Music Manufacturing
Angelo Battellini proudly managed the Martin Band Instrument factory in Kenosha, Wisconsin, where he worked for 51 years. He was born the son of a brick layer in Italy, a trade he learned at a young age. When Angelo was 17 he traveled with an uncle to America. While laying bricks, a cousin in...
Chris Pelonis is a well-known studio designer, engineer, producer, speaker builder, studio and live guitar player and band leader/guitarist for the likes of the Jeff Bridges band. His energy and passion for his work seems to be a driving force behind his designs and innovations, which often are...
Prof. Dr. Jörg Sennheiser grew up in the music business and proudly followed in his father’s footsteps in leading the engineering of the company his father, Fritz, formed back in 1945. Sennheiser Electronics has been an industry leader with a string of innovative products and advances in the field...
Hartmut Willms is the President of Piano Willms, a firm established by his grandfather and his two brothers back in 1912. Hartmut’s grandfather enjoyed building pianos and created the Willms brand of instruments as well as manufactured other brands over the years. After World War II, Hartmut’s...
Denver Spence joined the music industry in 1968 after having been involved with his school marching bands and school band programs since he was in elementary school. He worked as a school road rep for Jenkins Music in Kansas City for two years before opening his own retail store in Ada, Oklahoma....
Carter Schuld's father purchased an accordion for him when he was just four years old. Thanks to church, Carter took a liking to the organ, which his father noticed and purchased a home organ when Carter was just seven. He became more interested as television shows like Lawrence Welk fuelled the...
Robert Birmingham teamed with his brother to purchase Steinway & Sons from CBS Musical Instruments in the early 1980s. The Birmingham brothers were committed to restoring the high quality the piano maker had earned its reputation on, while focusing on serving its dealer base around the world. ...
Richard Boynton has many fond memories of the music industry. His grandfather was once the owner of CG Conn Musical Instruments in Elkhart, Indiana. In fact, Mr. Greenleaf purchased the company from Col. Conn in 1915 and developed many of the practices that allowed the company to endure the Great...
William Cordier remembered piling in the family car for a road trip to their favorite lake northwest of their home in Ohio. Each and every trip included a detour into Elkhart, Indiana where his father would pull over and show off the large sign announcing the "World's Biggest Musical Instrument...
Larry Fishman had an idea to create an electronic pick up for the upright string bass. The task was not an easy one. In fact, others had tried and failed to produce the correct balance of electronic tones within the range of the strings. However, Fishman was able to do just that. The success of the...