TASCAM

About TASCAM

For more than 30 years, TASCAM has developed products for every segment of the sound and music industry. From the high-end audio professional in a major post-production studio to the novice or hobbyist at home, TASCAM is everywhere. We are a company committed to providing our customers audio/video solutions that enable breakthroughs by using sound in ways that are as exciting as they are accessible. In short, we provide tools that let people translate their creativity into reality.

After virtually creating the home recording scene during the early 1970s, TASCAM went on to achieve recognition for pioneering products in the professional recording arena as well. Our legacy of product development and innovation is reflected in the sheer number of industry firsts we’ve achieved, including:

• the first 1/2-inch, 4-track cassette recorder
• the first 8-track, reel-to-reel/mixer combo
• the first R-DAT recorder
• the first MiniDisc digital multitracker and CD scratcher

As evidenced by the awards and professional recognition we’ve received, TASCAM products are clearly in a class by themselves. Our MMR-8 digital audio dubber for the motion picture industry won an Oscar® at the Scientific and Technical Academy Awards in 2001 – based largely on its contribution to the Dolby Surround EX final mix for “The Lord of the Rings.” TASCAM also won Emmy Awards in 1995 (for Outstanding Achievement in Engineering Development for the TASCAM DA-88 Digital Multitrack Recorder) and 2000 (for Outstanding Achievement in Engineering Development for the MMR-8 and MMP-16).

Company History
TASCAM is one of four divisions of TEAC Corporation, a $1.2 billion manufacturing company headquartered in Japan. Since its founding in 1953, other divisions of TEAC have evolved into high-tech leaders in data storage devices, consumer electronics tools and industrial products, but TASCAM has remained dedicated to making innovative products for capturing creativity in the field of music and audio.

During the formative years in the early ’70s, the music scene was flourishing. Musicians who wanted to showcase their talents and abilities to the recording industry needed a cost effective means to record their music. However, most musicians could afford neither the expense of recording in a professional recording studio nor the asking price of professional recording equipment. Realizing the dilemma facing these musicians, TASCAM adopted a philosophy of manufacturing recording equipment that offered the uncompromising quality and durability of professional studio equipment while remaining affordable to the masses.

Looking Forward
As TASCAM enters its fourth decade in the music industry, we plan to make our future closely mirror our history. It’s about dedication. We will continue our commitment to provide our long time customers with the technology they need to Make It Happen, and we will seek to build trust with new loyal followers, too. Our collective ear will be kept to the ground so we can discover what musicians and industry professionals need – and then we’ll bring it to them. That’s the TASCAM way.

Martin Guitars

About Martin Guitars

Established in 1833, C. F. Martin & Co. is the oldest surviving maker of guitars in the world. Currently the largest producer of acoustic guitars in the United States, the company is highly regarded for creating some of the finest instruments and introducing innovations that have become industry standards in the music products industry.

In addition to guitar making, Martin is also one of the world’s largest manufacturers of strings for musical instruments.

Over 175 Years of Martin

The company, founded in the U.S. has been continuously family owned and operated for six generations. Currently headed by Chairman and CEO Christian Frederick Martin IV, the company has been handed down five times since it was started by German immigrant Christian Frederick Martin Sr. in 1833.

“Our signature product and Martin’s seamless tradition of quality to this day remain a significant source of pride for my family and all of those who are involved in crafting these extraordinary instruments,” said Martin Guitar Chairman and CEO Christian Frederick Martin IV. “Since 1833 musicians have connected with audiences everywhere the world over, showcasing their talent and virtuosity over all genres. Martin’s significance and cultural impact over 175 years is simply immeasurable.”

Embraced by artists all over the world, the Martin guitar has helped define virtually all genres of music, from classical and country to blues, folk and acoustic rock. The list of Martin players, past and present, reads like a Who’s Who of the musical world and includes such legends as Elvis Presley, Paul McCartney, Eric Clapton, John Mayer and countless others.

DigiTech

About DigiTech

DigiTech® is the world’s largest manufacturer of guitar products and is responsible for unmatched innovations in distortion pedals, preamps and modulators, which have been used by guitar legends such as Eric Clapton and Jimi Hendrix. DigiTech products are engineered by guitar enthusiasts for guitar enthusiasts and virtuosos, for use at home, in the studio and on the road.

