Drum and Bugle Corps Sponsored by Yamaha Maintain a Long Tradition of Winning at DCI Championships

 

BUENA PARK, Calif. — Beginning 29 years ago, Yamaha sponsored its first drum and bugle corps within Drum Corps International activity (DCI). Over the years, the company has deepened its relationship with other successful corps and expanded the range of instruments and musical equipment it supplies. From 1985 on, corps that depend on Yamaha have won almost half of the DCI World Championship titles.

Known as Marching Music's Major League, DCI is a non-profit, global youth activity that sets the pace in music education by holding well-attended competitions and entertaining millions through live performances and nationally televised events. This year, the DCI season culminates with the World Championship, held from August 7–10 at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis.

This year Yamaha is supporting 18 drum and bugle corps affiliated with DCI, more than any other manufacturer, including eight at the World Class level, the top-quality corps in DCI, and 10 at the Open Class level. The company's involvement in DCI began in 1985 with the Madison Scouts from Madison, Wisconsin, which represents the longest-standing relationship between a manufacturer and a participating drum corps. Celebrating their 75th anniversary this year, the Madison Scouts have played Yamaha percussion instruments for 29 years and adopted Yamaha brass instruments exclusively in 2006. In 1986, Yamaha percussion first sponsored the Blue Devils and the Velvet Knights. The following year, the company established a relationship with The Cavaliers, who recently celebrated the 27th year of working with Yamaha in support of music education. 

DCI drum corps using Yamaha instruments have achieved great success, collecting thirteen of the Fred Sanford High Percussion Awards and seven of the Jim Ott High Brass Awards, more than any other manufacturer in each category. Drum corps' affiliated with Yamaha have also won 15 DCI World Championship titles since 1985, representing almost half the titles during that time period.

"Yamaha has provided invaluable support for DCI as a whole and for several of the marquee individual drum corps, none of which could exist without this kind of help," said Dennis DeLucia, a member of the DCI Hall of Fame. "Yamaha dedicates considerable resources, time and personnel toward so many educational ventures, including the drum and bugle corps world. When you put together all of what they do, from the Sounds of Summer percussion camps to numerous clinics to their sponsorship of arts organizations like DCI, it really adds up and helps further the cause of music education."

Marking a new trend in drum and bugle corps performance practices, 81 percent of all World Class Drum Corps use Yamaha Pro Audio equipment to augment their sound, including the 01V96 digital mixer, P Series power amps and Club VC loudspeakers. Several corps also perform with Yamaha synthesizers and the DTX Multi-12 Electronic Percussion Pad system, which features more than 1,200 drum, percussion and effects, including the Madison Scouts, The Cavaliers, The Cadets and The Bluecoats, among others.

In addition, the DCI Hall of Fame has inducted three Yamaha Percussion Artists, including DCI legend DeLucia, James Campbell at the University of Kentucky and Tom Aungst, who teaches in the Dartmouth, New Hampshire, public school system. DeLucia, a well-respected percussion teacher, arranger, clinician, author and judge, serves as co-host of the DCI broadcast and the World Championship Quarterfinals broadcast, which is shown in theaters across the country.

For more information, write Yamaha Corporation of America, P.O. Box 6600, Buena Park, CA 90622; telephone (714) 522-9011; e-mail infostation@yamaha.com; or visit http://4wrd.it/MARCHPERC.