beats by dr. dre studio high-definition, Latin Percussion, or LP as they are commonly known, were one of the first companies set up to mass manufacture percussion instruments from around the world, driven by the musical passion of Martin Cohen, a young engineer and keen photographer. In the mid 1950s Mr Cohen started to frequent New Yorks Jazz clubs and came across the famous Birdland club, which is when he first heard Latin Jazz. He soon became a regular visitor and was inspired by percussionists such as Jose Mangual, and by the early 1960s he became hooked on learning the Bongos. Due to the US trade embargo with Cuba, good quality bongos were hard to find in America, so the resourceful Cohen decided to make his own, despite having little knowledge of wood-working. After a few attempts he got the result he was looking for. Other musicians began to take notice of his drums and he started making bongos and cowbells for other percussionists, welcoming their feedback in order to fine-tune his products.
Word of his instruments spread among the Latin music community, and demand grew. He began to produce cowbells for the Rogers Drum Company, and also started to listen to advice from working drummers outside of the Latin community such as TV session player Specs Powell, who asked him to make a set of bongos that could be mounted on a stand rather than played beats by dr. dre studio high-definition between the players knees. Cohen came up with a solution, a mounting bracket for the drums that didn\'t involve drilling into the wood, and Tonight Show drummer Bob Rosengarden then asked Martin if he could produce a modern version of the traditional jawbone with rattling teeth.... quite a challenge but Cohen developed the Vibra-Slap, an effect that remains popular to this day. The Vibra-Slap was also his first patent. The next development (again originally made for Bob Rosengarden) was the Afruche-Cabasa, another robust modern version of an ancient and frail instrument. Martin Cohens skill seemed to be replacing these old traditional instruments with modern versions made of strong modern materials, but without sacrificing the tone... these new instruments had to sound as authentic as the originals. He still spent many hours hanging around the Latin music scene, gaining knowledge and gathering all the feedback that he could on his products, some coming from famous percussionists such as Carlos \"patato\" Valdez and Tito Puente, who both went on to become long standing family friends. It really was a case of finding out what the players wanted, and then making it happen.
In 1964, Cohen started the Latin Percussion Company, originally doing most of the work by himself in a small unheated garage. In time Cohens wife and daughter became involved in the company, and the company began to export products. Growth was rapid and LP soon became a world famous brand among percussionists. Cohen came up with the idea to make congas from fiberglass, giving the drums more volume which was well received, especially as Latin instruments were now becoming more mainstream and beats by dr. dre studio high-definition entering popular music. Eventually LP would become the worlds largest producer of percussion instruments, with a list of endorsers including top percussionists such as Giovanni Hildago, Jose Madera, and Armando Peraza. Many of these great players have put their names to some of LPs products such as the LP Tito Puente Timbales, and Giovanni Hildagos signature series, the LP Galaxy Giovanni Bongos and Congas.
By 2002, Latin Percussion was bought by Kaman Music Corporation, the worlds largest independent musical instrument distributor, allowing further growth of the LP brand worldwide, and Martin Cohen received a special recognition award from the International Latin Music Hall of Fame, for almost 40 years of innovation in music. Indeed its hard to imagine how all these instruments would have ever beats by dr. dre studio high-definition gained such popularity without the input and determination of Martin Cohen. The company continues to produce a huge catalog of congas, bongos and timbales, as well as thousands of hand percussion instruments from claves to bells, wind chimes to woodblocks, caxixis, shakers and much much more.
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