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Pearl Drums

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Pearl Musical Instrument Company
パール楽器製造株式会社
IndustryMusical Instruments
FoundedSeptember 29, 1952
FounderKatsumi Yanagisawa
HeadquartersJapanYachiyo, Chiba, Japan
Key people
Masakatsu Yanagisawa: President & CEO
ProductsDrums, Drum Hardware, Flutes
Website[1]

Founded in 1952, the Pearl Musical Instrument Company (パール楽器製造株式会社, Pāru Gakki Seizō Kabushiki Gaisha) is a multinational corporation based in Japan with a wide range of products, predominately percussion instruments.

History

Pearl was founded by Katsumi Yanagisawa, who began manufacturing music stands in Sumida, Tokyo on April 2, 1946. In 1950 Yanagisawa shifted his focus to the manufacturing of drums and named his company "Pearl Industry, Ltd."

By 1953, the company's name had been changed to "Pearl Musical Instrument Company," and manufacturing had expanded to include drum kits, marching drums, timpani, Latin percussion instruments, cymbals, stands, and accessories.

Yanagisawa's eldest son, Mitsuo, joined Pearl in 1957 and formed a division to export Pearl products worldwide. To meet increasing worldwide demand for drum kits following the advent of rock and roll music, in 1961 Pearl built a 15,000 sq ft (1,400 m2) factory in Chiba, Japan to produce inexpensive drum kits that bore the brand names of more than thirty distributors such as Maxwin, CB-700, Stewart, Werco, Ideal, Crest, Revelle, Revere, Lyra, Majestic, Whitehall, Apollo, Toreador, Roxy, and Coronet.[1]

In 1966 Pearl introduced its first professional drum kit, the "President Series".

Today, Pearl's Taiwanese operation encompasses five factories whose output supplies nearly the entire worldwide market for Pearl products. The original Chiba factory now caters to the domestic Japanese market, producing drum kits, marching drums, timpani, and symphonic chimes.

Adams Musical Instruments are sold in the U.S. through Pearl dealers, Hughes and Kettner guitar and bass amplifiers are distributed through Pearl's main warehouse in Nashville, Tennessee and Sabian cymbals are distributed in Japan through Pearl dealers.

Pearl created several drum products, such as shells in the 70s that were made of a composite called "wood fibreglass." Additionally, Pearl combined roto-toms and these wood-fiber shells to create the Vari-Pitch line of drums. Other early innovations included shells that were slightly undersized, so that the drum head would extend over the edges, much like a gong drum. Pearl manufactured seamless, extruded acrylic shells that were different to the tabbed-and-seamed Vistalite shells used by Ludwig. Pearl also developed the hinged tube tom-arm: a design widely copied by many other drum manufacturers.

Construction

Pearl has made shells for more than 30 companies. In the 1960s, they ceased making shells for other companies, and began manufacturing drums under their own name and used the Pearl logo for the first time.[2] Pearl makes all of their drums in their own factories, there is no outsourcing. Pearl have recently started manufacturing their drums in China.[3]

Their construction technique is known as SST or "Superior Shell Technology." All Pearl drums feature this construction. Each ply is placed into a cylinder, and pressure is applied from both sides. While in the press, the shell is heated to bring the glue to a boil, thus forcing it through the wood grain and fusing the shells very tightly. The individual plies are scarf jointed, and all the seams are offset, resulting in a "seamless" drum (Pearl demonstrates the strength by parking a Humvee with its tire on a tom shell).[4] This creates a drum shell of incredible strength.

Pearl's drum kit line

Pearl's current line of drum kits range from entry level to professional grade, all of them use Pearl's heat compression SST system on the plies. In ascending order, they are:

