March 17th I was able to fulfill an invitation to visit the Zildjian Factory in Norwell, Mass. My friend and I pulled off the highway, which had been lined with mostly nature and trees for the majority of our trip down from Boston. We drove through a small commercial/industrial area, and came up on a big welcoming sign, which simply said 'Zildjian'. We pulled in, found a parking spot, and looked at the large stretched out building in front of us. We quickly found the main entrance and were welcomed by not only a friendly receptionist, but also a welcome sign with our names listed along with Dave Mattacks.

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After a quick sign in, receiving name badges, and short wait our guide joined us for the day. He introduced us to several members of the sales team, managers, and the Artist relation's liaison. All were very excited to greet and welcome us, and to tell us how much they enjoyed being a part of Zildjian. We entered the factory, and were pleased to learn it was 'cast'; cymbal day, and that they would making around 1500 cymbals. The majority of what we witnessed being made were 'K'; cymbals and also several orchestral cymbals. I will never forget the heat that was coming off the oven. We were standing ten feet back from the workers and only lingered a few minutes. We saw all the quality checkpoints after each step of the cymbal making process. Cupping, weighing, sizing, cutting, lathing, all of it! Each worker was happy to show us what it is they do each day at their station. Pride was the theme I picked up throughout the day!

After talking in great length with the cymbal tester, we entered the area of the Artist Cymbal Vault and the Drummer's Lounge. We entered the lounge and were introduced to Dave Mattacks, who was gearing up for a tour through Europe. The room was rectangle and from standing in the doorway, the walls to our sides and ahead of us were all lined with cymbals on display arms about chest high starting from the floor. There was a 5-piece Pearl Masters kit in the middle of the floor with several boom stands surrounding it. Off to our right was a Yamaha jazz kit, which seemed to have been placed there out of the way. On the wall with the door was an open bar.

We left the lounge and were led to the Artist Cymbal Vault. Inside were rows of cymbals stacked leaning against one another for easy access. We began grabbing cymbals based on our tastes and we each made two piles: the maybes and the no's. Once I finished with my absurdly large piles I was taken to a room next to the lounge which had a maple Yamaha kit to play and a Gretsch jazz kit which wasn't set up to be played. This room also hosted a Gene Krupa Slingerland kit that was to spec of one he played from the same era. After we selected our new treasures, we were led back out towards the lobby. They had drum kits from Dennis Chambers, Elvin Jones, and Travis Barker. They also had a Ludwig kit that was to Ringo Starr’s specs, but was not his. Ringo signed all the drumheads on his last visit. The greatest kit was outside the Drummer's Lounge, belonging to Buddy Rich. We all know the story of when Buddy was dying, he told Armand Zildjian to take good care of his drums. Getting to sit behind Buddy's drums was one of the highlights of my life! It was a great honor to visit a company with so much history based around a hobby that I enjoy. This was truly a once in a lifetime opportunity, and I was thrilled to be able to do it.

-Kevin Schwallie