Our passion for sound drives us to create the world’s most innovative multi-effects products and stompboxes for musicians at every level of skill-from garage-rockers to stadium-rocking pros. Our products enable musicians to explore new tones and create their own sonic personality.

Zildjian Cymbals

Every Company has a story: Ours starts in 1623.

Avedis Zildjian I (the first) was an Armenian alchemist in the city of Constantinople in the seventeenth century. His attempts to create gold by combining base metals led instead to an alloy of copper, tin and traces of silver with unique

Avedis Zildjian III

sound qualities. Avedis used this discovery to create cymbals of spectacular clarity and power. The sound of the instruments was extraordinary, and as his reputation grew he was given the name “Zildjian”, an Armenian word meaning “son of cymbal maker.”

The Zildjian secret alloy is now nearly four centuries old. It has been passed down between Zildjian heirs for fourteen generations. Currently, Armand Zildjian’s two daughters, Craigie and Debbie are continuing the family tradition. Zildjian has been officially recognized as the oldest continually family-owned business in America.

The Zildjian brand stands for more than expertise and a rich heritage of high quality craftsmanship. Its essence is found

Zildjian Factory 2004

in every thread of the drumming community, weaving together students, teachers, pros, old, young, and everyone in between.

From the beginning, the leaders of the company have stayed close to the working musicians in order to understand their experiences and needs. By sustaining these close bonds and looking to them for insight into the design and manufacturing of innovative and extraordinarily sounding cymbals, Zildjian has maintained its position as the world’s leading cymbal manufacturer.

Zildjian’s reputation for exceeding customer expectations and needs can be attributed to both its sharp focus on continuous quality improvement and innovation, and its emphasis on the family character and rich tradition of the business. Zildjian’s enduring values-leadership, commitment to quality and craftsmanship, passion for music and fun, music education, and a strong family heritage and culture-have guided the company in carrying out its vision over the years.

M-Audio

About M-Audio

M-Audio, a part of Avid Technology, Inc., is a leading provider of innovative tools for today’s computer musicians and audio professionals. Now celebrating its 20th anniversary, the company was founded with the goal of democratizing music production by making powerful, easy-to-use technology accessible to a broad creative community. The company’s award-winning and comprehensive product line includes PCI-, FireWire- and USB-based audio interfaces; USB/MIDI keyboard controllers and digital pianos; microphones, preamps and reference monitors; and DJ tools. M-Audio has received numerous industry accolades, including Music Trades’ “Company of the Year” and “Fastest Growing Company” distinctions.

About Avid Technology, Inc.

Avid is a worldwide leader in tools for film, video, audio and broadcast professionals — as well as for home audio and video enthusiasts. Avid professional and consumer brands include Avid, Digidesign®, M-Audio®, Pinnacle Systems®, Sibelius® and Sundance Digital®. The vast majority of primetime television shows, feature films, commercials and chart-topping music hits are made using one or more Avid products. Whether used by seasoned professionals or beginning students, Avid’s products and services enable customers to work more efficiently, productively and creatively. Avid received an Oscar® statuette representing the 1998 Scientific and Technical Award for the concept, design, and engineering of the Avid® Film Composer® system for motion picture editing.

Tama Drums

Tama Profile

Tama produces a full line of drums from hand-made limited edition models to mass-produced models for beginners or budget-minded drummers, in a wide range of sizes, materials, and finishes. Tama brands its professional drums as Starclassic. Regular production models are available in 100% bubinga shells, 100% maple shells, and birch/bubinga hybrid shells, as well as metal-shelled snare drum models made from brass. Limited edition models may feature special woods and/or finishes. All Starclassic drums feature die-cast hoops, as opposed to the more common cold-rolled triple-flanged hoops. All Starclassic drums are currently manufactured in Japan, but Tama plans to move some of its mass production of Starclassic drums to its Chinese factory to enable its Japanese factory to focus more on hand-made limited edition models.

The Superstar and Imperialstar lines are cheaper, featuring birch/basswood hybrid shells and 100% poplar shells, respectively. These models are all manufactured in China. In the 1970s and 80s, Tama’s “Superstar” and “Imperialstar” lines were the sole premier products of the company.

Tama has a summer and winter release of new types of drums every year. These releases coincide with the National Association of Music Manufacturers (NAMM) Biannual convention. Twice a year, at these times Tama restocks the shelves of the specialty drum shops with new limited edition and limited production drums. Specialty drum shops and chain music stores get supplied with mass production drums as needed. Add-on toms are special order drums made to expand an existing drumset, and are available through specialty drum shops.