Current Line

  • Rhythm Traveler – a traveler's kit. All drums in the kit feature shrunken depths. Package includes cymbals, throne, hardware, mesh heads and cymbal mutes. Rhythm Traveler drums are made with 6 plies (7.5 mm) of "Selected Hardwoods".
  • Target – Manufactured for the European market, and sold as a complete set with cymbals, throne, hardware and drumsticks. Drums are made with 6 plies of Basswood.
  • Forum – Made with 6 plies (7.5 mm) of Poplar. Upgraded in January 2008 to FZ - now featuring upgrades like ISS mounting.[clarification needed]
  • Vision - Introduced in 2007, these drums are the replacement for the now-discontinued Export and Session series drums. Vision drums originally came in 2 varieties: the VLX Lacquer finish drums, and the VSX Covered finish drums. The shell material is Birch and Basswood. 6 ply toms: 1 inner ply birch, 4 interior plies basswood, 1 outer ply birch. 8 ply floor toms and kick drums: 2 inner plies birch, 4 interior plies basswood, 2 outer plies birch. These drums are made in China, and also feature new lugs and come with the new 900 series hardware. These were meant to replace the Export drums. In 2008, Pearl introduced new varieties: the VBX with all birch shells and the VMX with all maple shells, and with the birch/basswood shells stopped producing the VLX, but have kept the VSX and also have a new line, the VX, which has Export-style wrapped finishes.
  • Masters Custom (MCX) - Introduced in 2007 they offer shells of 6-ply maple. These drums are the replacement for the entire Session line, and have a few differences from the Session kits: They feature Die Cast hoops, Masters-series lugs, and Remo drumheads. They are the same configuration as the Masters Premium MRP kits—but only come with 5 finishes and the only available hardware color is bright chrome. As a result the drums are not made up as "custom" stock, so they are warehoused in large quantities, and the time between order and delivery is much shorter.
  • Masters Premium – Released in January 2007, Masters Premium are 4 lines within this series consisting of, MMP, MRP, BRP, and BMP; they replace the Masters Series. MMP drums feature 4 plies(5.0 mm) of maple with maple reinforcement rings. MRP drums feature 6 plies(7.5 mm) of maple. BMP drums feature 4 plies(5.0 mm) of birch with reinforcement rings. BRP drums feature 6 plies (7.5 mm) of birch. All series offer the choice of either chrome, black-chrome, or brass hardware. [2]
  • Reference - Released in January 2006. Pearl has blended wood types (maple, birch and mahogany) together for the toms, snare drums, and bass drums. They are the highest quality that Pearl offers that are not totally custom-made. As of 2008, 27 finishes are available, with either chrome, black or gold-plated hardware. 8" and 10" Toms are 4 outer plies of Maple with 2 inner plies of Birch. 12" Toms are 6 plies of Maple...the only single wood origin drum in the lineup.
  • Masterworks – Pearl's flagship model, hand made drums. Everything including the plies of wood (mahogany, maple, birch, carbon fiber/maple are some of the models), style and finish of hardware (chrome, 24k gold, black), and finish can be selected by the customer. For an added cost, Masterworks drums can be ordered with an exotic wood outer ply (such as tamo or bubinga) which enhances the finish.[3] Delivery times can run six months.
  • Sound Check Pearl's entry level kit, SoundCheck, is intended to change the mindset of what an entry-level drum set should be. These Pearl drums are made from 9-ply mahogany and are finished in a durable high-gloss covering.

Discontinued

  • Export (EX,ELX,EXR,ECX) - Pearl's most popular series of drum kits, also the most popular set ever sold (the one millionth Export kit was produced in 1995). The latest generation of Export drums were made with 6 plies (7.5 mm) of Poplar, and come standard with Pearl's ISS suspension mounting system. The ECX series are made from maple. In January 2008, Pearl discontinued these drums in favor of the new Vision series.
  • Session - Session drums were made from 100% Maple or Birch shells depending on which the customer chose; both were 6-ply (7.5 mm). Session drums came standard with the Optimount suspension system and 2.3 mm Superhoops. The series was discontinued in January 2008. These drums are extremely popular, but expensive.
  • Masters - Forerunner to the Masters Premium. Shells in Maple (MMX, MRX, MSX), Birch (MBX, BRX)and Mahogany (MHX). Most finishes are now available on Masters Premium and/or Reference.
  • MX, MLX & BLX - Preceded original Masters series, with the MX being a wrapped 6ply maple kit, and the MLX and BLX being lacquered 6ply Maple and Birch Kits respectively. Included 2.3 mm Superhoops, through-shell mounting and often came with a free-floating snare.
  • DX & DLX - Original 'Session' series, with the DX being a wrapped birch/mahogany, and the DLX the same but lacquered.
  • World Series (WLX/WX) - Kits placed between the Exports and MLX & BLX kits, over their time had various shell compositions, came in both wrapped (WX) and lacquered (WLX) models.
  • Custom Z (CZX) - In 1988, Pearl released the exclusive Custom Z line, which was made up of toms of eight-ply maple, kick-drums of ten-ply maple and power-tom sizes. The only finish available was natural champagne curly maple. The drums were so large, heavy and expensive, very few were ever sold.

