October 25, 2024
Meet the Makers: Yamaha Band & Orchestra
The global giant in instrument-making, Yamaha has produced progressive, meticulously crafted products for well over a century. In this guide, we cover the brand’s storied history and survey some of its groundbreaking gear.
Yamaha is the world’s largest manufacturer of musical instruments, with a legacy spanning more than 130 years. The company’s unwavering quality and commitment to serving musicians have cemented it as a top choice for players everywhere, from classical and jazz icons to students picking up their very first instrument. No other instrument maker can match the experience, scale and consistency of this music-industry icon.
Read on as we dig into Yamaha’s history and explore their philosophy, innovations and landmark products in the band-and-orchestra category.
Yamaha History 101
Torakusu Yamaha was born to a samurai astronomer in 1851, near the end of the feudal Edo period. Inspired by his father’s astronomy books, Torakusu quickly gained an interest in science, technology and engineering. As a young adult, he witnessed the transformation of Japan during the Meiji Restoration: a time of rapid social change, modernization and industrialization. Torakusu began his professional career as an apprentice to a watchmaker before moving to Osaka to study medical equipment repair and eventually settling in the city of Hamamatsu, where he worked as a repairman.
In 1886, a local elementary school hired Torakusu to repair its reed organ, and by the next year, he and a colleague had produced their own reed organ, the first to be made in Japan. Torakusu named his company Nippon Gakki Co., Ltd. (Japan Musical Instrument Manufacture) and began selling reed organs to Japanese schools. After touring several piano factories in the United States, the company produced Japan’s first upright piano in 1900 and the first domestic grand piano in 1902.
Yamaha’s founder passed away in 1916, but his company lived on and continued to grow. Over the next few decades, Nippon Gakki Co. branched out into manufacturing furniture, harmonicas, phonographs, guitars, sporting equipment and motorcycles (the latter spawning its own separate entity, Yamaha Motor Company). But through all of this diversification, they maintained a solid footing in the music industry, and even began offering music classes in 1954, a forerunner of the Yamaha Music School. Yamaha Corporation of America was established in 1960, and in Japan, Nippon Gakki Co. produced its first brass instrument in 1966—the YTR-1 trumpet.
In the years that followed, Yamaha’s band-and-orchestra offerings expanded to include a complete range of brass, woodwind, percussion and string instruments. In the 1980s and ’90s, Yamaha introduced revolutionary electronic instruments like the Disklavier and DX7 synthesizers while continuing to improve its acoustic instruments with enhanced designs, improved materials and customer feedback. In 1987, 100 years after Torakusu Yamaha introduced his first product, the Japanese company was officially renamed Yamaha Corporation in his honor.
Pillars of Yamaha
Behind Yamaha’s market dominance is a dedication to music, craftsmanship and innovation that influences everything they do. From market research and product development to manufacturing, quality control and customer service, Yamaha keeps musicians in mind at every step.
Customer-Centric Philosophy
From day one, Yamaha has been dedicated to making instruments that allow people to express themselves. From building reed organs for schoolchildren to collaborating on product design with world-class musicians, customer feedback is a huge part of Yamaha’s process. As musical styles evolve and player preferences change, Yamaha listens, adapts and gives the people what they want.
A Manufacturing Powerhouse
Yamaha’s evolution is directly tied to its advancements in manufacturing, from developing metal alloys for brass and woodwind instruments to semiconductors for electronics and even many of the specialized machines and robots that make the instruments. At Yamaha’s three main instrument factories in Japan, and at the company’s facilities around the world, the level of quality and attention to detail is just as impressive as the sheer scale and efficiency that allows Yamaha to produce top-quality instruments at realistic prices. What’s more, that unrivaled scale and sophistication ensures that Yamaha can make instruments of incomparable consistency.
Dedication to Craftsmanship
For all of Yamaha’s manufacturing prowess, the human element is still an essential part of the process. Yamaha’s production pipeline involves a combination of advanced automation and hands-on work by humans, from hammering trombone bells to stringing violins. Every instrument gets checked and played by a human before it leaves the factory, so you’ll never receive a product that hasn’t passed inspection.
Arts Patronage
Yamaha’s dedication to musicians extends well beyond the factory floor. Ever since the company began offering music classes in the mid-’50s, Yamaha has engaged with artists through education, endorsements, charitable causes and music-industry initiatives like Yamaha Entertainment Group. Yamaha even has its own world-class ensemble composed entirely of employees: the Yamaha Symphonic Band.
