Istanbul Agop

As the 20th century drew towards its close, the traditional Turkish method for hand crafting cymbals had all but been abandoned due to the efficiencies and mass production facility provided by machines. In 1980, the very first Istanbul Cymbals began to enter the market place and the drummers around the world took notice immediately. What they heard and what they saw was the work of our founder, Agop Tomurcuk, who had been developing his skills since the age of 9 and had worked at the original K factory in Istanbul as the foreman until the factory's closure in 1978. He started this new venture in 1980 under the name ‘Zilciler'. Shortly thereafter, the legendary name Istanbul was founded.

In the following years, the name of the brand; ‘Istanbul Cymbals' became glorious for creating those unique and classic sounds. During those years, we also developed many completely original, inimitable, cutting-edge designs, while we were still employing the traditional methods. Many of these inventive designs are in our production-line today, such as Turk, Sultan, Vezir, Empire, Ottoman and Pasha. In the 21st century, the art of cymbal making mentioned with the name Istanbul Agop, as it is one of the few firms which manufacture hand-made cymbals for generations. Play the original. Play Istanbul Agop.