Full Interview
Toshitsugu “Tom” Tanaka, the president of Hoshino Gakki. Ltd, recalled with a smile his early training in the industry under Harry Rosenbloom of Medley Music. That experience not only educated him on the American instrument market, it was also the foundation of his partnership with Mr. Rosenbloom....
Tsutomu Katoh had many ideas for using electronics to improve the way people make music in their homes. As the founder of KORG, he was able to see his ideas turn into successful musical products. The company introduced an impressive line of products, many of which revolutionized the industry. One...
Leland Smith was the renowned founder of computerized musical notation. He came to symbolize the technological changes in print music beginning in the 1960s. His work as a professor and educator has resulted in a method for computers to read and process musical notes. The field of computer science...
Dr. Tim Lautzenheiser was presented the highest honor from the American Music Conference (AMC) when he was given the Henry Grossman Lifetime Achievement Award. The award honors those dedicated to music education and advocacy, which is practically Tim’s middle name. Over the years as a band director...
Bryce Taylor was one of the best known and respected bandmasters in the state of Texas. His school bands performed at the Midwest Band Clinic, TMEA, and the Texas Bandmaster’s Association (TBA) for several decades. His close relations with music dealers made Mr. Taylor a role model for up and...
Stephen Yu pioneered conga making in Thailand before it was common and popular. He also created a long list of items, beginning with guitars, for a number of other companies. When it was time for him to branch out and create his own name product line, he found his operations were already up and...
Gene Fresco was one of the top sales reps of our industry. As a mentor and teacher, he provided real and practical sales methods to countless men and women in and out of the music products industry. His first love was selling and he made a career of it and the craft of teaching it to others. His...
Jeff Hasselberger has played a very important role in the development of music makers! His ideas of conveying statistical material to music educators to assist in saving school programs led to the widely successful Einstein Kit. Jeff’s eye for detail and understanding of the music industry has also...
Alan R. Pearlman was nicknamed “ARP” as a kid growing up in New York City, so it seemed the perfect name for a company when he was later designing electronic musical instruments. The first instrument created by Alan was the modular synthesizer known as the ARP 2500. The monophonic product was...
John Oram is known as the father of British EQ, and has played an enormous role in the way recordings are made and how sound is heard on those recordings. At the incredible age of 15 years old, John had his first control mixer and made history with Dick Denney at VOX where the team created the...