I was a Zildjian guy at the beginning of my drumming. After I hit my first Istanbul Agop traditional crash, I fell in love. Now I have 2 traditional medium crashes, a traditional paper thin crash, a traditional China, an xist ion crash, and a sultan ride. I love all of them. Still have a couple of my old Zildjian's on my kit and my old Sabian B8 hats, but I'll phase those out eventually
I just got back into drumming. I've listened to hours, and hours of different cymbals from all major brands. In my opinion these cymbals sound the best!
Right on with you there brother! I did the same, researched and listened to many different cymbals and nothing beats handmade Turkish cymbals! Istanbul is my absolute favorite!
To me, the absolutely most serious cymbal brand. I may have lost the count, but I have collected some 30 pieces of them, sizes from tiny to 24", different lines. And everyone of them sounds like a piece of art on their own 🤘🤘
I've used sabian all my life. I have a set of B8's but a few higher end HHX and AAX dot my setup. I have spent many days now (probably over a week) researching into Istanbul Agop cymbals online and have found the exact sound I've always wanted. The xist brilliant ride is gonna be my first purchase I think, then on to researching hats.
WOW! I just got my first cymbal by them. And I’m blown away on how gorgeous it looks and sounds. Seeing how they’re made just gave me an even bigger boost of inspiration. Beautiful work!
Jesus, after watching those guys sitting around hammering those cymbals, this (almost) makes me feel bad for owing my beloved Istanbuls. WHOLE different approach than say Meinl, where most stuff is done with a machine.
@@xyanide1986 Yup....cheaper to make, but even pricier. In some cases 2-3x's the cost for that matter. But, there is something to be said for the consistency in the sound. I play primarily Paiste for that very reason. All our favorite hand-hammered cymbals, that we cherish, seems to take a lifetime to get a set of, because of such inconsistency in sound. Then God help you if one breaks...then they become impossible to replace. Love the craftsmanship, though.
@@phillamoore157 very good point you make there. I have two full sets of the Agop Xist brilliant, one with the older stamp seen in this video. They sound a lot ricker, more complex and nicer to me. I have to say I do much prefer to try and buy these very subjective things in person.
@@xyanide1986 Very well said. You made a good point. It's not the individual sounds that are bad. I've got absolutely beautiful sounding Istanbul's that are bit more modern. It's getting a set of 5-6 that sound good together. I picked one up in Europe one year that I loved, and came back home and recorded with it, and it sounded like it was a totally different brand of cymbal on tape. I was stunned, because my ears didn't pick that up. I was looking for certain characteristics, not for a good fit with the rest of my cymbals. That's another reason I started playing Paiste Dark Energy (which I wanted to hate initially due to the cost). But, they sound beautiful, and I could buy an 18" crash anywhere in the world, and know it will fit my setup. Just the downside of HH cymbals. But, all that said, there's still nothing like my hand-picked HH cymbals. My K's, and my Istanbuls are still where my heart is. 👍
I really enjoyed watching this - I currently use the XIST line, soon enough I will get cymbals from the Traditional line, which are made this way I believe. It’s so cool to know the cymbal you end up with has a unique sound, due to the humans working on it! Hammering, lathing(?), clearly years of experience eyeballing the cymbals as they take shape.
As a proud owner of two Istanbul Agop cymbals (Mel Lewis 22" and Signature 21"), I would love to know more about the company and it's history. Make yourselves known! X
Art is proper to human beings and can't be reproduced by machines, "Big Z" has gone against the very idea of tradition set by "Big Z" himself almost 4 centuries ago. No machine can mimic hand hammering and the difference can be heard.
Hammering also compresses the bronze in the spots where the hammer hits, so there’s a variation in thickness (and I think density) across the surface, this allows the cymbal to vibrate at different frequencies at the same time and deliver a richer, wider sound.
I visited back in 2001. Great working people neighborhood. Our guide was a super friendly dude with long hair who played in lots of diff crazy prog jazz bands. Friendly, hard working people!!
The Xist series is one of the best bangs (or pings) for your buck when it comes to cymbals. Besides, look at the amount of work and experience it takes to make a cymbal...