Limited Edition

Over the years, Pearl has released a number of limited edition kits, normally special versions of existing lines:

  • Redline - Redline kits are finished in either solid black or solid white, with matching black or white lugs/hoops etc. The rubber gaskets on the lugs and bass drum claws were dyed red, hence the name. Black and white kits came in different size shellpacks. At NAMM 2008, Redline Reference series were released to the US market - Redline MMP kits were released to Europe at the Musikmesse later that year.
  • 50th Anniversary - Original Masters Series, 4 ply birch with reinforcement rings. 24 carat gold- plated lugs. Only 30 kits were made - 10 in Wine Red, 10 in Black Mist, 10 in Emerald Mist. Kits were not sold in the US - only Anniversary style snares, although these single snares were different to the snare drums that came with the Anniversary kits (The single snares were single-ply with vintage lugs and hoops).
  • Chad Smith & Joey Jordison limited edition - These kits were released before as an Export kit shell pack. The Joey Jordison kit consist of two bass drums, three toms, two floor toms and a Joey Jordison signature snare. The Chad Smith kit consisted of one bass drum, one tom, two floor toms and a Chad Smith signature snare. In 2008 these kits were released again, but as a Forum drum set. The configuration is the same.
  • Mahogany - in 2009 Pearl released a limited amount of shell packs as well as a limited amount of 14" snare drums constructed out of African Mahogany. These came in the following sizes: 10" & 12" toms, 14" & (optional) 16" floor toms and a 22" bass drum. [5]

Snare Drums

As well as drum kits, Pearl is a renowned producer of snare drums. Lower end kits (Vision series and lower) come standard with snare drums, and higher end series have snares which must be bought separately. Individual snares, as well as artists' signature snares, are also available.

Series snare drums:

  • Forum - comes with matching 14"x5.5" snare as standard.
  • Export - comes with matching 14"x5.5" snare as standard. (Discontinued along with whole Export Line)
  • Vision - VX, VSX, VLX and VBX lines come with a steel SensiTone. VMX comes with a matching maple snare.
  • Masters - Available in all Masters lines and finishes. Ordered separately from kits.
  • Reference - 20 ply wood snares are available in 14x5, 14x6.5 and 13x6.5 sizes. They utilise the same mixed wood technology as other Reference drums, with 6 inner plies of birch and 14 outer plies of maple, and a 45 bearing edge. Metal Reference are also available - 3 mm thick seamless cast steel and 3 mm thick rolled and welded brass. Both metals are available in 14x5 and 14x6.5 sizes.
  • Masterworks - Masterworks snares can be custom ordered with a kit, or as a separate item. They are available in a wide range of materials, sizes and finishes.

Individual snare drums:

  • SensiTone Elite - SensiTone snares are produced from five metals: steel, stainless steel, brass, phosphor bronze and aluminium. All are available in 14x5 and 14x 6.5 sizes.
  • Ultracast - Made from 3 mm aluminium. Designed to produce a balance between metal and wooden shells. Available in 14x5 and 14x 6.5 sizes.
  • Free-Floating - Pearl's Free-Floating concept removes all hardware from the shell, thus allowing you to change the shell as easily as a head. The throw-off, lugs and other hardware are part of the special edge ring which holds the drum and heads together. Shells are available in copper, brass, steel and maple, with depths of 3.5", 5", 6.5" and 8".
  • Symphonic - Made from 6 ply, 7.5 mm thick maple, for concert quality snare drums. The throw-off features three separate strainers for thin cable, havy cable and snare wires, allowing a variety of sounds.
  • Firecracker - In 10x5" and 12x5" sizes, Firecracker snares are available in 8 ply Poplar or steel shells.
  • Effects - Include the 10x10" Maple Popcorn snare, as well as thin maple piccolo snares and thick effects snares. All are designed to create sounds unavailable in standard snare drum sizes.

Marching Percussion

Pearl Percussion has long been involved with marching percussion instruments. Their first appearance in the world of drum corps was in 1981 with the Cavaliers Drum & Bugle Corps who marched with a complete battery set of Pearl marching drums that year. Pearl's "FFX" free-floating marching snare, and Championship Series deep cut tenor drums feature distinctive volume and clarity that became one the most frequently featured marching drums utilized by drum and bugle corps and related marching-arts ensembles.

The legendary Concord Blue Devils Drum and Bugle Corps [4] battery percussion section becomes the newest addition to Pearl's long history of featured artists. The 13-time DCI World Champion corps to be equipped with marching percussion for DCI's [5] 2010 season.

References

  1. ^ Pearl - The Best Reason To Play Drums
  2. ^ Pearl's History
  3. ^ Pearl's Commitment to Quality
  4. ^ Heat Compression Shell Molding System
  5. ^ http://www.pearleurope.com/WhatsUpNewsDetail.aspx?NewsID=14&Pagetype=whatsup&MenuId=4
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