The UFIP Cymbal and Pistoia
History
UFIP had it's beginnings when three
families of this small village, the Biasei's, Tronci's, and Zanchi's formed an alliance in 1929 and introduced UFIP
(the Unione Fabbricanti Italiani Piatti) as a brand name for their
hand-made cymbals in 1931. Today the same families are still managing UFIP S.A.
of Pistoia and practicing their craft in the same tradition their elders did
over seventy years ago at the same location and in the same building.
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Carlo while administering and
managing corporate affairs at UFIP has, for many
years, been personally responsible for the production of Tuned Gongs,
Flat and Tubular Bells, as well as many other sophisticated sound and
percussion instruments. Many of his superb instruments are found in
many of the grand opera houses of the world. See how many other cymbal
manufacturers have as their corporate leaders one of the most skilled
and respected cymbal smiths still is involved in the daily work on the
floor doing what he truly loves to do, making fine cymbals!
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Luigi is also still
active in producing hand-made Targo cast bronze Tam Tams, as well as
many other Gongs and percussion instruments offered by UFIP. He also
personally takes care of
drummers from around the world who visit the UFIP foundry looking for
the cymbal they have been dreaming of for many years.
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The younger Tronci, part of the
new generation at UFIP, manages production as
well as being directly involved in the art of making cymbals by hand.
His contribution at UFIP has produced tremendous improvements in
expanding the hand-made production of cymbals at the foundry.
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The son of Carlo, also
part of the new generation at UFIP, a graduate of business administration
from one of the most respected universities in France shares
the responsibility of administrating and managing the corporate
affairs of UFIP S.A. with his father.
There are presently less than
fifteen people involved in the actual making/producing/creating UFIP
Cymbals at the factory in Pistoia.
We understand that in the late
70's one of the most respected non European cymbal manufacturers
established their own foundry in Pistoia because they recognized that if
they were to produce hand-made cymbals, Pistoia had the expertise and the
craftsmanship available to make this possible for them to achieve. Many of us would agree that this confirms the fact that
cymbal making in this part of Tuscany, Italy is an art not found in other
areas and certainly not in North America. We have found that
craftsmen with the knowledge and cultural background who practice the
cymbal-making art which goes back a
couple of centuries, as they do in Pistoia, cannot be found in other
parts of the world.
We are told that towards the end
of the 80's there was only one cymbal foundry left in Pistoia, UFIP.
Putting the proper team together to produce a hand-made cymbal of the
highest quality cannot be accomplished just because someone has the will
to do it. It took years, seventy in fact, for UFIP to arrive where
they are today.
Metal Alloy for Making Cymbals
. . . is it a Secret?
Some people would want us to
think that there is a mystery connected to the metal alloy used in making
cymbals. This may have been true in 1858 but in the year 2000, can
we be so naive to believe this? Any one of us could take any cymbal to a specialized
metallurgic lab and find out exactly the percentage of the metals used in
any given cymbal product on the market today down to parts per million of
trace elements. Much more is involved. Casting is as much of
an art as it is a skill as the final shaping for it is here that the magic
in the final sounds and tonal qualities of a cymbal begins. I have
often heard the poor sound of cymbals explained away as a "bad
pour". The meaning of this is that alloying metals is just not
as easy as it sounds. You can't just add a certain precise mix of
metals and expect them to mix in a homogenous form. Without the
metals mixing thoroughly you do not have a true and pure alloy.
Different metals have different melting points that is common
knowledge. It's easy to melt copper and easy to melt tin. It's
more important and crucial to maintaining the final sound characteristics
that the instruments will consistently deliver if one has mastered the
difficult challenge of properly controlling and maintaining the proper
heat levels used during the casting process as this, combined with all the
other aspects of making a UFIP cymbal is what will lead to the end result
of their fabulous sound qualities.
Of course in the year 2000 the
myth is no longer. What is considered true "Bell Bronze"
alloy is 80% Copper and 20% Tin. With the level of
science available today any one of us could have this verified in a
metallurgy laboratory.
Bronze alloy was developed at least 3000 BC,
with the so-called true "Bronze Bell" alloy (80% Copper 20% Tin)
being developed during the Renaissance in Europe in the 15th or 16th
centuries.
Historically some of the earliest Chinese
Bronze ornamental and utilitarian bronzes varied widely according to use.
Axes typically contained 80% Copper and 20% Tin; Tridents were 75% Copper
and 25% Tin; Swords, Spears and Hoes were 66.66% Copper and 33.33% Tin;
Arrow Points and Knives were usually found to be 60% Copper and 40% Tin;
Mirrors were 50-50; and Bells and Gongs were usually made of 83.33% Copper
and 16.66% Tin.
