 | |
| Type | Private |
|---|---|
| Industry | Musical instruments |
| Founded | 1972 in Santa Monica, California |
| Headquarters | , |
Key people | Don Lombardi, Founder Chris Lombardi, President and CEO John Good, COO |
| Products | |
| Brands | Pacific Drums |
| Parent | Roland Corporation |
| Subsidiaries | |
| Website | dwdrums.com |
Drum Workshop, Inc. (also known as DW Drums or DW) is an American drum kit and hardware manufacturing company based in Oxnard, California. Current products by DW include drum sets, snare drums, and hardware. [1]
Drum Workshop was founded in 1972 as a teaching studio by Don Lombardi. Alongside student John Good, Lombardi began a small drum equipment sales operation to cover the studio's operation costs. After the closure of the Camco Drum Company in 1977, its manufacturing equipment was purchased by Drum Workshop. [2]
After selling primarily drum hardware, the company began making its first drum sets in 1990. [3]
DW expanded into larger facilities in Oxnard, California, and grew to oversee a new company, Pacific Drums and Percussion, a company offering lower-priced drum sets.
In 2015, Drum Workshop acquired Ovation Guitars, Latin Percussion, Toca Percussion, Gibraltar Hardware, and KAT Technologies. [4] In November, 2019, DW acquired Slingerland Drum Company from Gibson, with plans to introduce Slingerland-branded, vintage style drums to the market in 2020. [5] [6]
In late 2022, it was announced that Roland would acquire DW for $65 million as the company looks to expand into the acoustic drum market. [7] [8]
A drum kit is a collection of drums, cymbals, and sometimes other auxiliary percussion instruments set up to be played by one person. The drummer typically holds a pair of matching drumsticks, and uses their feet to operate hi-hat and bass drum pedals.
Daniel Edwin Carey is an American musician and songwriter. He is the drummer for the American rock band Tool. He has also contributed to albums by artists such as Zaum, Green Jellö, Pigface, Skinny Puppy, Adrian Belew, Carole King, Collide, Meat Puppets, Lusk, and the Melvins.
The Ovation Guitar Company is a manufacturer of string instruments. Ovation primarily manufactures steel-string acoustic guitars and nylon-string guitars, often with pickups for electric amplification. In 2015, it became a subsidiary of Drum Workshop after being acquired from KMCMusicorp.
Rogers Drums is an American multinational drum manufacturer. It was founded in 1849 and originally based in Covington, Ohio. During the twentieth century, their drums enjoyed popularity with musicians spanning from the Dixieland jazz era in the 1920s to classic rock in the 1960s and 1970s, but was particularly associated with big band and swing drummers of the 1940s and 1950s.
Pearl Musical Instrument Company, simply known as Pearl, is a multinational corporation based in Japan with a wide range of products, predominantly percussion instruments.
Slingerland is a United States manufacturer of drums. The company was founded in 1912 and enjoyed several decades of prominence in the industry before the 1980s. After ceasing operation in the early 1980s, Slingerland was acquired by Gibson, who briefly revived it and owned it until November 2019, before selling Slingerland to DW Drums, who have announced the intention of re-launching the brand. Slingerland is strongly associated with jazz drummers, such as Gene Krupa and Buddy Rich, who played signature instruments made by the company. Although primarily known for its drums, in the 1930s Slingerland also produced electric and acoustic guitars, violins, mandolins, banjos and ukuleles.
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Latin Percussion, also known as LP, is a brand of percussion instruments, specializing in ethnic instruments and Latin percussion.
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Pacific Drums and Percussion is a musical instrument brand established by the Drum Workshop Inc., in 1999, with the purpose of providing its percussion instruments at more affordable prices.
KMC Music is an owner and distributor of several brands of musical instruments. The company is currently a subsidiary of Canadian corporate group Exertis | JAM.
Gibraltar Hardware is a maker of drumset and percussion hardware. The company sells drumset frames and cages as well as hi-hat stands, drumset thrones, and other products. Artists who use Gibraltar hardware on their drums include Lamb of God's Chris Adler and Luis Conte. Gibraltar hardware packs are standard for current Gretsch Drums kits.
Remo Inc. is an American musical instruments manufacturing company based in Valencia, California, and founded by Remo Belli in 1957. Products manufactured include drum kits, drumheads, drums, and hardware, and various percussion instruments.
Gretsch Drums is a division of American musical instrument manufacturer Gretsch. The company was founded in Brooklyn, New York, in 1883. Gretsch drum kits have been used by many notable drummers including Max Roach, Tony Williams, Art Blakey, Vinnie Colaiuta, Mark Guiliana, Phil Collins, Charlie Watts, Taylor Hawkins, Mitch Mitchell and Steve Ferrone.
Ayotte Drums Was a drum manufacturer based in Bedford, Quebec.- BEEN OUT OF BUSINESS SOME YEARS. TELEPHONE DISCONNECTED Ayotte Drums was incorporated by Ray Ayotte in 1974, and has been manufacturing drums since 1982. Their drums feature wooden hoops, made of Canadian maple.
Walberg and Auge is a United States drum kit and hardware manufacturer established in 1903 in Worcester, Massachusetts by Barney Walberg. Walberg and Auge is considered by some to be, "the biggest unknown name in the history of twentieth-century American percussion." The brand is credited with several innovations in musical instruments and associated hardware including the development of the modern hi-hat stand and shell-mounted tom-tom holder. The magazine Modern Drummer detailed the origin story of the modern hi-hat configuration: "After months of experimenting, Walberg's company extended the inner rod and outer tube of his low hat stand to about waist high so he could play the cymbals with his hand as well as his feet." The pivotal innovation was sold by every major drum company under the rubric "Perfection Hats."
Craviotto Drums is a drum kit manufacturing company, based in Nashville, Tennessee.
The Roland DDR-30 "Alpha Drum" is a digital PCM drum module built by Roland, in early 1985. It was introduced during 1985 Summer NAMM industry trade show in New Orleans.
The Leedy Manufacturing Company was an American manufacturer of percussion instruments headquartered in Indianapolis, Indiana. Leedy was highly successful in the early twentieth century, and was at one point the largest manufacturer of drums and other percussion instruments in the world.
Percussion instrument companies | |
|---|---|
| Drum kits | |
| Cymbals | |
| Sticks | |
| Hardware | |
| Electronic drums | |
| Other instruments | |
