Visit to UFIP

In early June of 1999 I had the opportunity of visiting UFIP, the Union of Italian cymbal makers. I spent a whole day there, watching the workers, talking to people, and trying dozens of cymbals. The photos were shot by Rainer.

Old UFIP door plate
The old door plate tells about UFIP and the original founders: U.F.I.P., Union of Italian Manufacturers of Cymbals and Tams Tams, Pistoia, Tronci, Pistoia, Leopoldo Rosati, Florence, Zanchi & Biasei, Pistoia, Benti, Pistoia.

Click pictures for details

When we arrived at the factory, these unfinished brass gongs were hanging in front of the building. They sound gigantic. Their sustain is measured in minutes, rather than seconds.

This is the ground floor of the office building. Visitors come here first to have the unavoidable espresso (or three of them, if you like). The shelfs in the left hand corner contain finished cymbals, awaiting a final quality check. The room is decorated with numerous recordings and photos of artists playing UFIP instruments. I didn't expect to see Charly Watts among them, listed with a UFIP 18" Flat Ride and some Chinas.
Luigi Tronci is the head of UFIP. His family has a long tradition as pipe organ makers. Besides his work as UFIP's CEO and chief of development he is also active in the restoration of ancient pipe organs. Here he is pictured playing a short piece of the rich 19th century Italian organ literature. Besides, he turned out to be a very nice guy, answering questions and freely showing us around.

This is the main workshop room. It is pretty smoky, because of the bronze being cooked here. Unluckily, we didn't get to Pistoia early enough to watch the casting process. It starts at 4 in the morning, when temperatures are still low. Casting would not be possible in the heat of the day. To the right one of the roto-casting machines is (barely) visible.

The newly cast bronze is very brittle and would break to pieces when attacked with a hammer. Therefore it must first be heated to make the metal malleable. This process, tempering, is executed at least once, depending on the cymbal line, and is done in this 'pizza' gas oven. For some cymbal lines tempering is repeated later in the course.

The first step of bronze cymbal lathing, called roughing, is executed before hammering. The cymbals are significantly thicker than in their final state. The superfluous bronze is removed by a machine since hand crafting would just be tedious and time consuming, thus making the cymbals more expensive without any advantage.

We saw the hammering of three UFIP 18'' Rough Crashes. They were stacked and put underneath a huge mechanical hammer, which is incredibly loud. No wonder the workers are wearing ear protection. Although the 'bumper' is hydraulic driven, the hammerer has complete control over the speed and force of the blows. Different ball peens are used for each line of cymbals.

After the cymbal got its coarse shape by the bumper, it is finished by hand. When hand hammering, every few blows the cymbal is checked for correct shape. A level steel table (right) serves in achieving a perfectly flat edge.

Lathing of a UFIP Class line splash. While lathing, the cymbal gets its shiny look. The sound also gets considerably brighter. The cymbals don't get much thinner at this stage. This is delicate work and is always executed by hand through a skilled craftsman.

Raw and cupped brass disks are awaiting further processing. Brass is mainly, but not exclusively, used for budget UFIP lines like Kashian. Besides large Chinese type gongs which cannot be roto-cast because of their size, also professional cymbals are made from brass. In the back a roughing bench can be seen.

UFIP class bronze cymbals in front of another big brass gong. In the back me with Finn on my shoulders.

Stacked up B8 cymbals are waiting for the next step in production. At several stages in the process cymbals are left alone for a while to let the metal settle. Finished UFIP cymbals are resting on the shelf for a couple of weeks before shipment. I was told that the sound changes audibly towards the finer during this period.

20'' brass gong in the shape of a china cymbal. On the left a couple of Javanese type Gamelan gongs in bronze, still to be lathed. These are quite heavy, with a bell-like, long sustaining tone.

A 32'' brass cymbal prototype. Click the pic for details!

UFIP have updated their own website with specific information on all their different cymbal lines in July, 2000.

Click pictures for details
	When we arrived at the factory, these unfinished brass gongs were hanging in front of the building. They sound gigantic. Their sustain is measured in minutes, rather than seconds.
	This is the ground floor of the office building. Visitors come here first to have the unavoidable espresso (or three of them, if you like). The shelfs in the left hand corner contain finished cymbals, awaiting a final quality check. The room is decorated with numerous recordings and photos of artists playing UFIP instruments. I didn't expect to see Charly Watts among them, listed with a UFIP 18" Flat Ride and some Chinas.
	Luigi Tronci is the head of UFIP. His family has a long tradition as pipe organ makers. Besides his work as UFIP's CEO and chief of development he is also active in the restoration of ancient pipe organs. Here he is pictured playing a short piece of the rich 19th century Italian organ literature. Besides, he turned out to be a very nice guy, answering questions and freely showing us around.
	This is the main workshop room. It is pretty smoky, because of the bronze being cooked here. Unluckily, we didn't get to Pistoia early enough to watch the casting process. It starts at 4 in the morning, when temperatures are still low. Casting would not be possible in the heat of the day. To the right one of the roto-casting machines is (barely) visible.
	The newly cast bronze is very brittle and would break to pieces when attacked with a hammer. Therefore it must first be heated to make the metal malleable. This process, tempering, is executed at least once, depending on the cymbal line, and is done in this 'pizza' gas oven. For some cymbal lines tempering is repeated later in the course.
	The first step of bronze cymbal lathing, called roughing, is executed before hammering. The cymbals are significantly thicker than in their final state. The superfluous bronze is removed by a machine since hand crafting would just be tedious and time consuming, thus making the cymbals more expensive without any advantage.
	We saw the hammering of three UFIP 18'' Rough Crashes. They were stacked and put underneath a huge mechanical hammer, which is incredibly loud. No wonder the workers are wearing ear protection. Although the 'bumper' is hydraulic driven, the hammerer has complete control over the speed and force of the blows. Different ball peens are used for each line of cymbals.
	After the cymbal got its coarse shape by the bumper, it is finished by hand. When hand hammering, every few blows the cymbal is checked for correct shape. A level steel table (right) serves in achieving a perfectly flat edge.
	Lathing of a UFIP Class line splash. While lathing, the cymbal gets its shiny look. The sound also gets considerably brighter. The cymbals don't get much thinner at this stage. This is delicate work and is always executed by hand through a skilled craftsman.
	Raw and cupped brass disks are awaiting further processing. Brass is mainly, but not exclusively, used for budget UFIP lines like Kashian. Besides large Chinese type gongs which cannot be roto-cast because of their size, also professional cymbals are made from brass. In the back a roughing bench can be seen.
	UFIP class bronze cymbals in front of another big brass gong. In the back me with Finn on my shoulders.
	Stacked up B8 cymbals are waiting for the next step in production. At several stages in the process cymbals are left alone for a while to let the metal settle. Finished UFIP cymbals are resting on the shelf for a couple of weeks before shipment. I was told that the sound changes audibly towards the finer during this period.
	20'' brass gong in the shape of a china cymbal. On the left a couple of Javanese type Gamelan gongs in bronze, still to be lathed. These are quite heavy, with a bell-like, long sustaining tone.
	A 32'' brass cymbal prototype. Click the pic for details!