNNING)
ANDREA SHEA, BYLINE: Even here in Massachusetts, a lot of people have no idea an industrial factory outside of Boston casts, blasts, rolls, hammers, buffs and tests at least a million Zildjian cymbals each year.
JOE MITCHELL: There's a lot of mystique and a lot of history at this facility.
SHEA: Director of Operations, Joe Mitchell, is one of the few privy to a Zildjian process that's been shrouded in mystery since the height of the Ottoman Empire.
(SOUNDBITE OF MACHINES RUNNING)
MITCHELL: So behind this door is where we have our foundry. This is where we melt our metals and where we pour our castings. I'll show you what the castings look like but obviously, we can't go beyond this point.
SHEA: The castings look like rough-hewn metal pancakes, but they possess the secret to the Zildjian sound.
(SOUNDBITE OF METAL DING)
SHEA: The company's proprietary alloy was alchemized 13 generations ago in Constantinople - now Istanbul - by Debbie Zildjian's ancestor, Avedis I.
DEBBIE ZILDJIAN: He was actually trying to make gold. And what he ended up making was a combination of copper and tin. The mixing of those metals produced a very loud, resonant, beautiful sound.
(SOUNDBITE OF MARCHING BAND MUSIC)
SHEA: The Ottoman Sultan summoned the metalsmith to his palace in 1618 to make cymbals for military bands. They were also used in churches and by belly dancers. Jump to the 1700s, and Debbie Zildjian says European composers, including Mozart and Haydn, added cymbals to their symphonies.
(SOUNDBITE OF HAYDN'S "MILITARY SYMPHONY IN G, H.I NO. 100")
ZILDJIAN: So that's how the reputation grew.
SHEA: But Debbie says Zildjian became synonymous with cymbals after her grandfather, Avedis III, an ethnic Armenian emigrated to the U.S. in 1909. Two decades later, he relocated the business to Massachusetts with his uncle. At the time, jazz was exploding. So Avedis III went to New York City to develop new sounds with drumming pioneers. Then things really took off for Zildjian with a little help from the Beatles' 1964 appearance on "The Ed Sullivan Show."
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "I WANT TO HOLD YOUR HAND")
THE BEATLES: (Singing) When I say that somethin' I want to hold your hand. I want to hold your hand.
ZILDJIAN: Everybody wanted to become a musician. Everyone wanted to play. And it was in a matter of months that we were totally backordered because Ringo was a huge celebrity. So that catapulted our business into the modern era.
SHEA: Now Debbie and her sister, Craigie, who's president and executive chair, are carrying on the family business' legacy. Drummers across all genres have embraced Zildjian cymbals, from Lars Ulrich of Metallica to Grammy award-winning jazz drummer Terri Lyne Carrington.
(SOUNDBITE OF DRUMMING)
TERRI LYNE CARRINGTON: I normally play about six cymbals plus hi-hats. They're the sound that I've been playing my whole life because most jazz drummers play Zildjian cymbals.
SHEA: Carrington is a Zildjian artist, which means she exclusively endorses and plays the company's symbols. She says they helped her forge her musical identity.
CARRINGTON: Your cymbals are your signature. So whenever you play, you're generally recognized by your cymbal sound and your touch and your cymbal patterns, at least in jazz.
(SOUNDBITE OF TERRI LYNE CARRINGTON, ET AL.'S "WIND FLOWER")
SHEA: Carrington's drum kit is like a painter's palette. Each symbol's color guides her to the next stroke. She visited the Zildjian factory not too long ago.
CARRINGTON: I mean, I don't know the secret sauce, but to make a piece of metal sound so pretty and become this beautiful instrument that's a part of every kind of music that you hear is pretty remarkable.
(SOUNDBITE OF FACTORY MACHINES RUNNING)
SHEA: The Zildjian factory has evolved to keep up with demand for its 600 models of cymbals sold in more than 100 countries. Today, machines hammer the alloy instruments, but their forms are still finessed by skilled craftsmen. And every cymbal has to pass a human ear test. That's Eric Duncan's job.
(SOUNDBITE OF CYMBALS)
ERIC DUNCAN: We test anywhere from 1,000 to 4,000 cymbals a day, depending on how busy we are.
SHEA: Each approved cymbal gets stamped with the family name. They call it the Zildjian kiss.
(SOUNDBITE OF MACHINE STAMPING)
SHEA: Debbie Zildjian loves sharing her family's storied history. But as a keeper of their closely guarded 400-year-old alloy, she confirms...
ZILDJIAN: The secret part will remain a secret.
SHEA: For NPR News, I'm Andrea Shea.
(SOUNDBITE OF TERRI LYNE CARRINGTON, ET AL.'S "UPLIFTED HEART") Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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