Music Manufacturing
Phyllis Webb and her husband, Dale, formed The Magic Fluke Company in 1999. The company began making ukuleles in the basement of their home in New Hartford, Connecticut. They were inspired and encouraged by Phyllis’s brother, Jim Beloff, an accomplished musician and guitarist who discovered the...
Dale Webb wanted to create a new design for the ukulele with the hope that it would inspire more people to play a musical instrument. His Fluke did exactly that! The instrument was introduced at the NAMM Show at the perfect time as a new wave of popularity for the ukulele swept the world! Since...
Daniel Ho happily participated in the ukulele boom of the early 2000s. He grew up playing Hawaiian music and studied composition at the Grove School of Music. When given the change to help design a ukulele with luthier Pepe Romero, Daniel proudly added his thoughts and ideas to the design and...
Jim Green has been a fixture in the Elkhart band instrument industry since the 1960s. He first worked for Armstrong Flute Company before joining jj Babbitt in 1974. After a short absence from the mouthpiece maker, Jim returned in 1983 and has been a key part of the company ever since. As the...
Karl Winkler began playing the viola in the fourth grade and got accepted into the local youth orchestra two years later. His first job in the music industry was working for Howard Beaver at Beaver's Band Box in Arizona while in college. He later took over the keyboard and recording department of...
Makoto Muroi's passion for music began in school when he played the French Horn. He studied computers in college and worked on microcomputer development. While working on drum machines at Roland, Mr. Kakehashi suggested to Makoto that he explore how video and music can better work together with...
Ron Losby was classically trained on the piano and began his love of the music industry by providing free lessons at Sherman Clay’s retail chain. He later worked within the Wurlitzer music stores where he was trained on the “Wurlitzer Way” of doing business. Those classes provided a foundation for...
Bob Carlin got interested in rock and roll when he was just 12 years old. As a kid, he would go into Manny’s Music in New York just to see the guitars and how the industry operated. Later in life, Bob became fascinated with the vintage instrument market and how the music products industry became...
John Carpanini worked side by side with Robert Wilson at Sound Technology for just over 18 years. Perhaps considered a baptism of fire? The job was John’s introduction to the industry and one that grew with love and passion for music. John is a talented guitar player and has studied music for many...
Basilios Strmec grew up in Vienna and was exposed to piano music at an early age. While learning many different languages, he studied business in college and went to work for Xerox. After a few years, when a friend suggested to him to apply for an opening with a piano company, Basilios jumped at...