Zildjian Pillow

The Avedis Zildjian Company is the world's largest manufacturer of cymbals and drum sticks and one of the oldest continually operating companies in the world.

The first cymbals were formed in 1618 in Constantinople by one Avedis, who, while looking for a way to turn base metal into gold, created an alloy combining tin, copper, and silver into a sheet of metal that could make musical sounds without shattering. Avedis took the surname of Zildjian, from Turkish "zil+ci" (cymbal-maker/seller) and the Armenian suffix "yan" (son of), and began an industry in 1623 whose main product remained secretive for generations. It became family tradition that only the oldest son of the company's head would know the manufacturing process.

This tradition ended with Avedis Zildjian III, who, just before his death, passed on the secret to both of his sons, Armand and Robert. This resulted in a family feud and a legal struggle which ended only when Robert left the company to form the rival Sabian cymbals company in 1981.

The Zildjian Company moved from manufacturing noisemakers to frighten the enemies of the Ottoman Empire to musical instruments in the 19th century. In 1908 Avedis Zildjian III migrated to Boston, while Kerope Zilcan continued to make cymbals in Turkey under the K. Zildjian Constantinople name. In 1923, the Turkish Republic was established and the name of Constantinople was officially changed to Istanbul, resulting in the change of the company’s name from K. Zildjian Constantinople to K. Zildjian Istanbul. Around 1926, Aram Zildjian signed an exclusive American distribution agreement for K. Zildjian cymbals with Fred Gretsch Co.

Around 1928, Avedis III and Aram Zildjian began manufacturing cymbals in Massachusetts, and the Avedis Zildjian Co. was formed in 1929, a competitor against the K Zildjian Company in Turkey. Avedis made many innovations in cymbals that are still around today. He was the first to develop drum set cymbals, and gave cymbals names, such as “Ride,” “Crash,” “Splash,” “Hi-Hat,” and “Sizzle.” Jazz drummers such as Gene Krupa, Buddy Rich, Louie Bellson, Shelly Manne, Cozy Cole, and Papa Jo Jones used Avedis Zildjian cymbals. The cymbals were made with both automated processes and hand hammering, but Zildjian ended the latter tradition in 1964 after a rise in demand resulting from the popularity of the Beatles' drummer Ringo Starr.

In 1968, the K. Zildjian Co. and all European trademarks were bought back by Robert Zildjian on behalf of the Avedis Zildjian Co.

Zildjian was having labor requirement issues with oven room operators and machine operators, so Avedis split the production into two separate operations, one for rolling and casting only, and one for finish work. They then opened up the Azco factory in Meductic, New Brunswick, Canada in 1968.

From 1968 to 1970, the Azco factory produced 'Zilco' cymbals. There were two types of Zilco's. One was a thin rolling produced without any hammering at all, which cut costs.

Robert Zildjian, with a man named Dick Dane, invented the modern process for pressing cymbals into shape around this time in the Azco factory. Prior to this it was done by 'bumping' with the Quincy drop hammer.

In 1970, Zildjian needed all their production capabilities at Azco for their regular Zildjian line, so the factory in Quincy (the then location of Zildjian) would send up castings to be finished into cymbals at Azco. At one point Azco was responsible for 40% of Zildjian's output.

In 1975 there were problems with the Turkish government, and Robert Zildjian went to Turkey and brought over a crew to start making K Zildjian cymbals in the Azco plant. This was an interesting time for the Zildjian clan because it was the first time that Kerope and Avedis Zildjian were working together to make the same "Zildjian" cymbals, after years of competing with each other as A. Zildjian and K. Zildjian Istanbul. These were made until 1979 when Avedis died and Robert split from Zildjian amidst conflict with Armand. Shortly thereafter in 1981, Robert started Sabian cymbals in the Meductic Azco factory, with Kerope and his son continuing on making Sabian's early HH cymbals.

The Avedis Zildjian Company does not only make cymbals. It also makes drumsticks. The drumsticks are currently produced in Alabama and are a top choice for just about every endorser of Zildjian. The Artist Series drumsticks allow these endorsers to personalize their own drumstick, and these sticks may be sold to the public. Two of the favorite Artist Series drumsticks are those of Travis Barker and Dennis Chambers.

The Avedis Zildjian company continues to produce cymbals today in Norwell, Massachusetts. Armand Zildjian was the head of the company after Avedis’ death until his own passing in 2002. The company is now run by Armand’s daughters Craigie and Debbie Zildjian.

