History of Pearl Drums
Pearl introduced its first drum set in 1953, but it wasn't until the late Sixties, when visiting jazz musicians heard Pearl drums in Japan, that the company took off.
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Prehistory
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Businessman Katsumi Yanagisawa's first Pearl company, opened in a small factory in 1946, produced music stands. As various musical genres began emerging in Japan, jazz brought to the island by American servicemen became popular. The reformation of education in Japan introduced American-style music education in the school curriculum, which increased the demand for music instruments.
History
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Encouraged by a fellow businessman and friend, Yanagisawa decided to augment his successful music stand business by manufacturing drums. By 1950, he had named his small company Pearl Industry Ltd. and was making drums with second-hand machinery and no experience, but before the year was over, he had the appropriate machinery and was beginning to experience more success. Yanagisawa then renamed his company Pearl Musical Instrument Company.
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Domestic Success
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By 1953, Pearl was producing basic drum sets (kick drum, snare drum, and two toms), marching drums, concert drums, timpani, Latin percussion instruments, cymbals and other drum accessories for the Japanese domestic market. By this time, Yanagisawa's company had expanded to 30 employees and was consistently growing into one of the leading manufacturers of drums and percussion instruments.
Next Generation
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In 1957, Katsumi's eldest son, Mitsuo, joined Pearl and developed a division to export the products on a global level. Pearl eventually built a 15,000 sq. ft. factory in Chiba, Japan in 1961 to compete for the high demand of drum kits during the era of rock 'n' roll. According to Spiritus-temports.com, "the kits were inexpensive and bore the brand name of the distributor."
The President Series
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Although Pearl was releasing likable drum products and was known as a major manufacturer, it wasn't until 1966, when Mitsuo Yanagisawa introduced the top-of-the-line President series drums, that the company hit its stride. According to Pearldrum.com, Japanese professional players liked the originality of sound and design, and visiting drummers such as Art Blakey were exposed to the new Pearl President drums. After Mitsuo listened to suggestions by drummers, the drums were upgraded and the quality was improved. They became a huge product that was accepted by U.S. markets.
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References
- Photo Credit drums image by agno_agnus from Fotolia.com