The Early Greeks used softer Bronze for their
swords at an 87.5% Copper to 12.5% Tin but surprisingly their Bell Bronze
carried from 75% of Copper with 25% Tin all the way down to the exact same
ratio that the Early Chinese used for the Bell Bronze of 83.33% Copper
with 16.66% Tin.
One must remember, however that early metal
smiths did not have access to sophisticated scientific metallurgical
knowledge, testing instruments, temperature controlled furnaces of the
18th and 20th centuries used in the annealing and tempering stages so
percentages have and still do vary according to the intended usage.
For example Bronze Fittings for a Yacht or other Ocean Going Vessel has
it's properties intended for strength and corrosion resistance and not
sound qualities.
Brass is another copper alloy using Zinc as
the alloying metal rather than Tin. Brass is softer and easier for
use in the manufacture of inexpensive cymbals which are stamped.
Sound wise there is no comparison.
Now alloying copper with Tin instead of Zinc
could would see many people in the metal industry agreeing that an alloy
of Copper and less than 8% Tin should be referred to as brass and not
bronze even though the term Bronze is commonly used today for percussion made of an
alloy of copper with much less the 16% tin but many of these very likely
contain certain percentages of Zinc to make them more easily manageable in
stamping the bell and subsequent stamping processes. This type of brass alloy is
much softer than true "Bell Bronze" and therefore does not
produce the same brilliant sound found in a true bronze alloy cymbal.
In the last century, many years ago, the three
families listed above in the village of Pistoia in Tuscany were involved
in making church bells and other bronze percussion instruments. Today the
tradition continues. The same three families are still working with true
"Bronze Bell" material offering unique cymbals, gongs and tam
tams.
UFIP uses the term "Packfong" for the
brass alloy they developed that contains a small percentage of nickel
silver metal material. The Packfong alloy Tam Tams/Gongs reproduce more
overtones than the ones made of brass. The brass alloy Tam Tams/Gongs
deliver more of the typical soft and warm sound characteristics.
The making of a UFIP
hand-crafted cymbal is labor intensive
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CASTING and then there is
casting! At UFIP when they talk about their cast cymbals they are
talking about melting the bronze alloys into a liquid form and then
pouring this molten metal into rotating, centrifugal molds before the
tempering stage. There is no stamping of cups and bells by UFIP
cymbal smiths since the molds provide the shape of all hand-made
cymbals at UFIP. We are not talking about machinery here. We are
talking about labor-intensive old-world hand craftsmanship not
unskilled computer controlled automation. All of these activities are done
in-house (not by unskilled sub-contractors), but by men heirs to the
skills generations of master cymbal makers who eat, sleep, and breath
the passion for one thing...to craft the finest, most perfect sounding
cymbals in the world. This is the UFIP of Pistoia today.
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TEMPERING and surface
tempering for the Natural and Bionic Series
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LATHING
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SHAPING and FIRST HAMMERING
SESSION. The original casting is about three times as heavy as the
final weight of the finished cymbal. Shaping is responsible for
taking off about 60% of the original metal and 6% will be taken off
during the final shaving.
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SHAVING is responsible for
the final look and sound . The deeper the grooves the higher the
pitch and more overtones. No grooves like the Naturals means low
pitch, less overtones and a warmer sound.
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Up to SIX HAMMERING SESSIONS,
depending on the type. The Natural and Bionic cymbals are
produced by what is called "Deep Hammering" with no
hydraulic hammering what-so-ever!
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Six week rest time period for
the metal's molecular structure to relax back to it's traditional
make-up. Metal quite often warps after being cast. By allowing
this rest period the molecules relax and when the cymbal is made true
it will remain so in form and shape and is a step which is especially
important in hand-crafting a fine quality musical instrument whose
sound is especially reliant on the shape.
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FINAL TESTING for sound
qualities. (For the Class Series, selection is made for High pitch,
Medium and Low pitch)
One interesting note...at the end
of the first stage when a 16" cymbal to be is removed from its mold
it weighs about 3,000 gr. When the cymbal smith has finished his
project and now has a 16" crash cymbal ready for it's rest period it
will weigh in at about 1,000 gr.
2,000 gr (approximately 4 1/2
pounds) will have been removed
by hand to complete the creation of that finished UFIP 16"
Crash! No mass produced, machine-made cymbal goes through this labor
intensive process!
UFIP Cymbals are
"EarCreated"
Throughout the process of making
the cymbal, the craftsman will be guided by the tendency revealed by the
metal he is working with to either product a High Pitch or a Low Pitch
instrument.
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