Mission Our mission is to provide the 100% Hand Made Cymbals which we manufacture with centuries old tradition for the music industry to help the artists to have a unique sound and inspire their art.
Company Overview Bosphorus Cymbals became a global brand and a leading company because of the perfection of the product lines and revolutionary approaches to the production of traditional Turkish cymbals. Some of our product lines like Master Vintage Series™, described as "one of the most inspiring cymbals ever made" at some magazine reviews.
The manufacturing method of Bosphorus Cymbals is %100 Handmade. It means we are manufacturing cymbals only with the traditional method and without using any kind of technology like machines or computers. That is why Bosphorus Cymbals factory is looks like a old workshop instead of a big manufacturing facility. The factory has capacity to make 30 cymbals a day which means every single piece of our product is a limited edition product for global market.
Description Istanbul is the largest city in Turkey and serves as its financial and cultural center. More than 15,000,000 people live in greater Istanbul, making it one of the twenty largest metropolitan areas in the world. It is the only city in the world which sits astride two continents, with the European and Asian sides separated by a narrow channel of water known as the Straits of Bosphorus. During its rich history Istanbul has served as the capital of the Roman, Byzantine, Latin, and Ottoman empires. The city today reflects this eclectic mix of East and West.
In ancient times, the mountains of this region were found to have large reserves of copper and tin. Demand for these metals, and the natural crossroads location of Istanbul led to the establishment of trade routes to Europe and Asia. Metallurgy began here as copper and tin were smelted together to produce bronze.
Legend has it that the sounds of arrows hitting bronze shields led to the development of musical cymbals. In any event, highly skilled artisans have been hand making cymbals on the banks of the Bosphorus for hundreds of years. It is a time-honored labor intensive process that delivers the dark complex purity of tone sought after by discerning drummers for generations.
At Bosphorus Cymbals we honor and maintain that tradition to this day. We take no shortcuts, especially in the hand-hammering process. This critical step is absolutely necessary to create the fine nuances and depth of expression that your music demands. We believe hand-hammering means simply that: a man striking a cymbal with a hammer held in his hand. The artisan hears the sounds of the hammer blows as he feels the cymbal in his other hand, bringing to fore years of experience and mastery. That’s the only way we make each and every cymbal bearing our logo.
Sensing the importance of this process, some companies market their cymbals as hand-made. But are they really? Guiding a pneumatic hammer is not hand-hammering. Adding a few hammer marks by hand after completing the pneumatic process isn’t hand hammering. At Bosphorus, one man with one hammer makes cymbals one at a time. We call this essential human dimension the “Soul of the Cymbal”. Once you hear the difference, you won’t settle for anything less. Play one and believe!
History Bosphorus Cymbals has established in 1996 by three master cymbal smiths, Hasan Seker, Ibrahim Yakici and Hasan Ozdemir. They are called as Masters because they are the most experienced cymbal smiths in the world who are still working actively.
The Masters started to work at a cymbal workshop in 1983 when they were 11-12 years old. At the beginning it was a summer time job but they loved what they have been doing and they decided to quit the school and continue working. Their teachers were Mehmet Tamdeger and Agop Tomurcuk who were also the owners of the workshop. During their service for that company for 16 years, they have learned everything and became master cymbal smiths. Even during that period they were being noticed by the visitors with their fine work.
They quit from the company after 16 years because of some disagreements with their bosses and established their own company. But even today they have good relationships with their former employers. Masters never gave up showing respect to their teachers.
Today our company has 21 employers and 8 of them is being trained since the first day and became master cymbal smiths. The rest of our team are still in training period to be a master. The Masters are still working in the workshop with their employers and guiding them to create the perfect cymbals with their 30 years of experience.
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