Brand Overview: Pearl Drums

If you want to take the right stride as a drummer, then Pearl is the company to help you.  Renowned drummers such as: Ian Paice (Deep Purple), Chris Slade (AC/DC) and Eric Singer (KISS) all use Pearl kits.  To get you to their level, we thought it would be imperative to get to know what makes Pearl the 'best reason to play drums.'  On that sentiment, we have created an in-depth Brand Overview for you!

A Little Bit of History ...

Pearl was founded by Katsumi Yanagisawa in Tokya, on April 2 1946.  By 1953, Pearl was officially established as 'Pearl Musical Instrument Company' and began manufacturing drums and percussion that includes: drum kits, marching drums, Latin percussion instruments, cymbals, stands, and accessories.  Pearl initially made shells for other companies, but eventually in the 1960s started manufacturing under their own logo. An interesting fact, Pearl released their first professional level kit called the 'President Series' in 1966 and thus began a legacy of innovation in the music-making industry.

Drum Sets

Masterworks - Completely custom made; every drum is designed by the customer and built to perfection.
Reference Pure and Reference - The mission behind Reference Series: To create a perfect sounding drum set where every drum is optimally engineered to produce the best sound possible within its respective tonal range.  Reference delivers maximum projection for live performances while the Reference Pure is optimized to crate the most resonant professional series, perfect for recording.
What makes Reference Pure and Reference Different?  Reference Pure consists of Thin Ply Shells, STL Lugs and FatTone Hoops.  Reference consists of Regular Ply Shells, BRL Lugs and MasterCast Hoops.
Masters MCX  - Masters MCX are adorned with MasterCast Hoops, the finest die cast hoops available, and feature the perfect blend of thickness and mass to improve the depth, clarity and focus of the drums.

Pearl MCX924XSPC  Quilted Bubinga Sunburst

The Session Studio Classic follows the original Session “recipe” with blended Birch and Kapur shells, recreating the classic “Session sound” of strong attack and projection with outstanding lows and punch that you can feel.
Vision - Vision Birch Laquer (VBL)  is Pearl's most affordable 100% Birch drum set. Vision Birch Artisan II is based on the original Vision formula and features blended Birch ply shells. Vision Birch has a unique shell combination gives projection to the low end while equally matching the high frequencies produced by smaller drums.

Pearl Vision Birch Artisan VBA825 Amber Burst Eucalypstus

Export - Let’s face it, most entry-level drum sets are plain vanilla with no regard to sound. But not Export. Taking its cue from Pearl’s award-winning Reference Series, the new Export puts sound first by blending premium Poplar and rich Asian Mahogany for an incredibly lush and full-bodied tone.
Rhythm Traveler  - Easy to transport and easy to practice, this kit is a gigging and practice kit in one.

Electronic E-Pro Live offers the limitless sonic capability and realistic feel of electronic drums on a drumset built with real drum shells, real brass cymbals, and real drumset hardware.

Pearl's Unique Construction Technique: Superior Shell Technology

1. Begins with hand selected woods, chosen for their acoustic resonance capabilities
2. Wood is then milled to precise thickness with overlapping scarf joint seams for a perfect air-tight fit and strength.
3. The wood plies are then saturated with Pearl’s proprietary “AcoustiGlue.”
4. While in the press, it is heated so that the glue is brought to a boil forcing the shells to fuse very closely.

Here is a video to further explain SST:

The Importance of Shell Wood on Sound

Maple

Maple is an excellent choice for general purpose applications due to its smooth, warm, well rounded tone, with equal amounts of hi-end attack and mid-range body and an excellent low-end punch.

Birch

Birch is known for its "naturally EQ'ed sound" that offers slightly boosted hi-end frequencies, a smooth, mellow mid-range and a deep low-end presence and is a great choice for any applications that require extra presence and cut. 

African Mahogany

 

African Mahogany is extremely rich in low-end frequencies, with beautifully smooth mids and a slight roll-off in the higher register. Drums made from African Mahogany have warmth and body that sets them apart from all others. Without question, if your main requirements are "bottom" and punch, African Mahogany should be your wood of choice. 

Pearl Hardware

Pearl offers hardware that consists of: boom stands, straight stands, hi-hat stands, snare stands, drum racks and pedals.

