Yamaha Corporation
ヤマハ株式会社

Yamaha Logo
Type	Public
Traded as	TYO: 7951 OTCQX: YAMCY
Industry	Conglomerate
Founded	October 12, 1887
Headquarters	Hamamatsu, Shizuoka, Japan
Key people	Torakusu Yamaha, founder Mitsuru Umemura, President & Representative Director
Products	Musical Instruments, Audio/Video, Electronics, Computer related products, Motorcycles, Commuter Vehicles & Scooters, Recreational Vehicles, Boats, Marine Engines, Personal Watercraft, Electrically Power Assisted Bicycles, Automobile Engines, Unmanned Aerial Vehicle, Golf Cars, Power Products, Pools, Compact Industrial Robots, Wheelchairs, Parts including clothing, helmets
Revenue	US$ 15.9 billion (2010)[1]
Operating income	US$ 189.3 million (2010)
Net income	US$ 225.5 million (2010)
Employees	51,474 (2010)[2]
Subsidiaries	Yamaha Motor Company
Website	Yamaha.com

Yamaha Corporation (ヤマハ株式会社, Yamaha Kabushiki Gaisha^?) (TYO: 7951) is a Japanese multinational corporation and conglomerate based in Japan with a wide range of products and services, predominantly musical instruments, electronics, motorcycles and power sports equipment.

History[link]

The headquarters of Yamaha Corporation

Yamaha was established in 1887 as a piano and reed organ manufacturer by Torakusu Yamaha as Nippon Gakki Company, Limited (日本楽器製造株式会社, Nippon Gakki Seizō Kabushiki Gaisha^?) (literally Japan Musical Instrument Manufacturing Corporation) in Hamamatsu, Shizuoka prefecture and was incorporated on October 12, 1897. The company's origins as a musical instrument manufacturer is still reflected today in the group's logo—a trio of interlocking tuning forks.^[3]

After World War II, company president Genichi Kawakami repurposed the remains of the company's war-time production machinery and the company's expertise in metallurgical technologies to the manufacture of motorcycles. The YA-1 (AKA Akatombo, the "Red Dragonfly"), of which 125 were built in the first year of production (1958), was named in honor of the founder. It was a 125cc, single cylinder, two-stroke, street bike patterned after the German DKW RT125 (which the British munitions firm, BSA, had also copied in the post-war era and manufactured as the Bantam and Harley-Davidson as the Hummer. In 1959, the success of the YA-1 resulted in the founding of Yamaha Motor Co., Ltd.

Yamaha has grown to become the world's largest manufacturer of musical instruments (including pianos, "silent" pianos, drums, guitars, brass instruments, woodwinds, violins, violas, celli, and vibraphones), as well as a leading manufacturer of semiconductors, audio/visual, computer related products, sporting goods, home appliances, specialty metals and industrial robots.^[4]

In 1989, Yamaha shipped the world's first CD recorder.^{[chronology citation needed]} Yamaha purchased Sequential Circuits in 1988^{[chronology citation needed]}. It bought a majority stake (51%) of competitor Korg in 1989, which was bought out by Korg in 1993.

In 2002, Yamaha closed down its archery product business that was started in 1959. Six archers in five different Olympic Games won gold medals using their products.^[5]

It acquired German audio software manufacturers Steinberg in January 2005, from Pinnacle Systems.

In July, 2007, Yamaha bought out the minority shareholding of the Kemble family in Yamaha-Kemble Music (UK) Ltd, Yamaha's UK import and musical instrument and professional audio equipment sales arm, the company being renamed Yamaha Music U.K. Ltd in autumn 2007.^[6] Kemble & Co. Ltd, the UK piano sales & manufacturing arm was unaffected.^[7]

On December 20, 2007, Yamaha made an agreement with the Austrian Bank BAWAG P.S.K. Group BAWAG to purchase all the shares of Bösendorfer,^[8] intended to take place in early 2008. Yamaha intends to continue manufacturing at the Bösendorfer facilities in Austria.^[9] The acquisition of Bösendorfer was announced after the NAMM Show in Los Angeles, on January 28, 2008. As of February 1, 2008, Bösendorfer Klavierfabrik GmbH operates as a subsidiary of Yamaha Corp.^[10]

Yamaha Corporation is also widely known for their music teaching programme that began in the 1950s.

