Yamaha Celebrates 50 Years in the United States in Style at Winter NAMM 2010

Yamaha Artist Michael McDonald

BUENA PARK, Calif.—Yamaha celebrated its 50th anniversary in the United States in grand fashion at Winter NAMM 2010. In addition to creating an airy, open booth to showcase its products and the artists who make them come alive, Yamaha presented a standing-room-only concert at Disneyland that featured a video outlining the company's historical legacy of innovation and artistry in the United States.

Yamaha Artist Natalie Cole

For the second straight year, Yamaha's award-winning web team developed a dedicated multimedia Web site (www.yamaha.com/namm) that provided photos, live video streams and edited video segments that showcased product demonstrations, in-booth concerts and other events happening around Anaheim. Yamaha also unveiled an iPhone application that provided live updates of happenings at the conference.

"This year, our booth and our events crackled with energy," said Rick Young, Senior Vice President, Yamaha Corporation of America (YCA). "It's safe to say that the industry is back in the swing."

Yamaha's Dealer Concert, the hottest ticket at NAMM, took place on Friday, January 15 at 8:00 p.m. at the Hyperion Theater in Disney's California Adventure Park. Yamaha Corporate Artist Affairs produced a video short detailing Yamaha's history in the United States and lined up a stellar array of performers, including Vince Gill, Michael McDonald, Jason Mraz, Natalie Cole, John Ondrasik, Jon McLaughlin and Pull Start Rockets. A phenomenal house band, led by Nathan East, nearly stole the show from the headliners.

Philippe Saisse demonstrates the CP1 Stage Piano.

For the first time ever, NAMM sponsored a series of H.O.T. Zone hands-on training sessions for worship leaders, in which Yamaha's Worship Resources Department played a major role. A related concert, featuring leading worship performers Paul Baloche and Lincoln Brewster, attracted around 1,600 attendees.

Neal Schon and his band rocked the Rosewood Dealer Dinner.

"This year, we helped NAMM in their efforts to expand the show with their outreach to worship and education constituencies, areas Yamaha actively supports," said YCA Senior Vice President Tom Sumner. "The show reflected why we've been successful over the last half-decade and proved a great start for the next fifty years."

Unprecedented Award-Winning Streak Continues

For the last nine years, the Yamaha Disklavier performance-reproducing piano took top honors as Product of the Year in the Musical Merchandise Review (MMR) Dealer's Choice Awards. Though the Disklavier took the top prize, other Yamaha products also received accolades, including the Clavinova digital piano (Best Digital Keyboard) and the Company's Live Sound Department (Best Sound Reinforcement Products). The awards are based on votes from musical products dealers throughout the country.

Divisions Showcase Revolutionary Products, Impressive Events

The Yamaha Keyboard Division unveiled the new CF Series of Handcrafted Concert Pianos, representing nearly two decades of R&D and unprecedented artist input. The keyboard division also launched new additions to the Arius Line, including the YPD-141-161 and 181 console pianos and the YDP-V240 Arius Ensemble. New Clavinova models on display included the new CVP500 Series, the world's most advanced digital pianos. New Disklavier products on display included the DKC-850 Update and the Mark IV and E3 Series Upgrades. Additional digital piano offerings include the DGX-640 portable digital grand, the P95 digital piano and the PSR-E423 digital keyboard. The DD-45 portable digital drum set rounded out the Division's offerings.

Zak Bond showcased the new DTX950 Series Electronic Drum Kit.

On the main stage in the area housing Yamaha's Pro Audio and Combo Division (PAC), several demonstrators highlighted the Music Production Department's CP1 Stage Piano, which features wooden keys and modeling technology to create realistic keyboard sounds. On Friday afternoon, keyboardist Ellis Hall moved the crowd with an impromptu performance featuring several R & B and soul classics. Other music production products unveiled included two new POCKTRAK portable recording devices and the Tenori-On Orange.

Yamaha Drum Artists meet and greet their fans at the autograph session.

This year, the Drum and Guitar departments moved from the convention hall into Yamaha's main showroom at the Anaheim Marriott's Marquis Ballroom. Yamaha Acoustic Drums kicked off the launch of its new Rock Tour Drum Set with a press conference featuring Sully Erna of the chart-topping band Godsmack, along with three Rock Tour Rebels, who are promising young drummers promoting the kit on tour and online. Yamaha's new Electronic Drum Department commanded center stage as it introduced the new DTX-branded products. Product demonstrator Zak Bond showcased the DTX950 electronic drum kit along with the DTX-MULTI 12 electronic percussion pad.In addition to displays of the NX Series nylon string acoustic-electric guitars, SBG 1820 models, FSX Series steel string acoustic-electrics and BB2024 and BB2025 basses, Yamaha Guitars borrowed several historically significant six-strings from the archives of Yamaha Corporation, Japan. A series of display cases along the wall featured several of Yamaha's history-making guitars, including an FG-180, an SBG played by Carlos Santana, and an L52. A signing session on Saturday featured top Yamaha drum and guitar artists as long lines snaked around the booth.

In honor of the 50th anniversary of Yamaha, the Band & Orchestral Division debuted its highly-anticipated YAS-875EXW saxophone featuring vivid white lacquer and intricate gold engraving. Yamaha Winds offered the new the YSL-872 Alto Trombone in Eb with trill rotor, as well as the YFH-8315G/GS and YFH-8310Z/ZS flugelhorns in Bb. Additionally, Winds showcased the YPC-81R Professional Piccolo among other new wind and brass instruments. Strings previewed the YSQ-BSL Limited-Edition Black Sparkle Silent String Quartet along with the exciting new SV-250 4-string and SV-255 5-string Acoustic-body Silent Violins. Yamaha Percussion showcased the 500 Series Xylophones featuring the YX-500F model made from Acoustalon and the YX-500R constructed with Rosewood. Percussion also presented the 900 Grand Series Concert Toms and MSS-9214 Piccolo Marching Snare Drums. A new range of Randall May International Stadium Hardware for tubas and euphoniums was also shown. The B&O booth held daily performances by Yamaha artists, which included appearances by Emil Richards, Tina Guo, Antonio Pontarelli, Greg Vail and Carl Fischer.

Finally, Yamaha's Music Education Systems Division once again hosted its popular Junior Original Concert (JOC) Series, which featured three exceptional Yamaha Music School students performing their own original compositions.

Steinberg Media Technologies remained in the Main Hall. At the Steinberg booth, artists as diverse as Bone, Thugs-N-Harmony and Peter Frampton showcased how Steinberg audio software products enhance their sounds. Product demonstrators saw a steady stream of visitors as they showed off Cubase 5, the CI2 USB audio interface and The Grand 3.

For more information, write Yamaha Corporation of America, P.O. Box 6600, Buena Park, CA 90622; telephone (714) 522-9011; or e-mail infostation@yamaha.com.