 Here is a quick overview on one of their best selling hardware: the Demonator Pedal.

The Demonator is a single-chain drive pedal, equipped with a Demon Style Powershifter long-footboard, an interchangable cam and infinitely adjustable beater angle, allowing you to customise to your desired feel and power. The pedal also comes equipped with Pearl's Click-Lock spring tension keeper and Control Core Beater. 

Famous Pearl Endorsees

Chad Smith - Red Hot Chilli Peppers

Tico Torres - Bon Jovi

Ian Paice - Deep Purple

Mike Cartellone - Lynyrd Skynyrd

Mike Mangini - Dream Theatre

Tommy Lee - Motley Crue

Eric Singer - KISS

Chris Slade - AC/DC

Mike Mangini of Dream Theatre

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New Yamaha HS Monitor Models

The newest HS Series reference monitors are designed as true reference monitors with exceptionally flat response.  They provide an ideal sonic platform to build on throughout the mixing process. 

Here is an overview of the new series:

High-performance Speakers and Mounting System

The elegant white-cone speakers used in the HS-series monitors deliver superlative audio performance that is further enhanced by a carefully engineered mounting system. A system of screws and a specially designed mounting ring eliminates spurious vibration and resonance, allowing the speaker to deliver its full sonic potential. Another feature that boosts woofer performance is a magnet selected to produce accurate, solid low-end response. The tweeter frames employ an advanced smooth-contour design that minimizes losses so that high-frequency details come through with remarkable accuracy. The extra thickness of the tweeter frame also minimizes resonance that can interfere with high-end clarity. The overall result is extraordinarily smooth, accurate response throughout the audio spectrum.

The Benefits of Built-in Power and Bi-amplification

Powered, bi-amplified monitor speakers simply make the most electrical and sonic sense, and that's why they have become the first choice of sound professionals the world over for near- and mid-field monitoring applications. In addition to the obvious advantage that you don't need separate power amplifiers, the fact that power and speakers are integrated in one unit means that the amplifiers can be perfectly matched to the characteristics of the speaker units used so you get consistently superior performance with any source in just about any listening environment. Bi-amplification means that separate power amplifiers are used to drive the low-mid and high-frequency speaker units, and this eliminates interaction between the units as well as the response and phase anomalies introduced by passive crossover networks. Both speaker units can function at optimum performance levels for correspondingly high overall sonic quality.

Large Magnets in an Advanced Magnetic Circuit Design

One feature of the HS-series monitors that you'll hear but are not likely to see is the extra large magnets. In combination with an advanced magnetic circuit design these magnets provide a powerful, uniform, tightly controlled flux field that results in exceptionally smooth response and dynamic capability over a wider frequency range.

Portable, Versatile Monitoring for Your Audio Workstation

All you really need for top-class stereo production capability is a good audio workstation and a pair of HS-series monitors. A system like this is not only portable and extremely easy to set up anywhere you need it, it can deliver outstanding monitoring performance that will let you get your mixes just right. The response-control features of these monitors let you tweak them for the best response no matter where you set them up.

Serious Surround Production

Although stereo is still the most common format for basic music listening, 5.1 surround has become the audio format of choice for today's advanced visual media, and is beginning to be recognized as a superior vehicle for pure musical enjoyment as well. But to properly mix and produce surround sound you need a good 5.1 monitoring system. The HS-series speakers and subwoofer are the perfect choice if you want competitive surround-monitoring performance without having to spend big-studio megabucks to get it. Combine five HS50M or HS80M powered near-field reference monitors with one or more HS10W subwoofers, and you're ready to produce and deliver state-of-the-art surround sound.

Optimum Response In Any Room

Speaker response can vary greatly depending on the size, shape, and surface acoustics of the room in which they're used, as well as how they're placed within that environment. The HS50M and HS80M give you extra room-matching and speaker placement versatility with ROOM CONTROL, MID EQ, and HIGH TRIM response control switches that are specifically designed to compensate for common acoustic deficiencies and monitoring needs. The ROOM CONTROL switch, for example, can be used to compensate for the unnatural low-end exaggeration that usually occurs when speakers are placed close to walls or in corners. The MID EQ switch gives you subtle midrange boost and cut options in addition to flat response, while the HIGH TRIM switch offer the same type of response-tailoring capability for the high frequencies.

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