Yamaha electronic have proven to be successful, popular and respected products. For example the Yamaha YPG-625 was given the award "Keyboard of the Year" and "Product of the Year" in 2007 from The Music and Sound Retailer magazine.^[11] Other noteworthy Yamaha electronics include the SHS-10 Keytar, a consumer-priced keytar which offered midi output features normally found on much more expensive keyboards.

Other companies in the Yamaha group include:

• Bösendorfer Klavierfabrik GmbH, Vienna, Austria.
• Yamaha Motor Company
• Yamaha Fine Technologies Co., Ltd.
• Yamaha Livingtec Corporation
• Yamaha Metanix Corporation
• Yamaha Pro Audio

Corporate mission[link]

Kandō (感動^?) is a Japanese word, used by Yamaha to describe their corporate mission. Kandō in translation describes the sensation of profound excitement and gratification derived from experiencing supreme quality and performance.^[12] A reasonable English synonym is "awe-inspiring".

Products[link]

Synthesizers / Samplers[link]

Software synthesizers[link]

Yamaha announced the singing synthesizer Vocaloid for the first time at the German fair Musikmesse on March 5–9, 2003.^[13]

Yamaha also began to get involved with the sale and production of Vocaloid applications themselves with Lily being the first; Lily was later sold via Internet Co., Ltd.'s website. Their involvement continued with the VY series, with VY1 being the first, released in deluxe and standard editions on September 1, 2010.^[14] The VY series is a series designed to be a high quality product for professional musicians. The series is also designed with the intention to set a new standard for the Vocaloids for having no face, sex or set voice, but are designed to complete any song.^[15] VY1 saw a new approach to how the software handled the database of samples and improved the performance of the Vocaloid 2 engine.

Yamaha announced a version of the Vocaloid 2 software for the iPhone and iPad, which exhibited at the Y2 Autumn 2010 Digital Content Expo in Japan.^[16][17] Later, this version of the software was released using the VY1 voice.^[18][19] VY2 will also be released for this version of the software.^[20]

Sports teams[link]

• Yamaha Jubilo—rugby

See also[link]

• List of Yamaha products
• mLAN
• Yamaha XG
• Star Motorcycles

References[link]

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Yamaha Corporation

• Official website
  • American artist program
• Official YouTube channel

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v t e Automotive industry in Japan Companies Components Aisin Seiki Bridgestone Calsonic Kansei Clarion Denso GS Yuasa Hitachi HKS IHI Corporation Jatco JECS JTEKT Mikuni Sumitomo Rubber Industries Toyo Tire & Rubber Company Toyota Boshoku Tsubakimoto Chain Yokohama Rubber Company Zexel Motorsport and tuners Autech Dome GReddy HKS Impul JUN Kojima Mazdaspeed Mine's Mugen Motorsports Nismo RE Amemiya SARD Spoon Sports Subaru Tecnica International Tommy Kaira TOM'S Veilside Services Autobacs Seven Tokyo Trading Vehicle producers ASL Daihatsu Duesen Bayern Honda (Acura) Isuzu Kawasaki Mitsuoka Mazda Amati Autozam Ẽfini Eunos M2 Xedos Mitsubishi Fuso Mitsubishi Motors Nissan Datsun Infiniti Prince Tama UD Trucks Otomo Subaru Suzuki Hope Toyota Hino Motors Lexus Scion Yamaha Other Japan Automobile Manufacturers Association Tokyo Motor Show Used vehicle exporting Defunct companies and marques shown in italics Category

