D’Addario Creates Face Shield from Iconic Evans G2 Drumheads
Founded in 1974, the company was forced to temporarily shutter its normal operations in their New York factories on March 20, as the COVID-19 outbreak swept across the state. With a commitment not only to their charitable roots, but to take care of their employees, D’Addario has retooled their operations from production of the iconic Evans G2 drumhead, to FDA approved face shields.
One area of interest was the speed in which D’Addario was able to get the sign off from the Federal Drug Administration (FDA) for their face shields. Jim D’Addario, D’Addario CEO stated “the Dynatomy brand [owned by D’Addario] sells to physical therapist and rehab facilities so we were required to get FDA approval for Level 1 medical devices. We had that in place already, so it was relatively easy to register our face shields and get approved.” Project Excelsior is set to launch April 27 with a goal to quickly ramp up to produce 100,000 face shields a week until the demand is met, if the raw materials to manufacture the shields remain available.
D’Addario places philanthropy at the center of its mission with projects such as ‘Playback’, a string recycling program, ‘Play. Plant. Preserve’, Promark’s landmark reforestation program, and the D’Addario Foundation which “brings music instruction to underserved communities and provides children with inspiration and creativity that lifts their confidence.” Naturally when the COVID-19 crisis broke out, the team at D’Addario felt compelled to aid healthcare workers.
When the shutdown resulted in the furlough of roughly 1,000 D’Addario employees, the team felt that they already possessed the capability and expertise to produce face shields, an essential item, so they purchased a range of face shields and started analyzing the products already on the market. What they noticed was that the film on the face shields was similar to one D’Addario uses on their Evans G2 drumheads. The Evans G2 drumhead is described by D’Addario as “one of the most popular drumheads on the market, featuring two plies of 7mil film that provide a high level of consistency and durability. The perfect blend of depth, sustain, and attack makes small toms sing and floor toms growl. This drumhead incorporates Evans Level 360 Technology for ease of tuning, extended pitch range, and optimum quality of sound.” After making some calls, it was determined that the films are the same, thus launching the idea, aptly named Project Excelsior, after the New York state motto into production.
When asked about what NAMM Members can do to assist with Project Excelsior, D’Addario states, “We are committed to taking care of healthcare organizations before taking orders from other industries that use shields. Get the word out that we are ramping up to significant levels and send anyone who is experiencing a shortage in their supply chain our way. We will take care of them.”
Updates to Project Excelsior will be posted to social media on D’Addarios channels including on Facebook @daddario, Instagram and Twitter @daddarioandco, by following #wewillplayon or on their website at https://www.daddario.com/.