HISTORY and TRADITION

UFIP (Union of Italian Cymbal Makers) started on the 6th of January 1931, but the roots of its history go much further back. Since 1732, in fact, the Tronci family have been producing pipe organs and after about a century they started to make them equipped with set of chimes, bells, bass drums and ... Turkish cymbals. In the second half of the 1800s, with the progressive decline in the production of great classical organs, the Tronci family were becoming ever more interested in the working of bronze. Large tubular bells and gongs were produced. The great composer Giacomo Puccini commissioned large gongs for the performance of his works Turandot and Madame Butterfly; and the Ricordi company of Milan bought these instruments on behalf of the composer and placed them at the disposition of the orchestras who were to perform his repertory. A lively and frequent interchange with Giacomo Puccini, Giuseppe Verdi and Pietro Mascagni, gave rise to the creation of tam-tams, gongs, hand bells, sleigh bells, rattles and symphonic cymbals. There began a close collaboration with the great symphonic orchestras which continues vigorously to this day.

In 1931, a group of companies from Pistoia who specialised in the working of bronze for the hand crafting of musical instruments began to cooperate in the production and commercialisation of these instruments, in order to lay down guidelines which would guarantee them all a future and overcome the age-old commercial rivalry. Thus the joint-stock Cooperative UFIP was created, thanks to the goodwill of the following companies: Marradi-Benti, Zanchi & Biasei, Rosati Leopoldo (the only company not to come from Pistoia, as it was based in Sesto Fiorentino) and A. & B. Tronci Brothers.

With the outbreak of the Second World War, the two elements which make up the bronze alloy, tin, which was imported from Indochina, and copper, which came from Chile and Bolivia, became impossible to find. UFIP's production, however, was protected by an order of the Fascist government who commissioned a certain number of cymbals for their military bands. After having UFIP carry out numerous experiments aimed at replacing the bronze in the cymbals with iron, a metal which was much easier to obtain in Italy, the Chamber of Commerce was forced to grant UFIP the authorisation to obtain a supply of the raw material, due to circumstances beyond their control.

During the Second World War, to make matters worse, the A.& B. Tronci Brothers' premises in Via Cammelli was destroyed. The building was blown up in the explosion of the adjacent factory, which was destroyed by the retreating German troops as a possible military target. This terrible destruction and the chronic lack of raw materials in that difficult period, were only overcome thanks to the unionand the cooperation of the Partners.

Straight after the Second World War, open-air dance halls and dance rooms started opening up again, as the desire for fun and dance music, especially boogie-woogie and swing, swept over the Italian nation on the heels of the Americans. Orchestras and bands gradually beginning to come together brought new life tothe sale and production of cymbals. UFIP was there ready to serve them.

In 1968 the Cooperative was transformed into UFIP Ltd.

The main aim of the Cooperative has always been to constantly research and improve the quality of their products. In 1975 the traditional gravity casting was replaced by the ingenious system devised by Mariano and Lindano Zanchi called Rotocasting. The mould in which the B20 bronze is cast is rotated at 1,000 rpm, with the result that all the casting impurities are confined to the outer edges of the cymbal, a part which is then removed by "peeling", leaving a cymbal which is made up of a much purer alloy than ever before achieved by any traditional method.
Subsequently, a musical identity can also be found in this external "peel" full of impurities, and it was decided to conserve it and pay tribute to its musical personality in a complete series, the Natural, and in the rides and hi-hats of the Bionic series.

At the moment our production range includes: the "Loris Francesco Lenti"; symphonic cymbals; the range of jazz, rock and pop cymbals Class, Original, Natural, Rough, Bionic, Experience and Brilliant; the M8 e B12 stamped cymbals; an extensive range of percussion instruments without tuning (Ximbao, Icebell, Ogororo, Belltree, Wind Chimes, Tibetan Bells, Tam Tam) and tuned (Crotali, Symphonic and Javanese Gongs, Church, Plate Bells and Tubular Bells), as well as countless top quality instruments and accessories marketed by our company (Aquarian, Bergerault, Block, Chalklin, Drum Cymbal Damper and ProOrca).

The age-old tradition of bronze working, documented in Italy since 4000 years before Christ and constantly improved over time by the Pistoia craftsmen, has found its proper place in musical art. The close rapport and constant cultural exchange with musicians from all over the world places UFIP today among the aristocracy of world-wide producers of musical instruments.