Yamaha Drums will be hitting the road on the company’s Innovation Tour, visiting three prominent drum dealers, to share the philosophy on how Yamaha has consistently built professional-sounding handcrafted drums and hardware for more than 52 years. These events, which will also feature demos by top Yamaha Artists, will highlight technological advances from the past and present that revolutionized the drum industry.
The tour will be stopping at Memphis Drum Shop in Memphis, Tennessee on August 13, Fork’s Drum Closet in Nashville, Tennessee on August 14, and Drum Center of Portsmouth in North Hampton, New Hampshire on August 15. Each event will take place from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. Additional tour dates will be announced.
Joining the tour dates at Memphis Drum Shop and Fork’s Drum Closet will be Yamaha Artist David Garibaldi, best known for his drumming with R&B-based horn section and band Tower of Power as well as artists such as Patti Austin, Natalie Cole, Mickey Hart’s Planet Drum and The Buddy Rich Orchestra. During the tour date at Drum Center of Portsmouth, Yamaha Artist Rick Marotta will be in attendance, well known for his work with luminaries such as James Taylor, Jackson Brown, Steely Dan, Carly Simon, Paul Simon, Linda Ronstadt and Aretha Franklin.
Attendees will have the opportunity to meet Daryl Anderson, drum designer at Yamaha Drums, who will lead a visually-engaging presentation, detailing the story of the company and the research and development that goes into manufacturing drums. With more than 18 years of drum-building and designing experience, Daryl will discuss key innovations from various Yamaha acoustic drum, hardware and electronic percussion products, and why the company developed these new technologies to enhance the drumming experience. Additionally, attendees will learn how the company collaborates with the community and artists, during the research process, to incorporate design aesthetics and tonal characteristics that drummers look for.
Drummers in attendance will be offered a hands-on experience to meet the Yamaha Drums team and test drive the powerful, dynamic range of the Live Custom Hybrid Oak drum set and the tone variety and flexibility of the Tour Custom and Recording Custom Birch snare drums. Guests will also be able to experiment with detailed customization options from the FP-9 series bass drum pedals as well as the revolutionary EAD10 electronic acoustic drum module, which allows players to easily capture the sounds of an acoustic drum set with a single microphone/trigger component attached to a powerful digital processor.
In addition, each dealer will have prizes and giveaways for attendees.
“We believe attendees will be truly inspired by exciting, new developments in Yamaha drum craftsmanship and electronic percussion technology,” said Steven Fisher, director of drums & percussion, Yamaha Corporation of America. “This event will serve to influence their artistic expression, showing them how they can better create their personal sounds and share their performances with the world.”