Tama Drums are hand made. On most Limited edition and limited production drums, the inside of each shell is signed by the person who crafted the drum. Most Limited Edition sets have matching snare drums, while most other sets are sold as “shell packs” without a matching snare, or with a metal snare from the same line. Tama was one of the first companies to offer super heavy duty hardware, and a free floating drum mounting system (StarCast) at the time of its appearance the mounting system was unique as unlike standard tom mounting systems where the mount is attached to the shell, the StarCast system suspends the tom from its upper rim, allowing the shell to resonate freely for a much improved sound.

Original Tama Superstar drums, as well as Imperialstar and Fibrestar have become collectors items. There are groups devoted to restoring the Superstar drums with mahogany finish thanks in no small part to the influence of Neil Peart of Rush using them. Lars Ulrich of Metallica is escpecially a fan of their double bass custom sets Tama Imperialstars, combined with titan hardware have been a favorite of gigging drummers and Stewart Copeland, amongst others, because of the ruggedness and wrap finish.

Tama’s cordia wood Artstar line (again introduced by Neil Peart’s iconic red prototype) ushered in an era of thinner drum shells. The artstar was Tama’s turning point away from heavy and thick shelled drums. Tama’s cordia/birch wood artstar II were aimed at the competitions higher priced drums with an exotic finish. The lower price made them a bargain compared to European brands. The modern equivalent of the artstar II, are the limited/exotix made of maple, koa and bubinga.

QSC Audio

Company Profile

After four decades, QSC Audio Products, LLC, has become a globally recognized leader in professional audio. This prominence is the result of the company’s mission to establish new standards of reliability and performance through the development of breakthrough technologies. QSC’s products meet the demanding requirements of audio professionals in concert, installation, portable entertainment and cinema applications.

QSC changed the face of amplifier technology with the introduction of the PowerLight^TM switching power supply, a technological advance that significantly reduces weight and bulk while improving audio performance. PowerLight, first incorporated into the revolutionary PowerLight Series and now used in three other amplifier lines, is proof that high power can be achieved in small, lightweight packages.

The RMX series amplifiers brought truly professional performance at breakthrough pricing to portable sound reinforcement and became the leading products in the segment. At the same time, QSC amplifiers have become the standard for the cinema industry.

Recognizing customer needs for increasingly integrated systems, QSC has expanded beyond amplification into loudspeakers and digital signal processing and has assembled talented teams of recognized innovators and leaders to develop the elements of these systems.

QSC loudspeaker offerings include the WideLine with astonishing acoustic quality and output from one of the smallest line-array systems available. The Installation Line Array (ILA) brought line-array benefits and unprecedented affordability to the installation market. A growing catalog of installation loudspeakers also includes the AD series of small format speakers recognized for value and accurate reproduction. Entertainers and other users of portable sound systems are able to enjoy powered speaker simplicity combined with legendary QSC reliability in the HPR series. And a complete range of cinema loudspeakers makes QSC a one-stop supplier of “B-chain” products.

The company was a pioneer in computer control, digital signal processing and signal transport. QSControl (pronounced Q’s Control), a remote audio monitoring system application, has proven its performance in systems worldwide, from the world’s tallest buildings (the Petronas Towers in Malaysia) to Mandalay Bay Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas.

QSC manufactures products in a new 81,000-sq.-ft., state-of-the-art production facility. The factory, which has the ability to triple QSC’s production capacity, is located next to QSC’s current 51,000-sq.-ft. headquarters in Costa Mesa, Calif. The sophisticated electronic manufacturing facility is designed with build-to-order flexibility giving QSC unprecedented ability to respond to customer needs. This same approach is being applied to a wood-working and loudspeaker manufacturing facility scheduled to go on line during 2007. Manufacturing, warehousing, corporate offices, engineering, technical services, and sales are housed in both buildings.

“When this company was started, there was a common commitment to creating with integrity,” said QSC CEO Barry Andrews. “That commitment has strengthened over the years. QSC products have a reputation for quality, innovation and reliability. Moving into the fully integrated systems allows us to expand that commitment into an area we feel is the future of system design.”

The exceptionally high value of QSC products is achieved through developing leading technologies, world-class manufacturing techniques, and the purchasing power possible as the world’s leading amplifier producer.