v t e Electronics industry in Japan Akai Alaxala Networks Alinco Alps Alpine Anritsu AOR Brother Canon Casio Cateye Chinon Citizen Watch Copal Clarion Contec Cosina D&M Holdings Daikin Denon Koppel Inc. Denso DNP DX Antenna EIKI Eizo Elpida Epson FANUC Fostex Frex Fuji Electric Fujikura Fuji Xerox Fujifilm Fujitsu Funai Futaba Hamamatsu Photonics Hitachi Hori Hoya I-O Data Ibanez Icom Ikegami Tsushinki Iwatsu JEOL Japan Display JRC JR Propo JVC Kenwood Kawai Kenko Keyence Kikusui Kiramek KO Propo Konica Minolta Korg Kyocera Luxman Mabuchi Motor Mamiya Maspro Maxell Melco Mimaki Minebea Minoura Mitsubishi Electric Mitsumi Murata Manufacturing Mutoh Nakamichi NEC Nichia Nikon Nintendo Nitto Denko Oki Olympus Omron Onkyo Orion Electric Panasonic Pentax Pioneer Pixela Plextor Ricoh Rohm Roland Rubycon Sansui Sanwa Denshi Sanwa Electronic Instrument Sanyo Sega Sammy Seiko Sekonic Sharp Shimadzu SII Sony Stax Star Micronics Sumitomo Electric Sigma Taiyo Yuden Tamron TEAC TDK Tiger Tokyo Electron Toshiba Uniden Wacom Yaesu Yagi-Uda Yamaha Yaskawa Zojirushi Zuken

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Jamie Cullum
Cullum performing in 2011
Background information
Born	(1979-08-20) 20 August 1979 (age 32) Rochford, Essex, England, UK
Genres	Crossover jazz, power pop, blue-eyed soul, jazz-pop
Occupations	Musician, songwriter
Instruments	Vocals, piano, keyboards, guitar, bass, drums
Labels	UCJ, Candid, Decca, Verve (US), Verve Forecast (US), Deckdisc (BR)
Website	www.jamiecullum.com

Jamie Cullum (born 20 August 1979) is a British pop and jazz-pop singer-songwriter, of Anglo-Burmese and Jewish extraction. Though he is primarily a vocalist/pianist he also accompanies himself on other instruments including guitar and drums. Since April 2010, he has been presenting a weekly jazz show on BBC Radio 2, broadcast on Tuesdays from 19:00.^[1]

Early life[link]

Cullum was born in Rochford, Essex.^[2] He was brought up in Hullavington, Wiltshire.^[3]

His mother, Yvonne, is a secretary of Anglo-Burmese origin, whose family settled in North England after Burma's independence; his father, John Cullum, worked in finance. His paternal grandfather was a British Army officer, while his paternal grandmother was a Jewish refugee from Prussia who sang in Berlin nightclubs.

Education[link]

Cullum was educated at Grittleton House School, an independent school in the village of Grittleton, near the market town of Chippenham in Wiltshire, followed by the sixth form of Sheldon School, a state comprehensive school in the same county. He then rejected a place at the University of Oxford to go on to study English Literature and Film Studies at the University of Reading, where he graduated with First Class Honours.

Musical career[link]

With only £48 to produce it, Cullum released his first album, Jamie Cullum Trio—Heard it All Before, in 1999, of which 500 copies were made.^[4] Due to their rarity, original copies have sold for as much as £600 on eBay.^[5] The success of Heard it All Before resulted in Cullum being invited to appear on Geoff Gascoyne's album Songs of the Summer^{[citation needed]}.

After graduating from Reading University, Cullum released his best-selling album, Pointless Nostalgic, which stirred interest from Michael Parkinson^[6] and Melvyn Bragg.

Just after Cullum made his first television appearance, on Parkinson in April 2003, he signed a £1m contract^[7] for three albums with Universal, who beat Sony in a bidding war. Cullum's second studio album, Twentysomething, released in October 2003, went platinum and became the No. 1 selling studio album by a jazz artist in the United Kingdom. Cullum ended 2003 as the UK's biggest selling jazz artist of all time.^[7]

Although primarily a jazz musician, Cullum performs in a wide range of styles and is generally regarded as a "crossover" artist with his musical roots firmly based in jazz. Cullum draws his inspiration from many different musicians and listens to an eclectic mix of music from Miles Davis^[8] to Tom Waits and many more. Cullum has belonged to several bands, ranging from banging drums in a hip hop group to playing guitar in rock bands such as Raw Sausage and The Mystery Machine, in his teenage youth. Cullum names his elder brother, Ben Cullum, as his biggest musical influence, and the two continue to collaborate extensively.

