Latin Percussion


Latin Percussion, also known as LP, is a brand of percussion instruments, specializing in ethnic instruments and Latin percussion engineered and manufactured to withstand the rigors of use in a drum kit, orchestral percussion section, and similar applications. This re-engineering often involves not only greater and consistent durability, but also changes to the sound to enable the instrument to be played at a suitable volume without losing the distinctive "feel" of its sound.

History

LP was founded in New York City in 1964 by Martin Cohen, following his difficulty in obtaining instruments for his own use, partly because of restrictions then in place on imports of Cuban goods following the Cuban Missile Crisis of 1962. Unable to buy congas, bongos and similar instruments of the quality he saw other performers using, he manufactured his own. After much trial and error he produced acceptable results, and found a ready market for such instruments. As the company expanded, it added imported lines to its catalog, and also became an exporter.

Product line

LP pioneered the use of many ethnic-based instruments for wider musical uses, and continues to be a leading innovator in this area. They are particularly known for their revolutionary plastic jam blocks, standard wood blocks, durable granite blocks which is a modern version of the age old temple blocks, claves, italic=no, congas, bongos, udu drums, tambourines, maracas, one shot shakers, vibraslaps, Afuche italic=no, güiros, güiras and agogo bells, and their cowbells and jam tambs which is a modified tambourine used in drum kits. Some of their discontinued china cymbals are now highly sought after.
Their Drumset division, CP or Cosmic Percussion, and Ascend saw success in the 1980s and 90s producing mostly entry level instruments, and some intermediate to professional grade instruments in Taiwan. There is little to no information on the models that were produced by them, but some catalogs that were printed still exist.

Company information

In 2002 LP was purchased by Kaman Music Corporation and operates as its independent subsidiary within Kaman's music distribution segment.
In 2008, LP was purchased by Fender Musical Instruments Corporation
In 2014, LP was purchased by Drum Workshop

Awards

In 2001 Martin Cohen received a Special Recognition Award from the International Latin Music Hall of Fame for his contributions during nearly 40 years in music industry.