\"Craftsmanship is priceless\" was Michael Skiba\'s credo and working to this edict made him a truly original craftsman and succesful custom cymbalsmith with the same acclaim among drummers as gurus like the late Johan van de Sijpe, Roberto Spizzichino, and Steve Hubback.

Mike Skiba graciously and humbly offered up endless volumes of his own personal research within the art of, not only modifying cymbals, but creating these mysterious instruments. His knowledge of the tools, procedures, and the metals created a groundwork of challenging inspiration for many to further investigate, or even begin the journey of truly making cymbals.

Mike\'s memorial service is schedule for 12pm-4pm on Saturday November 20, 2010 at his home in Brick, NJ.

Kayla Skiba, Mike Skiba\'s daughter who is playing the drums as well, posted a statement on www.cymbalholic.com, expressing her wish to continue her father\'s legacy. Says Kayla:

\"I ask that you as fellow musicians help me continue his legacy. I am almost finished with my first two years of college now and I will be moving to a different area of NJ sometime in the next year. It is my wish to take my father\'s machinery, drums, cymbals, and equipment with me when I move. In order to respect the craftsmanship that he put into creating his fine instruments, I would like to store everything in well-protected and well-padded storage/travel bags. I am talking about the type you go to gigs with to keep everything very safe. If you as a community can assist me with this, I think you would be doing my father a great honor by protecting his instruments for many years to come.\"

As far as the donation of storage bags is concerned, Kayla has well over 100 cymbals in her possession now plus approximately 10 snare drums, a lot of toms and several bass drums. If you think you can help, feel free to contact Kayla by e-mail.