Cullum is well known not only for his abilities on the piano, but also for his style and charisma^{[citation needed]}. One of the many things that features in Cullum's concerts is the Stomp box (not to be confused with an effect pedal for guitars), made from a small wooden block. The stompbox is used to amplify a musician's tapping foot. Cullum found this in Melbourne, Australia and uses it to enhance upbeat and fast-paced songs such as "Seven Nation Army", originally by The White Stripes and "Gold Digger", originally by Kanye West. He is also often found using a looping machine. This plays a heavy part in Cullum's versions of "Seven Nation Army" and "Teardrop" by Massive Attack. Cullum also beatboxes at most gigs.

As well as The White Stripes and Kanye West, Cullum has performed work by Massive Attack, Pharell, Rihanna, Pussycat Dolls, Radiohead, Gnarls Barkley, Elton John, Justin Timberlake, John Legend, Joy Division, Lady Gaga and many others. He has also performed with Kylie Minogue, Sugababes, Will.i.am, Burt Bacharach and The Heritage Orchestra.

Cullum never works to a set list and on average his gigs last just over two hours. The gigs are largely improvised, rooted in jazz but not solely consisting of jazz music.

Cullum has played at many large music festivals, including Glastonbury Festival (in 2004 and 2009), New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival (in 2005), Coachella 2005, 2006 South by Southwest, North Sea Jazz Festival, the Hollywood Bowl (performing with the Count Basie Orchestra) and the 2006 Playboy Jazz Festival. On 30 April 2006 Cullum played his biggest ever crowd on Queensday in the Netherlands.

In February 2012, Germany picked Roman Lob with "Standing Still", a composition by Cullum, along with Steve Robson, and Wayne Hector, as their entry for the Eurovision Song Contest.^[9]

[edit] Pointless Nostalgic

Pointless Nostalgic began life as a self-funded project and eventually got taken on by Candid Records, featuring a mix of standards, originals and contemporary covers. It was recorded in Spring 2001 at Clown's Pocket Studios, Bexley, by Derek Nash and co-produced by Geoff Gascoyne.

On the album, Cullum created covers of old classics with new arrangements of Warren and Burke's Devil May Care, Thelonious Monk's Well You Needn't and Gershwin's It Ain't Necessarily So.

The song as recorded by Cullum ("It Ain't Necessarily So") is also used in the film "The Anatomy Of Hate; A Dialogue To Hope " by Mike Ramsdell.

[edit] Twentysomething

Recorded at London's Mayfair Studio and released in 2004, Twentysomething contains a mix of jazz standards, contemporary tunes and ballads.

Due to the acoustic nature of the music, producer Stewart Levine chose to record and mix Twentysomething entirely on analogue tape. Since the album was recorded almost entirely "live" with no need to correct or improve performances, Levine saw no need for the infinite amount of tracks and computerised digital recording.

The album includes jazz standards "What a Diff'rence a Day Made", "Singin' in the Rain", and Cole Porter's "I Get a Kick out of You", modern takes on My Fair Lady's "I Could Have Danced All Night", Jeff Buckley’s "Lover, You Should Have Come Over", and Jimi Hendrix's "The Wind Cries Mary", as well as new tracks written by Cullum and his brother Ben, including the first single from the album All At Sea and the title track "Twentysomething".

[edit] Catching Tales

Cullum's third major label album, also produced by Stewart Levine, entitled Catching Tales, was released on 26 September 2005, in the United Kingdom and the Netherlands, and two weeks later in the United States, on 11 October. The American and French versions of Catching Tales do not include the track "Fascinating Rhythm", which appears on the European version. The first single released from the album, in the United Kingdom, was "Get Your Way", a collaboration with Dan The Automator that used a sample from the Thad Jones song "Get Out Of My Life, Woman". The second single released, in the United Kingdom and the Netherlands, was "Mind Trick", written by Cullum and his brother Ben. The third single from the album was the self-penned track "Photograph", which Cullum said was written on New Year's Day 2005 after he found a box of old photographs at his parents house.

A special edition version of Catching Tales was released in Europe, featuring a 20-minute documentary, including behind the scenes footage of Cullum recording the album and on the road footage, from across Europe. Catching Tales has also been released on double vinyl, as was the first single, "Get Your Way". A limited edition version of the "Get Your Way" single was released on red vinyl.