Key Yamaha Products
62 Series Saxophones
Designed in collaboration with noted classical saxophonist Eugene Rousseau, Yamaha’s original 62 Series saxophones gained a reputation among players as versatile and reliable “do-everything” instruments. With their fine-tuned inner bore tapering, integrated key posts and thoughtfully designed keys, these instruments produce a rich, highly controllable tone with smooth action for expressive playing in any genre.
Xeno Series Trumpets & Trombones
Yamaha’s beloved Xeno Series can be traced back to a request from Thomas Stevens, then principal trumpeter for the Los Angeles Philharmonic, to rebuild a trumpet by Kenzo Kawasaki, the revered Yamaha brass instrument designer. Following nearly a decade of development, Yamaha introduced the YTR-6335H “heavy model” in 1986, followed in 1990 by the improved and rebranded Xeno line. Yamaha Xeno Series instruments feature heavier materials and sturdy bracing, which gives them a robust tonal quality and superb dependability.
Custom Z Saxophones
Yamaha introduced the first Custom Z saxophone in 2003 to offer modern players a more expressive and responsive instrument, and the line has since expanded to include trumpets, trombones and flugelhorns. Rooted in Yamaha’s beloved 62 models, Custom Z saxes feature thinner materials and wider bores that provide an extremely dynamic response in the hands of high-level players, making them a top choice for jazz musicians in particular. The entire line features gorgeous design and accents, but the black finish and gold engraving of the YSS-82ZR saxophone is especially striking.
CSVR Clarinets
Responding to demand from professional clarinetists for a more consistent and expressive instrument, Yamaha introduced the YCL-CSVR Bb clarinet and YCL-CSVRA A clarinet in 2015. Details like thick key plating, traditional barrel and bell shapes, durable leather pads and an adjustable thumb rest give these instruments a combination of world-class tone, wonderfully responsive feel and impressive reliability.
Silent & Electric Strings
Yamaha’s band-and-orchestra instruments sound fantastic onstage and in the studio, but what if you need a quieter instrument to practice with that feels just as good to play as an acoustic one? Yamaha launched the innovative Silent Strings Series in 1997 to solve that exact problem, giving string players a natural-feeling instrument that’s quiet and lightweight enough to practice with anywhere. Yamaha’s electric strings, such as the stunning YEV Pro 4-String and 5-String violins, take things to the next level, providing the feel and expressiveness of an acoustic instrument with the sonic versatility of a pickup.
YDS Digital Saxophones
One of Yamaha’s latest innovations is a digital saxophone that can emulate a huge variety of woodwind instruments. The air-pressure sensor behind the mouthpiece responds naturally to your playing dynamics, but your tone isn’t affected by different reeds or imperfect technique, so even a beginner can sound as good as a pro. The keys feel like a real saxophone, and they can even be reprogrammed to enable different scales and fingerings. Whether you’re just learning to play or need a versatile instrument to gig with, this sax does it all. The YDS-150 model includes a brass bell for an even more authentic sound.
Yamaha Percussion
Yamaha began crafting drums in the mid-’60s, introducing the D20 and D30 drum kits in 1967. Over the following decades, the company also developed a complete line of concert and marching percussion, researched and tested in close collaboration with top players and drumlines. Like the brand’s other instrument divisions, Yamaha’s percussion lines provide everything a kit drummer or a band-and-orchestra program could need—at any price point, manufactured to the highest standards in durability and craftsmanship. Music & Arts offers student-friendly gear like the 7000 Series Concert Bass Drum, with its rock-solid build and robust tone; the YV-2030MS Vibraphone, a more compact, movable entry to keyboard percussion with a full-sized sound; and the Concert Series Maple snare drum, with 8-ply construction and a new design that enhances resonance and clarity.
- Yamaha Concert Series Maple Snare Drum
- Yamaha 7000 Series Intermediate Concert Bass Drum
- Yamaha YV-2030MS Vibraphone
Yamaha Today
Yamaha continues to hold the distinction of being the largest manufacturer of musical instruments, and that’s not likely to change. Working directly with musicians, Yamaha is constantly refining its products and developing new instruments that allow artists to express themselves to the fullest. On the technical side, the company continues to refine its products and processes through non-stop R&D as well as cutting-edge research in fields like materials science, artificial intelligence and sustainability. If you’re looking for a top-quality instrument that will last a lifetime, check out Yamaha’s band-and-orchestra lines.
