YamahaTalk.com

Yamaha Drums is a subsidiary of the Yamaha Corporation. Yamaha has been building drums since 1967, and builds their drums by hand in Japan. The company currently manufactures acoustic and electronic drum kits, as well as other percussion instruments, marching band equipment, and drum hardware. Many professional drummers are endorsed by Yamaha.

In 1987, Yamaha acquired Premier Percussion of England, in an attempt to establish the Yamaha name in the tougher European market. Yamaha placed machinery and trained the Premier craftsmen in the “Yamaha-way” of making drums, resulting in Premier producing a large number of Yamaha drums “made in England”. After a few years, Yamaha withdrew and sold their stock shares of Premier.

Yamaha has made many innovations in drum hardware. They were the first to introduce:

* a hide-away cymbal boom-arm,
* locking hi-hat clutch,
* a ball-joint tom mount with 360 degrees of rotation,
* Yamaha Enhanced Sustain System (YESS).

Yamaha drums are manufactured at two different locations in Asia. Their Osaka Japan factory produces their high-end professional drums, as well as all marching percussion. The research and development of new products also takes place here. Marketing is managed from the Yamaha Corp. headquarters in Hamamatsu, a few hours away.

The massive factory in Indonesia produces all hardware and the entry/budget-line drums. Some 500,000 drums shells are shipped from this factory every year. The Indonesian factory uses the same machinery and techniques in the making of a drum shell, and all craftsmen working there are trained by Japanese craftsmen from the Osaka site.

The only difference between these two plants is that the Osaka plant uses the more exclusive woods (maple, birch and oak); and a produces a larger range of options in sizes and finishes. In addition to the drum production; several smaller sites in Osaka also produce their classical percussion instruments, such as timpani, marimba, xylophone, vibraphone and glockenspiel.

Yamaha’s hardware is engineered and manufactured in the Yamaha motorcycle factory. For these reasons Yamaha drum hardware has been the standard for backline and cartage companies all over the world for decades.