While QSC has grown from a small garage start-up to an internationally recognized leader in the pro-audio industry, the commitment to customers, partners and employees has remained strong and constant. Combining QSC’s commitments to people with leading edge technologies and system integration will continue to move QSC forward.

Line 6

LINE 6 – Modeling Pioneers

Most non-musicians are likely unaware that the past fifty years of guitar amplifier technology has had a more significant impact on the history of rock music than the electric guitar itself. Each individual amp and effect design was created to distort and color the guitar signal in a different way, contributing significantly to why the guitar sounds of the Beatles were so different from Jimi Hendrix or Pink Floyd. Both the subtle and overt differences between the many types (and even specific serial numbers) of amps and effects, became cherished tonal signatures that were sought after for the particular sonic mood that they might inspire.

In the mid-1990′s, Line 6 set out to meet the needs of today’s guitarist by harnessing technology to turn a wide range of great tone into a reality for every guitarist. Line 6 amassed a noteworthy collection of sought-after vintage amps and effects, and started meticulously measuring and analyzing every tonal aspect of the amps, effects and their associated circuitry. Since an electric guitar produces an electrical signal, each element of the circuitry that alters the tone of the guitar is in fact processing that signal. By creating software models in DSP (Digital Signal Processing) of how the guitar signal is processed by these circuits, Line 6 had the ability to connect up and control these virtual circuits in any way.

After years of research and playing, Line 6 launched a patented technology in 1996, with the world’s first digital modeling guitar amplifier, the AxSys 212. This product provided users with models of dozens of classic guitar amplifiers, as well as a complete arsenal of stomp boxes and effects. The AxSys quickly took off and led to the further development of Line 6′s technology into a comprehensive line of guitar amps within all price ranges. Only a year later, Line 6 launched the next guitarist tone revolution: POD. This kidney bean-shaped desktop device went beyond just the modeling of many classic amplifiers, it was created to solve another critical problem that had plagued guitar players: recording great guitar tone.

Pearl Drums

About Pearl

Pearl Corporation is organized and functions as a wholesale distributor of drums, percussion musical instruments and flutes for the United States. The majority of drums and related items are manufactured by Pearl Musical Instrument company and imported directly from company owned factories located in Taiwan and China. The flutes are manufactured in Taiwan and Japan while the latin percussion instruments are manufactured in Thailand. Pearl Corporation is also the exclusive U.S. distributor of Adams timpani and mallet percussion instruments.

Pearl Corporation is a wholly owned subsidiary of Pearl Musical Instrument Company, whose headquarters is located in Yachiyo City, Chiba, Japan. Pearl Corporation owns and operates a permanent 140,000 sq. ft. facility in Nashville, Tennessee, consisting of offices for management and staff, customer service and inside sales, and warehousing and distribution. Pearl also operates strategically placed distribution facilities in Reno, Nevada and Chambersburg, Pennsylvania for quick delivery to West Coast and East Coat dealers respectively. Pearl derives stability and competitiveness from being part of a larger and financially stable organization that can provide world class products at competitive prices, along with a research and development program that responds quickly to developments and/or changes in the market place.

Peavey Electronics

Since its founding in 1965, our company goal has always been to build the best products available while at the same time making them affordable through the use of the most modern computer-assisted design manufacturing methods available.

Company History:

The Peavey Electronics Corporation, founded in 1965 by Hartley Peavey, is a major manufacturer of guitars, amplifiers, speakers, electronic keyboards, and other electronic audio-enhancement equipment. In 1993, the company, solely owned by Hartley, then chairman, and Melia Peavey, his wife and president of the company, had sales estimated at $210 million. Exports to more than a hundred countries accounted for an estimated 40 percent of sales. Peavey Electronics, with more than 1,600 different products, is also the tenth largest manufacturer in Mississippi, with more than a million square feet of warehouse and manufacturing space in east-central Mississippi, including a 40-acre headquarters site known as Peavey City in Meridian. The company also has manufacturing operations in Foley, Alabama, and in Corby, England, and distribution centers in The Netherlands and Canada. Its chief competitor is Yamaha, the Japanese conglomerate. Founder Hartley Peavey, whose “hometown boy makes good” story made him a local legend in Mississippi, has been the recipient of numerous awards for entrepreneurship, including the “E Star” award for success in international markets from the U.S. Department of Commerce. He was also inducted into Hollywood’s “Rock Walk of Fame” in 1990 for his contributions to rock ‘n’ roll music.

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