Music Manufacturing
Bill Hesterman has always been fascinated by the pipe organ. He studied piano and organ as a child, and with the good fortune that one of his teachers was an organist for the Mormon Tabernacle in Salt Lake City, young Bill was exposed to extravagant organs at a young age. With his technical...
Pablo Ortega was interviewed during the Summer NAMM Show in 2021, just as Magma Strings was launching their American distribution branch. The show was both Pablo’s first as well as the first NAMM show in 18 months due to the Covid-19 pandemic. Being a longtime friend of Sebastian, the son of the...
Robert Yates is known as Uncle Uke for a very good reason - he plays, builds, and sells ukuleles. Robert opened his own store, HUG Ukulele, on the big island of Hawaii with his wife Patricia which began as a handmade jewelry store with a few ukes and has evolved into primarily a ukulele store with...
Terry West started playing in bands at an early age and continued throughout his twenties and thirties. He was always one to maintain a day job, and his many roles at an outdoor advertising company combined with his experience as a working musician turned out to be the perfect training path for his...
Augustin Patino is well known within the Harman headquarters in Northridge California as Auggie. The Patino family has roots within the Harman company (and its brands such as JBL) going back to 1923 when his uncle was hired. Since then, several cousins as well as his father and his sisters have...
Vanessa Mering took a summer job at Alesis while studying at UCLA. That position was her introduction to the music industry for which she has been a vital part of ever since. With a focus on marketing campaigns for a wide range of innovative products, Vanessa worked at M-Audio and Line 6 before...
Mike McCarthy has a very interesting perspective on the NAMM Show. As the designer and engineer for the Harman booth at the show, Mike knows first-hand the best way to create a booth that engages the attendees while showcasing the new and innovative products his company has to offer. Since he...
Floyd Toole recalls that when he was a child his father purchased a large amount of World War II surplus supplies, which contained a generous assortment of electronic gadgets and components. Access to these items ignited his passion for electronics, and he later earned his electrical engineering...
Bill Klein began his career at Harman on September 17, 1987 and has played a key role in the creation and logistics of the company’s distribution centers around the world. Bill started off in order entry before becoming a manger, director, and then Vice President of Sales working with the JBL brand...
Becki Barabas has a real heart for helping others, so it should come as no surprise that each of her professional job descriptions throughout her career have always been expanded as soon as she detected an area of need. This spirit extends into her personal life as Becki has been a volunteer for...