I love reading those stories about the great jazz drummers from the 50s and 60s going along to the Gretsch factory in Brooklyn and choosing their set of Istanbul K Zildjians from the warehouse. It’s always been a dream of mine to be able to do something similar and to hear as many cymbals side-by-side and select my personal 'dream' set. This is a short tale of my personal pilgrimage to meet Roberto Spizzichino and play his instruments and hand-pick my own set of cymbals.
After exchanging a few emails with Roberto and outlining my needs we agreed a date to meet. I flew to Pisa in Italy, hired a car and drove to ‘Factory Spizzichino’ high in the hills of Tuscany. Roberto works in the little village of San Quirico in a factory he shares with a company that manufactures pots and pans - I found that quite amusing and slightly ironic!
Factory Spizzichino, San Quirico, Tuscany
Sharing the factory gives Roberto access to a full range of tools and metal working materials. I had always imagined that Roberto worked in solitude but he actually shares a lively little workplace with quite a few others. He affectionately referred to the factory as ‘a zoo’ as he’s surrounded by cats, kittens, dogs, small children and the other factory workers. His co-workers fondly refer to him as ‘maestro’ - a title very well suited to the great man indeed. After years of working "musician’s hours" he chooses to work late into the evening. An ideal situation as around 4pm the others leave and peace & calm transcends upon the factory.
I got to the factory a little early and when Roberto arrived I was greeted by the warmest smile and kindest welcome. “How long have you got?” asked the man. “I hope you don’t have to rush away?”. I spent the next 8 hours ‘in heaven’ getting to know Roberto and his wonderful instruments. Time just flew by.
Incidentally, Roberto told me he makes no more than 20 cymbals in a month. That's the same amount of time that it takes to make one of his handbuilt stainless steel drumsets.
The maestro playing
Roberto told me that recently he’s been developing snare drums specifically for symphony and orchestral playing. We played three or four of his prototypes in differing sizes and finishes. These were incredibly sensitive and precise drums. Roberto also let me play one with a goat skin head - what a beautiful sounding drum. They all had individual strand snare wires too. He also brought along a Gladstone replica and was kind enough to let me try that too for comparison. Believe everything you’ve heard about Roberto’s drums. They are wonderful.
Roberto is also experimenting making orchestral triangles too! I could have spent the whole day just talking drums but I was there to play his cymbals. One of my most vivid memories of the visit to the factory was Roberto playing a pair of his 24 inch classical orchestral cymbals about 3 feet from where I was sitting! I swear the whole of Tuscany could have heard them!
Oh! Another thing I discovered! Roberto is an avid cymbalholic fan and he reads the forums every day! We discussed more than a few recent topics from the forums.
Anyway, I was looking for a ride to compliment my original 20" Spizzichino (1820g w patina). I wanted one that I could play in Big Band and small group settings so Roberto suggested we start with the Tony Williams series. I must have tried around 20 of these. They genuinely all sounded amazing to my ears but there were quite a big range of characteristics, sounds, finishes and feels. Eventually we found one that works incredibly well at quiet and loud volumes – and everything in between. I was smitten!
One of the special processes that Roberto applies is re-tempering. He effectively takes finished hammered and lathed cymbal and puts it back in the furnace to harden it more then he refinishes it again.
Some re-tempered pies awaiting finishing
There were some ‘black finish’ TW 22"s that sounded incredibly like that slightly metal stick sound of an old K. They look awesome too. I think these will really catch on.
a re-tempered 'black' 22 TW - awesome!
I also listened to some 22" lightweight cymbals and I fell in love with one of Roberto’s beautiful “experiments”. He described it to me as “horrible” and “weird”. A thin re-tempered cymbal with his patina process and then we added rivets! It’s a sort of cross between a dark china sound and a trashy ride. Incredible! It’s an old stamp Chinese alloy too. I think this one's sound is pretty unique to my ear. I’ve never played one like this before.
I really enjoyed standing back and listening to the great man playing the cymbals I’d selected from a distance. I took this movie on my compact camera so the sound's not great but at least you can see the great man in action.
[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=__IHWJLAL2c"]YouTube - Spizzichino Factory Visit 15 May 2009[/ame]
So I left the factory with two rides instead of one! Roberto also kindly engraved them for me and I even swapped my Peter Erskine Ride Sticks for a pair of Roberto’s own sticks! Another priceless little keepsake to remind me of my trip!
In Roberto I met a friendly, genial, knowledgeable, kind and generous man. I left him that evening feeling I’d made a new friend.
Thanks “Maestro”.
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Originally Posted by louielewis
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