Music Manufacturing
Mark Dronge was the President of DR Strings and a veteran of the music products industry, having been involved since he was four years old in his father’s retail store! Mark recalled the accordion boom of the 1940s in his father’s store, which was sold in 1948. The money his father made in...
George Azuma remembered growing up in Tokyo and having many opportunities to play rock and roll along with his brother and several childhood friends. After high school, George attended college in the United States where he continued to play music. He returned to Japan where he continued to play...
Bill Reim is the Founder of Reim, Graham & Associates. He was also the CEO of Hoshino USA, based in Pennsylvania. He can remember watching the Beatles on TV when he was in the second grade and later formed a rock band with some of his classmates while in high school. After studying graphic...
William Baumzweiger’s father was the product engineer for the Shure company, who famously invented the Unidyne microphone. Benjamin Baumzweiger is credited with being the driving force behind the creation of the first Unidyne. Benjamin (who later changed his last name to Bauer), began developing...
Dale Olson attended the University of North Texas back in the 1950s when the music program and the trumpet degree, which he earned, was just developing. Dale is proud of the programs at the university as well as the classmates there who became lifelong friends. Dale worked for FE Olds and has...
Carol Holtz was hired by the Martin Band Instrument Company in Elkhart during World War II. She has many fond memories of working for the company and the family feeling it had. Speaking of family, Carol married the son of the president, Frederick Holtz (1885-1965) and enjoyed being a part of the...
Ron Lorenz has enjoyed a long career in the music business beginning in the early 1960s. Ron worked in retail, as a road rep, owned his own music retail store, and was the founder of Rapco, a leading cable company. Ron played professionally once out of school, which served him well when he opened...
Peter D’Addario is proud of his family’s long association with the music industry. In fact, his family’s string making goes back to the seventeenth century. Peter recalls going to the warehouse as a kid and helping with the shipping of musical accessories. His father, Richard, is the brother of...
Tim Vear was interviewed for the NAMM Oral History program in the months leading up to the 75th anniversary of the famous Shure microphone. Tim covered much of the history of this iconic product, as well as some of the reasons why it was such an important cornerstone for the company. He has been a...
Mark Engebretson has enjoyed a very long and successful career in pro audio product design and engineering. In fact, when he was introduced at the 2013 Parnelli Awards to receive the Audio Innovators Award, it was suggested that his finger prints were on more audio products than just about anyone...