In the early 1900s, composer and musician Michail Toomas Paiste founded a publishing business and store in St. Petersburg. Unfortunately, the company was forced to close a few years later due to the upheavals of the Russian Revolution.
Toomas decided to return to his native country and opened a business that would soon design and manufacture cymbals. Michail’s son, Michail M. Paiste, joined his father and began to develop his own unique concept for Turkish style cymbals, as well as the first gongs. By the late 1930s, the company was exporting to Europe, the USA, and overseas.
From 1940 to 1944 World War II events forced Michail M. to leave Estonia and head to Poland, where he re-established the family business. A wartime shortage caused the company to struggle but, fortunately, it survived.
At the end of the war, Michail M. and his family moved to Germany where the company began to produce cymbals and gongs yet again. In 1957, a manufacture was established in Switzerland and Michail M.’s sons, Robert and Toomas, joined the business. Toomas decided to make the Switzerland location the hub for international business activities.
In 1981, Paiste America was established in the United States and in 2003, Toomas’ son, Erik, headed the business.
Find out more about the history of Paiste by visiting their website.