Cullum collaborated with Pharrell Williams. They recorded various songs together and it was thought that the track titled "Wifey" would make an appearance on Catching Tales, but this was prevented by legal and contractual problems. Cullum's vocals finally featured on Pharrell's debut solo album, on a track titled "You Can Do It Too", though Cullum is not credited as a featured artist.

Cullum performing at Colours of Ostrava, July 2009

Cullum toured in support of Catching Tales from the end of October 2005 to December 2006.

[edit] The Pursuit

On 4 June 2009, Cullum announced the title of his fourth studio album, The Pursuit. The album, which was released on 10 November 2009, is produced by Greg Wells,^[10] and the first single is "I'm All Over It", written by Deacon Blue frontman, Ricky Ross. The album was recorded at a Los Angeles studio, using songs that Cullum originally recorded at his Shepherd's Bush recording studio, Terrified Studios.^[11]

The Pursuit was recorded in a variety of places; Cullum's kitchen, a studio in L.A. and Terrified Studios (his own in Shepherd's Bush). Various musicians were also used in the recording process. Songs recorded in L.A. mostly used session musicians and sees Greg Wells and Cullum play various instrument including drums and bass. "Don't Stop The Music", the second single from the album (released as a download only in January 2010)^[12] was recorded with Chris Hill and Brad Webb.

From 2003 to 2008, Cullum played consistently with Geoff Gascoyne on bass, and Sebastiaan de Krom on drums. From 2003 until 2004 the trio was joined by Ben Castle on saxophone, John Hoare on trumpet, Barnaby Dickinson on trombone and Malcolm MacFarlane on guitar. Sam Wedgwood (guitarist, bassist and trumpeter) later joined Cullum on tour, for a little over a year. At the end of 2005 Cullum was joined by Tom Richards (saxophonist, occasional guitarist and percussion). Soon after that Sam Wedgwood left to pursue his own solo musical career. At the beginning of 2006 Rory Simmons (trumpeter and guitarist) joined the band as a replacement, bringing the total number of band members (including Cullum himself) to five.

In late 2009 Cullum replaced Geoff Gascoyne (bass) and Sebastiaan de Krom (drums) with Chris Hill (bass) and Brad Webb (drums).

Awards[link]

The British Jazz Awards first recognised Cullum's growing success by awarding him the "Rising Star" award, at the 2003 ceremony in July.^[7] At the 2004 BRIT Awards, Cullum was nominated in the "British Breakthrough Act" category. He performed live in the ceremony at Earl's Court, a duet with Katie Melua of The Cure's "The Lovecats". In the 2005 BRIT Awards, Cullum was nominated for two awards: "Best Male Artist" and "Best Live Act". In 2005 Cullum was nominated for a Grammy while taking BBC Radio 2 "Artist of the Year" honours at the BBC Jazz Awards (as voted for by listeners of Radio 2). In 2007 Cullum won the Ronnie Scotts Jazz Award for "Best British Male". He was also nominated for a Golden Globe Award for Best Original Song for his composition Gran Torino for the Clint Eastwood film Gran Torino.

Projects[link]

Cullum's early music career saw him playing three or four times a week at Pizza Express's restaurants throughout London, gaining exposure and later his big break with Universal. Cullum now supports the "Pizza Express Big Audition with Jamie Cullum" competition which gives singers, song writers and musicians a platform and a chance to win a £5000 prize and a residency at the restaurant chain's Dean Street Jazz Club. In 2011, 7,500 acts entered the competition and the final was held at the Addison's Rooms in Kensington on 23 November. The final was judged by Jamie Cullum himself, Sir Michael Parkinson, M People's Heather Small and other music critics. The winning act was Offbeat South, an urban group of 18-21 year olds from Croydon. The other finalists were Andy Lewis, Elle Watson, Palms 13 and The Yesberger Band.^[13]

Personal life[link]

Cullum married British food critic and former model Sophie Dahl in a private ceremony in England on 9 January 2010.^[14] On 11 September 2010, the couple confirmed that they were expecting a child.^[15] Their daughter, Lyra, was born on 2 March 2011.^[16]

He was the subject of BBC Radio 4's Desert Island Discs on 25 March 2012.

He is a supporter of Swindon Town F.C..^{[citation needed]}

Discography[link]

References[link]

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Jamie Cullum

• Official website
• Official record label site
• Jamie Cullum at BBC Programmes