Chemistry plays an important role in the structure and evolution of protoplanetary disks, with implications for the composition of comets and planets. This is the first of a series of papers based on data from DISCS (Disk Imaging Survey of Chemistry with SMA), a Submillimeter Array survey of the chemical composition of protoplanetary disks. The six Taurus sources in the program (DM Tau, AA Tau, LkCa 15, GM Aur, CQ Tau, and MWC 480) range in stellar spectral type from M1 to A4 and offer an opportunity to test the effects of stellar luminosity on the disk chemistry. The disks were observed in 10 different lines at ~3" resolution and an rms of ~100mJy/beam at ~0.5km/s.