Chicago Symphony “Dream Out Loud”

Like George Peppard used to say: “I love it when a plan comes together.”  Arriving on my desk yesterday was the February 2010 copy of The Instrumentalist.  Low and behold in the background of the cover photo is a “Dream Out Loud” poster featuring Yamaha trumpet artist and Chicago Symphony Orchestra member Tage Larsen.  We embarked on this “Dream out loud” project with the CSO several years ago as a way to encourage and support young instrumentalists to continue a lifelong involvement in music.

To date the CSO has sent out thousands and thousands of these posters to schools and universities, and the above picture is proof of the potential impact the posters can have in encouraging students to stick with music and follow their dreams.

You can find more information on the “Dream Out Loud” project by the Chicago Symphony Orchestra and Yamaha on this page.

Filed under: Marketing, Music Business, Trumpet , Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Dream Out Loud

On The Road Again

It’s that time of the year when the YamahaWinds team gathers our frequent flyer cards and prepares to hit the road.  The 2010 show & event schedule will take us all over the country from our favorite spots like San Antonio and Washington DC to unusual destinations like Athens (GA) and Raleigh (NC).  Here’s a list of cities where you might find us during 2010…and if you look closely we’ll probably be searching for Starbucks on our iPhones.

2010 YamahaWinds Schedule

Texas Music Educators Association – San Antonio, TX (Feb 10-13)

North American Saxophone Alliance - Athens, GA (March 3-6)

National Trumpet Competition – Georgetown, WV (March 11-13)

Eastern Trombone Workshop – Fort Myer, VA (March 17-20)

North American Brass Band Association – Raleigh, NC (April 16-17)

Jazz Educators Network – St. Louis, MO (May 20-22)

International Tuba/Euphonium Conference – Tuscon, AZ (May 25-29)

Oklahoma Clarinet Symposium – Norman, OK (June 16-19)

Music for All Summer Symposium – Bloomington, IL (June 21-25)

International Double Reed Society- Norman, OK (June 22-26)

International Trombone Festival – Austin, TX (July 7-10)

DCI Kalamazoo (July 10)

DCI Minneapolis (July 17)

International Clarinet Festival – Austin, TX (July 21-25)

DCI San Antonio (July 24)

Texas Bandmasters Association – San Antonio, TX (July 25-28)

DCI Atlanta (July 31)

DCI Allentown (August 6-7)

National Flute Association – Anaheim, CA (August 11-15)

DCI World Championships – Indianapolis (August 10-14)

USSBA National Championships – Baltimore, MD (early November, date TBD)

American Orff-Schulwerk Association – Spokanne, WA (Nov 3-6)

Music for All Grand National Championships – Indianapolis (November 10-13)

Midwest Band & Orchestra Clinic – Chicago, IL (December 14-19)

Filed under: Clarinet, Double Reed, Drum Corps, Euphonium, Events, Flute, Jazz, Music Business, Saxophone, Travel, Trombone, Trumpet, Tuba , Shows & Events

Quality IS Affordable (new price points)

We’re launching this week a new campaign titled “Quality IS Affordable“.  Basically it’s an opportunity for educators who have wanted to purchase certain Yamaha low brass, but because of budget reasons have been forced to accept other instruments.  Good news – we’re immediately offering some new price points on four of the most popular Yamaha background instruments including:

YEP-201 – 3 valve lacquer euphonium

YEP-321 – 4 valve lacquer euphonium

YEP-321S – 4 valve silver-plated euphonium

YBB-105WC – 3/4 size top action, 3 valve lacquer tuba with case

Here’s the official wording from the ad above.

As the leading musical instrument manufacturer in the world, Yamaha recognizes today’s challenging economic atmosphere and has answered the call of music educators who require the finest band instruments without sacrificing budget and quality. Starting now, Yamaha is offering its most popular tuba and euphoniums at fresh, new price points,giving educators an opportunity to obtain superior instruments for their students.

