Paiste

For other uses, see Paste (disambiguation).
Paiste
corporation/private
Founded 1906 (1906), Saint Petersburg, Russia
Headquarters Nottwil, Switzerland
Number of locations
 5
Key people
 Erik Paiste, CEO and president of the supervisory board
Products Cymbals, gongs, and metal percussion
Subsidiaries Schacht-Audorf, Germany (German subsidiary), Subsidiary Paiste America (since 1981), Spain & Estonia (both 1995)
Website www.paiste.com
A Paiste Alpha China cymbal

Paiste (pronounced Pie-Stee, the original Estonian and Finnish pronunciation is pie-ste [ˈpɑistɛ]) is a Swiss-based Estonian manufacturer and designer of cymbals. It is the world's third largest manufacturer of cymbals, gongs, and metal percussion. Paiste is an Estonian and Finnish word that means "shine". Their eponymous sunrise can be seen in the logos for their 2002 line and their Twenty line (discontinued in 2011).

History

The first Paiste cymbals were produced in 1906 by Estonian musician Michail Toomas Paiste in his instrument repair shop in Saint Petersburg, Russia, to customer orders. Toomas had served in the Czarist Guard, and retired in 1901 to open a music publishing business and music shop.

The cymbal making aspect of the business expanded with the passing years, despite the disruption of several moves necessitated by war, first to Tallinn, Estonia in 1917, where Toomas' son Michail M. Paiste decided to concentrate on cymbal production and export. In 1940 the family and the cymbal making operation moved to Poland, where they continued under extremely difficult conditions, and in 1945 to Germany. Finally in 1957 a new headquarters and production facility was established in Switzerland. The business was continued by Mihkel's sons Robert and Toomas, with both the Swiss and German operations as the main manufacturing centres.

New ideas by Paiste

Paiste has made several innovations to cymbal design and manufacture. Among these are:

Many of these innovations were used by other manufacturers when the applicable patents expired. For example, almost all of the larger modern cymbal companies offer a flat ride cymbal and an alternative to the Sound Edge Hi-Hat.

Cymbal lines

Current series

A Paiste 2002 Sound Edge hi-hat.

Paiste makes several cymbal lines from several alloys. These include:

Discontinued lines

Classic Paiste lines include:

In addition, some Paiste cymbals are re-branded by drum manufacturers with their own brand name, for example Vader, Vader Rainbow etc.

Paiste also offers to color coat their cymbals and the possibility of custom orders. They also use prototype cymbals that sometimes appear in stores. So there are Paiste cymbals 'outside' of the here mentioned series. Most of these cymbals were never manufactured fully.

History of Sound Creation line

It started with the Formula 602 "Dark Ride" cymbal in the early 70s. This cymbal was developed with Jack DeJohnette. In 1975, Paiste introduced the Sound Creation as a cymbal line.

The first series in 1975 shows a small Paiste logo an inch away from the ride bells. Hi-Hats were Dark Hi-Hat and Dark Sound Edge Hi-Hat, 10 types (rides etc.) in total:

The 1979 series has the same small Paiste ink an inch away from bells. Hi-Hat models were as in the 1975 series, with the 10 types in that series and 6 additional cymbals (5 rides and china) available with factory rivets.

In 1984, the line and models partially change. The top ink logo changes, and the following models were added :

The Mellow Ride was discontinued. Also, 13" models were added to all Hi-Hats, and the Hi-Hats were changed to Medium and Heavy models, with the mediums lighter than the former regular models.

The "New Dimension" were introduced in 1985, with different hammering patterns and lathing. Contrary to the old heavy and random hammering pattern in the Dark models, the hammering becomes more evenly spaced, except in the China, where the hammering turned very heavy and random, while in the former Dark China models the hammering was very light and regularly spread all over the cymbal.

The ND treatment was applied to these types: Dark Crash, Dark Ride, Dark Medium, Dark China, Short Crash, and Bell Ride.

Hand-held cymbals

Paiste hand-held cymbals from the Alpha line

Aside from the cymbals meant for playing with a drum kit, Paiste produces hand-held cymbals. Current lines include:

Gongs

Paiste makes its gongs in the German factory. Paiste gongs are made from nickel silver. Current series include:

Paiste also made a line of tuned gongs and a tuned gong play that are now discontinued.

Other instruments

Paiste also makes a variety of metal percussion instruments. Among these are

Influential or long time endorsers

See also

References

    External links


    Patents

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