Itsanbul Agop Production Video

[joeybeats]

Found this at another site, thought you guys would like it. Posted in 2005, extremely cool video. Mod's take it down if it has been posted in another thread ... I did a search and didn't find it. It streams on Firefox/Mozilla. Joey

http://www.mozilla.com/en-US/firefox/

http://studiolott.com/agop.mov

[Steamer]

Yup watched this quite a few times. Great fun watching how a cymbal is made using old world production methods starting as castings in the metal pots rolled right away in the press then heated and rolled several times again in the press, cut to size, hand hammered and lathed right up to the amazing Agop stock room at the end,what a field of dreams!.

Love watching the annealing process with the big wood burning oven and the guy taking them in an out like they were big pizzas and the press slowly making the castings into the final round flat circle shape of a cymbal.

It does take time to download for me at least on a QuickTime player so be prepared for a wait.

[GRUNTERSDAD]

Very interesting. Almost feel guilty not using that brand after watching the amount of work and the HAND hammering. I think the one guy hammering the fastest was actually using the Moeller technique with his hammer. And wouldn't OSHA have fun with that place. No eye, ear, or hand protection. No leather aprons for the sparks, etc. Very primitive compared to the fancy Sabian one I've watched before.

[Steamer]

Very interesting. Almost feel guilty not using that brand after watching the amount of work and the HAND hammering. I think the one guy hammering the fastest was actually using the Moeller technique with his hammer. And wouldn't OSHA have fun with that place. No eye, ear, or hand protection. No leather aprons for the sparks, etc. Very primitive compared to the fancy Sabian one I've watched before.

Yes what you see is probably very similar to what you would have seen walking into the old K factory in Istanbul before it closed . I heard that Istanbul Agop didn't upgrade to natural gas to heat the metal for mixing and pouring in the pans till sometime in the last 10 years or so {?} as well as some modern electric motors for some of the other machines used in the cymbal making process. This is indeed for sure the world of old style hand made cymbal making gruntersdad

[GRUNTERSDAD]

You bet Steam...hard work by artisans. Thats why I say I feel guilty not playing those even though my Masterwork cymbals are Turkish made also.

[Steamer]

You bet Steam...hard work by artisans. Thats why I say I feel guilty not playing those even though my Masterwork cymbals are Turkish made also.


Grunterdad I think it would be equally as fascinating to tour the Masterwork factory in Istanbul as well as other old world Turkish cymbal makers besides the production video on the inner workings at Istanbul Agop posted here. Due to the length and content I agree the Agop video is a real treat for fans of Turkish hand made cymbals.

[joeybeats]

You guys having download wait issues, consider putting a copy of Firefox on your desktop and use it for this. You can have IE and another browser on your computer at the same time, nothing will explode. After you have downloaded Firefox, the video streams and you will see it instantly. You may like Firefox, and it is free.
http://www.mozilla.com/en-US/firefox/

Joey

[Steamer]

You guys having download wait issues, consider putting a copy of Firefox on your desktop and use it for this. You can have IE and another browser on your computer at the same time, nothing will explode. After you have downloaded Firefox, the video streams and you will see it instantly. You may like Firefox, and it is free.
http://www.mozilla.com/en-US/firefox/

Joey

Thanks for the excellent tip Joey. It takes about 15 minutes or more for my QuickTime player to download it so your suggestion about Firefox is very good indeed.

[drumbandit]

Such an interesting video, I wonder if the hammerers get payed a fair wage? Makes me wanna get some Istanbul Agops, so good seeing them lathing.

[Steamer]

Such an interesting video, I wonder if the hammerers get payed a fair wage? Makes me wanna get some Istanbul Agops, so good seeing them lathing.

I asked the local Agop distributor that very question one night and he said by Turkish economic standards the workers at Istanbul Agop are paid quite properly for their work including the cymbal artisans doing the hand hammering together in the room as seen in the video and all of the other highly skilled workers in the cymbal production process including the worker seen in the video doing the very skilled and complex lathing of a cymbal.

It only made me appreciate the quality my Agops even more after seeing this video a few times drumbandit.

[joeybeats]

Very interesting .... I think the one guy hammering the fastest was actually using the Moeller technique with his hammer. And wouldn't OSHA have fun with that place. No eye, ear, or hand protection. No leather aprons for the sparks, etc. Very primitive ....

Indeed. My thoughts exactly as I watch the hot liquid pouring into the omelette pans in the first few minutes of the video ... no gloves or head protection as the molten lava is pouring and the sparks and hot liquid are flying everywhere. You can absolutely feel the heat and smell the sweat of the workers as they produce those cymbals. An amazing video to me.

Nice one about the moeller! Joey

[Steamer]

Indeed. My thoughts exactly as I watch the hot liquid pouring into the omelette pans in the first few minutes of the video ... no gloves or head protection as the molten lava is pouring and the sparks and hot liquid are flying everywhere. You can absolutely feel the heat and smell the sweat of the workers as they produce those cymbals. An amazing video to me.

Nice one about the moeller! Joey


Yes Joey that's what really struck me the first time I watched it since you can really feel the heat and sweat of what's going on. Yes amazing stuff.

Hey guys if you're going to hand hammer cymbals all day you better develop a relaxed technique and approach with the different hammers used LOL!.

[Steamer]

Here's some pics inside the new factory Istanbul Agop moved into recently I came across today on the net:


http://picasaweb.google.com/Smitt1234/IstanbulAgopFactory

[Drummer Karl]

Watched it last night but had no time to give a response yet, so I`m gonna do it now:

Informing video!! Finally I can see how those plates I love and play (and I love to play) are actually made. It`s very impressive to see that it is all made by hand, without any hammering machines. And it is quite strange that all begins with a black pie. wow.