Contact your local Yamaha dealer today for more information about the new price points on these four incredible instruments.

Filed under: Euphonium, Tuba , Magazine Ads, Quality is Affordable

Mary Karen Clardy Poster

Some of the best projects around here are associated with photo shoots.  Not product photos shoots (product photo shoots are exceptionally boring), but people photo shoots.  Working with a creative photographer and trying to capture the relationship of the artist to their Yamaha instrument in a natural and comfortable setting is a lot of fun.

Each photo also has a story that goes with it.  Maybe the shot we chose was the very last one of the day, or maybe the weather was totally crazy, or maybe the location had an unexpected appeal.  Regardless, they all have a story.

The story for this one is that it was cold.  Really cold.

If you want one of these cool new Mary Karen Clardy posters, let us know by email to bandandorchestra(at)yamaha(dot)com.

Filed under: Marketing, Music Business , Mary Karen Clardy, Photos, Yamaha Posters

Yamaha Concert Series at Disneyland

The end of January marked the final broadcast in a series of 4 live concerts from the Disneyland Resort in Anaheim California.  We’re fortunate that Disneyland is only about 10-minutes from the Yamaha offices and the staff have been absolutely wonderful to work with.  Each live broadcast had a text-to-win contest featuring a Yamaha Pocketrak 2G, and a grand prize winner was chosen from all the entries for a Disneyland Vacation package along with a Yamaha Home Theatre system.

Here’s a recap of the concert series along with links to the various photo albums and podcasts.

OCTOBER 30, 2009

The October date featured the Jambalaya Jazz Band performing at New Orleans Square.  This high-energy ensemble provided a great start to the concert series, and showcased the wide range of talent performing each and every day at Disneyland.

Photo Album from the event

DECEMBER 8, 2009

Our second broadcast featured Yamaha trumpet artist Jens Lindeman and an all-star quartet he put together just for this broadcast.  Jens performed a variety of pieces and styles in a beautiful Disney-themed setting.  This broadcast took place at a stage in Disney’s California Adventure and even featured a guest appearance by someone special! (you will have to watch the video to see)

Photos from the event

Download the podcast of the performance (complete with special guest appearance)

DECEMBER 18, 2009

At the beginning of this project, there was one particular group that would be our ‘home-run’ if we could make it happen.  That was the Gordon Goodwin Big Phat Band.  Having that band perform on the Carnation Plaza Gardens Stage would be a truly magical event.  So many members of the Big Phat Band have a connection with Disneyland, and that particular stage has such a rich ‘big-band’ tradition with the biggest names having performed over the years.

The band was amazing, and the guests in attendance witnessed 2 sets worth of today’s greatest big band music.

Photos from the event

Download part 1 from the concert

Download part 2 from the concert

JANUARY 30, 2010

Following a rainout of the original date two weeks earlier, the final broadcast took place on the iconic Tomorrowland Terrace Stage featuring the rockin’ Rhythm & Blues sounds of  Rumble King.  It was a beautiful night at Disneyland and brought the California ‘winter’ atmosphere to the internet audience watching online.

Photos from the event

Thanks to everyone that participated in this concert series from the Disneyland staff to the talented musicians and those of you who watched at home.  We can’t wait to do it again next year!

Filed under: Events, Jazz, Marketing, Music Business , podcasts, the hub, Disneyland

More Beautiful Engraving…

Jason DuMars has some beautiful pictures on his Flickr page of a number of custom engraving projects he’s done including a Yamaha YTS-82Z Custom Tenor Saxophone.  There is no question that this type of engraving is truly an art form, and perhaps a somewhat dying art form.

Congratulations to Jason for making this particular Yamaha 82Z into an absolute one-of-a-kind instrument.

Visit Jason’s Website for more information on his custom engraving.

Filed under: Gear, Saxophone , Saxophone Engraving

One Year and Counting

This week marks a full year writing the YamahaWinds blog.

