UFIP

UFIP S.r.l.

Company type	SRL
Industry	Musical instruments
Founded	1931; 94 years ago (1931)
Headquarters	Pistoia , Italy
Key people	Luigi Tronci (President), Alberto Biasei (CEO)
Products	Cymbals, gongs, and metal percussion
Website	ufip.it

UFIP, an acronym for Unione Fabbricanti Italiani Piatti^[1] (Italian Cymbal Manufacturers Union) is an Italian musical instrument manufacturing company based in Pistoia, Tuscany.

The company currently produces cymbals, gongs, and metal percussion instruments.

History

In the early 20th century the "Agati-Tronci" company, a known pipe organ manufacturer, began the production of cymbals, as they were difficult to import from Turkey. In 1926 a worker for the Tronci family, Fiorello Zanchi, left the company to start a new cymbal manufacturer with Manlio Biasei, the "Zanchi & Biasei" company. A number of cymbals manufacturers were founded in Pistoia after the First World War, starting a competition.^[2]

UFIP Natural Series 14" hi-hats

On January 6, 1931 four companies (Marradi-Benti, Zanchi & Biasei, Rosati Leopoldo and A. & B. Fratelli Tronci) founded a cooperative society called UFIP to stop the competition between cymbals manufacturers.^[3] In 1947 Zanchi left UFIP to start his own company, Zanchi (later spelled "Zanki").^[4] In 1968 UFIP changed from a cooperative society to an actual production company.^[4]

The grandson of Rosati, Buiani, co-founded with Giovanni Spadacini the Tosco company in 1974. In 1979, Robert Zildjian took over Tosco and transformed it in a Sabian subsidiary. One of the main innovation designed by Tosco is the Octagonal cymbal. This particular design inspired the Sabian Rocktagon.^[4]

At the beginning UFIP sold his cymbals under commission of various drums companies, initially with Turkish sounding names such as "Zinjian" (commissioned by Pearl, Ludwig and Premier), "Kashian" (commissioned by Slingerland), "Pasha" (commissioned by Rogers), "Ajaha" (commissioned by Gretsch) and "Super Constantinoples" (commissioned by Dolnet).^[4] In the United States UFIP cymbals were sold as "Atlas" and "Abraxis" until, in the early nineties, the company began to use the "UFIP" name internationally.^[4]

UFiP is being distributed in the United States by Davitt & Hanser music.

Manufacturing

UFIP is known for using the "Rotocasting" technique. This technique was patented (IT000001141690B) by the Zanchi brothers in the seventies. Rotocasting consists in casting molten bronze in a cymbal mold mounted on a centrifuge that spins approximately a thousand revolutions per minute.^[5] This particular technique reduces air pockets in the alloy and ensures a thicker bell-to-bow ratio.^[6] Most of the UFIP top level cymbal series are manufactured using the Rotocasting technique.

References

1. UFIP – UNIONE FABBRICANTI ITALIANI PIATTI on Italia Su Misura website
2. "Storia della UFIP". Archived from the original on 2014-02-02. Retrieved 2014-01-17.
3. "UFIP". Promo P.T. Retrieved 2014-01-17.
4. Hugo Pinksterboer (1992). The Cymbal Book. Hal Leonard Corporation. ISBN 9780793519200.
5. "Factory tour". UFIP S.r.l. Retrieved 2014-01-19.
6. "Blasting Onto The U.S. Market: UFiP Cymbals". Drum Magazine. 8 May 2012. Retrieved 2014-01-18.

External links

• Official website