World-famous musicians play Turkish instruments

ISTANBUL

Turkish musical instruments have helped world-famous musicians and bands like Pink Floyd, Simply Red and La Luz make their signature sounds, according to an instrument manufacturer.

Istanbul Mehmet Cymbals, founded in Istanbul in 1995, exports 95 percent of its handmade instruments to 50 countries, its owner Mehmet Tamdeğer told state-run Anadolu Agency.

Musicians using instruments manufactured by them include Simply Red, La Luz, Marco Mendoza, Horacio Hernandez, Rick Latham and Erik Smith, he said.

Tamdeğer added that Turkey was the most important cymbal production hub in the world.

Turkey exported musical instruments worth nearly $100 million during the last 10 years, especially to Germany, the U.S., the Netherlands, Switzerland and South Korea, official figures said.

The Zildjian family, one of the world’s oldest cymbal producers, began manufacturing in 1623 in Turkey.

The country also exports other types of instruments such as guitars, ouds, hand percussions and drums.

Zeynel Abidin Cümbüş, a 20th-century manufacturer, produces a special kind of stringed instrument named cümbüş.

“World-famous musicians such as Ara Dinkjian, Pink Floyd and David Gilmour used our instruments in various genres of music,” said Abidin Alihan Cümbüş, an official of the firm.