I do realize that a one year anniversary for a blog is hardly remarkable.  But the entire YamahaWinds team certainly appreciates our friends, dealers, customers and artists that take time to read what is happening in the world of YamahaWinds.

We do read all the comments, and answer the email sent in via the blog.  So let us know if something is on your mind.

Thanks again for reading.

Filed under: Marketing, Music Business , 1-Year Anniversary

Yamaha 50th Anniversary Concert at NAMM

2010 marks the 50th anniversary of Yamaha in the United States. To kick off this year-long celebration, we hosted a special concert at the NAMM show for Yamaha dealers and special guests. It was an unbelievable night with an all-star list of performers backed by all-star band complete with strings. The lineup included performances by:

Pull Start Rockets
Jon McLaughlin
Jason Mraz
Natalie Cole
John Ondrasik
Vince Gill
Michael McDonald

A few of our staff and friends captured some great photos from the concert. Greg Vail (who played saxophone in the orchestra) has some great behind the scenes photos.  Yamaha District Manager Larry Chamberlain posted his absolutely stunning photos.  The staff from Moeller Music in Ohio even uploaded a little bit of video on their YouTube site.  Thanks guys for sharing your pictures and video with us!

Filed under: Events, Music Business , NAMM Show, Yamaha 50th Anniversary

2010 Winter NAMM Recap

Plenty of exciting things to talk about from the trade show last week. Amazing Yamaha 50th anniversary concert, completely sold out of the white 50th anniversary EX saxophones, and dealers across the country with a very positive outlook for the coming year.

Here are a few of the product videos we recorded during the show.

Filed under: Gear, Marketing, Music Business , NAMM Show, New Models, Stadium Hardware

YAS-875EXW (White) Alto Saxophone

Yes, it’s white.

In celebration of a great Yamaha Anniversary this year in the United States, we decided to do something different.  Hence, the YAS-875EXW (W=White).  The base model is a regular 875EX alto, with a white lacquer coating instead of the standard lacquer coating.  Oh, and there are just 50 available.  (starting in April 2010)

I gave one to Greg Vail in December to see what he thought, and he pointed out something that makes a huge difference on this horn.  While the lacquer on the inside of the bell may seem to be a purely cosmetic difference, it actually makes a pretty big difference in the sound of the instrument.  For players that are typically very ‘bright’ players, the white lacquer may in fact be the ‘darkest’ sounding instrument.  Greg figured that the lacquer coating is thicker than the black lacquer 875EX (true), and by adding lacquer to the inner bell (which has a lot of surface area) it gave the instrument even more focus.  Since the lacquer coating changes how the metal vibrates, changing the inner bell to a lacquered finish would certainly have some impact on the tone.

All pretty good conclusions by someone who as clearly spent some time thinking about these sorts of things.

Greg took some great pictures of this horn and posted them on his Flickr page.

In case you noticed some extra Japanese kanji engraved on the bell, you’re right.  It’s (管楽器)  - Japanese”kangakki” translate to Wind Instruments in English.

Here are the ONLY dealers where you will find these instruments available.

Best Musical Instrument Co., Inc.
Buddy Rogers Music Inc.
Cascio/Interstate Music (direct product link)
Central Music Distributors
Chester Groth Music
Creative Music Center
Hillje Music
Hysonmusic.com
Kennelly Keys Music
Motter’s Music House, Inc.
Music & Arts Center
Musicians Friend/Woodwind Brasswind
Nick Rail Music Inc.
Paul A. Schmitt Music Center
Pro Winds, Inc. (direct product link)
Rush’s Musical Services, Inc.
Saied Music Company
Sam Ash Music

You can even hear the YAS-875EXW in action on a few videos we recorded at the NAMM show.

Here’s Greg playing the instrument at the 50th Anniversary Concert!

Filed under: Gear, Marketing, Saxophone , NAMM Show, New Models