Welcome to a slightly more personal page. Instead of a company profile, I would like to show you who is behind Cymballand: me, Bülent Ecevit Albayrak – a drummer who has been playing Turkish Cymbals for more than 25 years. Whether you already know Turkish Cymbals or are just discovering them, this is where you find out who you are dealing with.
Cymballand is a small family business from Berlin and the official distribution partner of Turkish Cymbals in Germany. With more than 160 cymbal models in over 350 sizes, we carry the largest Turkish Cymbals range in Europe. Every cymbal is cast from B20 bronze in Istanbul and hammered by hand. Our motto has been the same since day one: From Musicians to Musicians.
Cymballand at a glance
- Official distribution partner of Turkish Cymbals in Germany – since 2015
- More than 160 cymbal models in over 350 sizes, all made of B20 bronze and hand-hammered in Istanbul
- Personal advice from a drummer with more than 25 years of Turkish Cymbals experience
- Listen to the cymbals: online with Cymballand Virtual or by appointment at our warehouse in Berlin
- More than 190 customer reviews with an average rating of 4.9 out of 5 stars
- Return rate of around 1 % – manufacturing defects are replaced immediately
- Shipping throughout Europe and worldwide
Why Cymballand exists
In 2015 I came to Berlin and started further training at Drum Trainer Berlin. My fellow students tried out my cymbals and wanted to know where they could get cymbals like these. The answer surprised all of us: there was not a single Turkish Cymbals dealer in Germany.
So they asked me for help – my first customers were my fellow students. They encouraged me to turn it into something bigger. Cymballand started with a few listings on eBay. Turkish Cymbals welcomed the idea from the very beginning, and Mehmet Tamdeğer personally gave me a great deal of support.
My goal from the start: you should feel as if you were in the Turkish Cymbals showroom in Istanbul. It should make no difference whether you buy your cymbal there or from us – and you should get the best cymbals at fair prices.
How we work
This goal shaped the way we work. Four things still matter most to us today:
Personal advice
When you write to me, I first ask: What music do you play? Which cymbals do you have now? Where do you want your setup to go? Some want to continue in the same sonic direction, others deliberately look for contrast – brilliant, traditional and raw cymbals in one set. My recommendation is based on more than 25 years of experience with Turkish Cymbals.
Cymballand Virtual: hear cymbals before you buy
When I founded Cymballand, I asked myself: what would I need as a drummer to buy a cymbal online? There were texts, photos and videos everywhere – but in a video you always hear another drummer’s performance. I wanted to be able to play the edge, the bell, an open and a closed hi-hat, each on its own.
That is how Cymballand Virtual came about. I designed the concept, and a developer friend programmed it – about a year of work. I played all the cymbals myself, recorded in the studio of Florian Schack, drummer and teacher at Drum Trainer Berlin. No plugins, no effects: what you hear is the natural sound of the cymbal. For almost ten years, drummers anywhere in the world have been able to play every cymbal individually this way.
Handmade means every cymbal is unique
At Turkish Cymbals there is no “better” or “worse” series: all cymbals are made of B20 bronze and crafted by hand – from Classic, Kurak and Apex to Sehzade and X-TR. Beginners can play them happily for many years, and professionals find their sound for the big stage in them.
Because no computer is involved, every cymbal is one of a kind – even within the same series and size. Sometimes you can see it: a small tong mark on the edge, or a bell that does not sit quite symmetrically. My own Apex 21" ride always turns on the stand so that the logo ends up upside down – and I would not swap it for any other ride.
If something like that still bothers you, we exchange the cymbal in consultation with Turkish Cymbals. Genuine manufacturing defects, such as a clearly off-centre hole or a noticeably oval cymbal, are replaced immediately. Our return rate is around one per cent.
Visiting us in Berlin – by appointment
We do not have a showroom. But if you would like to hear the cymbals for yourself, I will welcome you by appointment at our warehouse in Berlin. Drummers from the USA and Japan have already visited us.
Once, a visitor discovered a Sirius China Holey there that another customer had sent back because of a crack. He hung it up, played it – and absolutely had to have it. We do not sell damaged cymbals. Because he would not let it go, I gave it to him as a gift with his order.
Our customers include parents giving their child a first cymbal as well as professionals on international stages. We deliver throughout Europe and have shipped as far as Argentina, the USA and Japan. One drummer fulfilled his childhood dream at the age of 65: a set of 16 Turkish Cymbals that we put together with him. And time and again, drummers switch to us from other brands. You can read what other drummers say about us on our Happy Drummers page.
From the workshop in Samatya to Turkish Cymbals
The story of Turkish Cymbals begins in the historic K. Zildjian workshop in Istanbul. That is where Mehmet Tamdeğer and his friend Agop Tomurcuk started out in the 1950s as apprentices under master Mikael Zildjian. The master kept the core of his craft to himself. Mehmet told me himself how the two of them watched him through a crack in the attic to understand how he made his cymbals.
In 1977 Zildjian moved its production to the USA for good, and the Istanbul workshop closed. In 1980 Mehmet and Agop founded the Istanbul brand together to keep the tradition of the hand-hammered Istanbul cymbal alive. After Agop’s death in 1996 the company was divided; since then Mehmet has run Istanbul Mehmet.
In the same year he founded Turkish Cymbals. Large, globally established cymbal brands can only change their range slowly. But drummers are always searching for new sounds – and they brought their wishes directly to Mehmet. Turkish Cymbals is his answer: a younger brand with a taste for experimentation, from the same workshop and the same masters. Every year two or three new series appear, often at the request of drummers. What drummers love stays in the range; the rest disappears naturally. That is how the catalogue stays alive.
This includes signature series with musicians such as John Blackwell (Prince), Jarrod Cagwin (Soundscape) and Lale Kardeş.
I have often been to the workshop in Istanbul. What stays with me are the hammer blows that have sounded the same for centuries, the roar of the fire in the furnace and the smell of molten bronze.
Who is behind Cymballand
I am a drummer – and I started late. I made my first sticks myself at 20, as a student, from branches I had cut from a tree; I still have them today. I had no money for a drum kit, so I practised on pillows and blankets – six to eight hours a day for four or five years. Before I joined my first major band, I owned exactly two cymbals: a hi-hat and a crash-ride. So I know how much difference a single good cymbal makes.
In 1999 I became the drummer of Gece Yolcuları, one of the best-known bands in Turkey. Up to 2004 we recorded four albums and played concerts all over Turkey and in Europe. In 2000 I became a Turkish Cymbals Artist – and I have not played any other brand since. To me, Turkish Cymbals sound warm, colourful and deep.
Write to me
Thank you for taking the time to read all this. Whether you are looking for your first cymbal, rebuilding your setup or would like to visit us in Berlin: send me an email or a WhatsApp message, or simply give me a call – you will find all the ways to reach us here. I look forward to hearing from you.
