The art of Turkish cymbal making dates back to the 16th century, during the time of the Ottoman Empire. The very first cymbals manufactured in Turkey were actually bells, created for use in churches. Later on, as the story goes, cymbals were produced for the Ottoman Army band. In the 20th century, it had become a well established fact that Istanbul, Turkey had evolved into the cymbal making capital of the world. Generations of Master Cymbal smiths developed, refined and redefined this art in their endless search for perfection, formulating a most musical alloy and developing tried and tested, hand crafted methods. As the 20th century drew towards its close, the traditional Turkish method for hand crafting cymbals had all but been abandoned in favor of the efficiencies afforded by machines and mass production. In 1980, the very first Istanbul Cymbals began to enter the market place. Drummers around the world immediately took notice. What they heard and what they saw was the work of Agop Tomurcuk. As the foreman of the original Zildjian K factory in Istanbul, Master Cymbal smith Tomurcuk developed his trade, beginning at the age of 9 in the 1950s until the plant's closure in 1978. He started this new venture in 1980 under the name Zilciler. Shortly after, the legendary name Istanbul was settled on. In the following years, Istanbul Cymbals became notorious for creating these classic sounds, and drummers listened. During these years, Istanbul also developed many completely original, unique, cutting edge designs, while still employing the traditional methods. Many of these inventive designs are production today, such as Turk, Sultan, Vezir, Empire, Ottoman and Pasha. Consistent with the theme of integrating new and cutting edge designs with age old handcrafted techniques, Istanbul has introduced many different models.

Early in the company's history, Mel Lewis became Istanbul's first endorser. In the 21st century, the art of cymbal making lives on at Istanbul Agop (named after the company's founder). New lines including the Agop Signature series, a tribute to Mr. Tomurcuk, the Mel Lewis signature series, the Special Edition Jazz rides, the Lenny White "Epoch" ride and the Idris Muhammad signature ride, plus the extensive Alchemy series of cymbals, ranging from student to professional. Now, in 2009, Istanbul is pleased to announce the newest additions to the Signature line up: The Lenny White "Epoch" crashes and hi-hats, the Cindy Blackman "Om" series, the Matt Chamberlain 23" ride and the Joey Waronker 24" ride! Canada: Play the original...play Istanbul Agop!