Avedis Zildjian I (the first) was an Armenian alchemist in the city of Constantinople in the early seventeenth century. While attempting to create gold by combining base metals, he discovered an alloy of copper, tin, and traces of silver with unique sound qualities. In 1618, Avedis used his secret alloy to create cymbals of spectacular clarity and power. The sound of the instruments was so extraordinary that the Sultan invited Avedis to live at court (Topkapi Palace) to make cymbals for the Sultan's elite Janissary Bands. As Avedis' reputation grew, the Sultan gave him the name "Zildjian" in Armenian (Zilciyan in Turkish), a word meaning "son of cymbal maker."

In 1623, Avedis was granted permission to leave the palace in order to start his own business in a suburb of Constantinople named Psamatia. That same business is now nearly four centuries old and has been passed down to Zildjian heirs for fifteen generations. Relocating to America in 1929, Avedis III moved the Zildjian factory to Quincy, MA and then to its current location in Norwell, MA for Zildjian's 350th Anniversary. The business passed to Avedis' son, Armand in 1977 and then to Armand's daughter, Craigie, in 1999. Currently, Craigie and her sister Debbie continue the family tradition in what is recognized as the oldest family-owned business in America.

The Zildjian Artist MIDI Groove Library features MIDI grooves performed by 24 artists who have endorsed Zildjian over the years. All grooves were performed on a Yamaha DTX900 electronic drum kit and are concise examples of each player's styles.

This multi-format collection includes grooves formatted for BFD2^®/BFD Eco^®, EZDrummer^®, Superior Drummer^®, Addictive Drums^®, Steven Slate Drums 4, Cakewalk^® Session Drummer^™ as well as General MIDI Standard MIDI Files which can be used with any GM compatible drum software or hardware --- this includes drum machines and synthesizers which have drum sounds.

Optimized for 1 Kick, 1 Snare, 3 Toms, 1 Hihat, 2 Crash cymbals and 1 Ride cymbal.

BFD Eco and BFD2 are registered trademarks of FXpansion

EZDrummer and Superior Drummer are registered trademarks of Toontrack Music

Addictive Drums is a registered trademark of XLN Audio

Cakewalk is a registered trademark of Cakewalk, Inc.

Zildjian is a registered trademark of the Avedis Zildjian Company

The Zildjian Artist MIDI Groove Library is an Avedis Zildjian Company product