But when you see how it is created you can see how special every single cymbal is.
Makes me feel even more awesome when playing my Agops.

Thanks for the video, really enjoyed all the information.

PS: Are the cymbals pressed into form in the end or do the hammer guys hammer them till they get the smooth form?

Karl

[Steamer]

PS: Are the cymbals pressed into form in the end or do the hammer guys hammer them till they get the smooth form?

Karl



Karl only the bells are pressed into shape on each cymbal based on the end result final production model Istanbul Agop cymbal. The cymbals are hammered by hand to shape using old traditional Turkish cymbal production methods by first a team of 6 craftmen then the final shaping is done by the most skilled cymbal master hammersmiths at Agop.

[Drummer Karl]

Thanks!
Man that has to be kinda hard to hammer every cymbal into a perfect shape. It surely needs much experience!

Karl

[Steamer]

Thanks!
Man that has to be kinda hard to hammer every cymbal into a perfect shape. It surely needs much experience!

Karl

You bet Karl. That's what gives me an even deeper respect for the quality of the final product that the highly skilled artisans at Agop produce.

[joeybeats]

Glad you had a chance to catch the video, Karl. Particularly since you're the one that convinced me to purchase my Istanbul Agop 21" Mel Lewis Sizzle. A cymbal which started off on the "Not sure if it's for me" list, but now on my "Wow, this is a perfect cymbal" list. Thanks again. Joey

[Drummer Karl]

You bet Karl. That's what gives me an even deeper respect for the quality of the final product that the highly skilled artisans at Agop produce.

Wow, only thing I can say about this: Respect is the right word. Especially for Hi-Hat producing it needs much experience and feeling for the hammer because the bottom and top has to fit onto each other...but not just hammering gets my respect, really the whole process of producing, no, creating a cymbal gets my deepest respect!

Glad you had a chance to catch the video, Karl. Particularly since you're the one that convinced me to purchase my Istanbul Agop 21" Mel Lewis Sizzle. A cymbal which started off on the "Not sure if it's for me" list, but now on my "Wow, this is a perfect cymbal" list. Thanks again. Joey

Hey Joey, I`m just happy that you`re happy with your Mel Lewis. (Not with Mel of course, but with that pie.) lol
One of my personal favourites in the Agop catalog.

thanks,

Karl

[Steamer]

Wow, only thing I can say about this: Respect is the right word. Especially for Hi-Hat producing it needs much experience and feeling for the hammer because the bottom and top has to fit onto each other...but not just hammering gets my respect, really the whole process of producing, no, creating a cymbal gets my deepest respect!




You bet Karl it's the whole process for me too that goes into creating a Istanbul Agop cymbal from start to finish and of coarse the most important thing the end result the sound of the cymbal when it reaches our hands.

[Big_Philly]

...hard work by artisans.

...except for the poor guy operating the machine that places stamps. I've done similar work (in a steel mill) for about two weeks and really didn't like how monotone that was...

Other than that: awesome video! It really makes me appreciate cymbals even more.

[KONA]

Found this at another site, thought you guys would like it. Posted in 2005, extremely cool video. Mod's take it down if it has been posted in another thread ... I did a search and didn't find it. It streams on Firefox/Mozilla. Joey

http://www.mozilla.com/en-US/firefox/

http://studiolott.com/agop.mov

I just watched this video - timely as I'm making a trip to Surrey, BC tomorrow morning to buy a full set of Islatnbul cymbals. My first cymbal purchase in more than 30 years.
Very interesting video - good to know how they're made; quite a process. I'm going to have much more appreciation for these cymbals once I get them now that I've seen this video.

Thanks

[Steamer]

I just watched this video - timely as I'm making a trip to Surrey, BC tomorrow morning to buy a full set of Islatnbul cymbals. My first cymbal purchase in more than 30 years.
Very interesting video - good to know how they're made; quite a process. I'm going to have much more appreciation for these cymbals once I get them now that I've seen this video.

Thanks


Looking forward to hearing all about your new set of Istanbul Agop Cymbals Kona.

Yes the video is a real treat and very interesting indeed.

[Steamer]

Here's some brand new video images taken quite recently I found tonight featuring a section of Istanbul Agops spacious new digs they moved into this year. You can hear and briefly see the hammerers off in another open room just before the camera closes in on the lathers in action.

Short but interesting none the less:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nbzMsmz0nhk

[Ozzy Biz]

I've seen pictures from the Bosphorus factory before, but this video is great.
I really like the idea that these are hand-made by artisians, and also that it's making skilled jobs for the people in Turkey. Certainly reaffirms my decision not to buy Zildjian again....

[Steamer]

I've seen pictures from the Bosphorus factory before, but this video is great.
I really like the idea that these are hand-made by artisians, and also that it's making skilled jobs for the people in Turkey. Certainly reaffirms my decision not to buy Zildjian again....

Yes I appreciate the level of human skill and cymbal artistry displayed in the video Ozzy Biz.

I agree on your last point too...

[sio_13]

That really opened up my eyes. I think that I will make the switch from zildjian to handmade cymbals (I'll decide on what kind when I actually start shopping, of course)- it will still be a while, probably after I get a handmade shell pack (hopefully a Spaun), but will surely happen. Great video, makes me wish I had a metal factory in my basement instead of a woodshop...