Pillow Details __________
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- Cotton Synthetic Silicon For Content
- Size Width Height 35 Cm X 35 Cm

 

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Tama Pillow

Hoshino Gakki began manufacturing drums in 1965 under the name "Star Drums". Hoshino, the family name of the founder, translates to "star field," thus the selection of the "Star Drums" brand name. The drums were manufactured at Hoshino's subsidiary, Tama Seisakusho, which had opened in 1962 to manufacture Ibanez guitars and amplifiers. While the production of guitars and amps was moved out of the factory by 1966, the production of drums there continued to grow. The two higher lines of drum models, Imperial Star and Royal Star, were introduced to the American market and were successful lower-cost drums competing against more expensive American-made drums offered by Rogers, Ludwig, and Slingerland at the time.

By 1974, Hoshino decided to make a concerted effort to make high-quality drums and hardware and start marketing its drums under the Tama brand. Tama was the name of the owner's wife, and means "jewel" in Japanese. In keeping with its heritage, "star" continues to be used in the names of Tama's drum models to this day.

Tama and Drum Workshop (DW) jointly bought the bankrupt Camco Drum Company. As part of the deal, DW received the Camco tooling and manufacturing equipment while Tama received the Camco name, designs, engineering and patent rights.

At the time, Camco was producing what was thought to be the best drum pedal on the market. DW continued production of the pedal using the original tooling, rebadging it as the DW5000. Tama began production of the same pedal under the Camco name. The Tama version of the Camco pedal is commonly referred to as the Tamco pedal to distinguish it from an original Camco pedal. Tama integrated all the engineering from Camco into their production process and the overall level of quality of their drums increased virtually overnight. The original plan was to market the low-end Tama drums to beginners and use the Camco brand to sell high-end drums to professional musicians. However, even the professionals were starting to use the Tama drums because the low cost of the Asian-made drums with the (now) high quality of hardware was a great combination.

Tama was one of the first companies to offer super heavy-duty hardware, and drum mounting systems that did not intrude into the shell like most brands in the 1970s. They also invented unique tubular drums called Octobans. Octobans are 6" in diameter and are manufactured in eight different lengths (hence the prefix "octo-") up to 600mm (23.5"). They vary in pitch by using different shell lengths, rather than widths.

Pillow Details __________
- Nylex For Cloth Materials
- Cotton Synthetic Silicon For Content
- Size Width Height 35 Cm X 35 Cm

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Sonor Pillow

In 1875 Johannes Link, a trained wood turner and tanner, started a small workshop for simple military drums and drum heads in Weißenfels an der Saale in East Germany. From these modest beginnings developed a flourishing business, which at the turn of the century already offered a comprehensive range of percussion instruments. In 1907 the Sonor trademark was registered with the Imperial Patent Office. Around 1925 Sonor had 145 employees and was one of the largest businesses of its kind.

Pillow Details __________
- Nylex For Cloth Materials
- Cotton Synthetic Silicon For Content
- Size Width Height 35 Cm X 35 Cm

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Pearl Pillow

 

Post-war Japan was a time for reconstruction, but it was also a time for new influences, such as Jazz and American-style music education. This created a new generation of musicians who needed affordable musical instruments which, at that time, were in scarce supply. Recognizing this need, Katsumi Yanagisawa started Pearl in a small factory with less than 300 sq. ft. and 2 employees in Sumida, Tokyo on April 2, 1946.

Katsumi’s friend, Mr. Ogura, an experienced businessman himself, recognized the future need for domestic production of musical instruments and urged Katsumi to expand into the manufacturing of drums. The following year, 1950, Katsumi named his small company “Pearl Industry Ltd.”, and with no experience, a severe shortage of raw materials, and with salvaged second hand machinery, began making drums by hand. By the end of that year, the machinery necessary for making drum parts were constructed or purchased, and his first drums along with stands were delivered to his friend’s store for resale. The acceptance of these Pearl products proved so successful that Katsumi knew he had a winner and a future career, and he began the planning process to expand his production facility and add additional products. At this time he renamed the company “Pearl Musical Instrument Company” to make it more representative of its new roll.

Pillow Details __________
- Nylex For Cloth Materials
- Cotton Synthetic Silicon For Content
- Size Width Height 35 Cm X 35 Cm 

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