70s, Zankis usually had large ink logos with the 'Zanki' name. Sometimes the character font was hollow, sometimes bold. The embossed stamp was changed to read "ZANKI Italy". These cymbals were still handmade, but were heavier, and more conventional-sounding, and are considered by some to be comparable to a late 60s or early 70s Avedis Zildjian cymbal. Zanki occasionally still used the name Vibra on some of their 70s series cymbals, but they do not resemble the F & F Vibras from earlier, in either hammering or lathing. Manufacturing Perhaps Fiorello Zanchi's biggest contribution to cymbal-making history was his development of the "rotocasting" technique, in which molten bronze is poured into a cymbal cast that is mounted on a centrifuge, and rotated as the liquefied metal is being cooled inside the cast. This new technique created a brand new sound in Italian cymbals, much brighter than the previous Zankis. It is reputed that Fiorello used the larger workshop at UFIP to do his rotocasting. These rotocast cymbals bore a new embossed stamp, "Zanki Rotocasting". Some of these cymbals also show an additional embossment that reads: "Music Industries". Still others show an ink stamp by the Italian distributor "Mario Corso". It would appear from the varying stamps of this period that Zanki was associating with different distributors in an attempt to keep the cymbals on the market. Closure and influence According to Pinksterboer, Fiorello Zanchi died in the 80s and his sons, Mariano and Roni, continued the company. Ultimately, however, at some point in the late 80s or early 90s, F & F Zanki (like many other small, independent cymbal/gong-making families in Italy at the time, including Tronci and Tuscano) could no longer compete with the larger cymbal-makers. Amid concern that the Italian tradition of cymbal-making was at risk of becoming extinct, many of the smaller operations joined under the banner of the largest/oldest Italian union/workshop, UFIP, and ceased independent production. Thus, Fiorello and Sons brought to UFIP the technique of rotocasting, which is a UFIP trademark today. As F & F Zanki was more or less targeting the mid-price range of the market, some of its cymbals are considered to be mediocre at best, while others ranged from "exceptional" to "not too good at all". The varying quality of these remaining cymbals may well be why they remain relatively obscure. However, Zankis are significant in cymbal-making history and Fiorello Zanchi