Music Research
Dan Kobida was first interviewed for the NAMM Oral History program back in 2004 during the Wurlitzer company reunion in Oak Brook, Illinois. Dan was not only a respected former employee of the now defunct company but also a key player in the organization of the reunion, which was as much of a...
Joan Flintoff LoPear joined the Southern California chapter of the Music Library Association (MLA) in 1967 just as the organization and the field of music librarians were recreating themselves in a new age of music. Joan helped in establishing the standard codes now used in music cataloging and has...
George Sturm was asked by the Music Library Association (MLA) to author an essay regarding the music publishing industry in America for the association’s journal. To do so, Mr. Sturm used his vast experience working in the industry of concert and composer relations for many publishers and as a...
Don Hogue worked with Dr. Kent in the C.G. Conn Research Department. The historic lab created or improved many mathematical and engineering theories that had been used in countless musical instrument designs. Don is particularly proud of the Stroboconn, as it served as the first tool to measure...
Marvin Jones is the founding editor of Polyphony, an early and important magazine covering the growth and development of the synthesizer industry and its many innovators and leaders. Marvin talked of his wonderful background in music, going back to his father who was a designer and creator of...
Rob Cook’s name is very familiar to those interested in vintage drums and the companies who produced them. As an author and publisher Rob has penned a series including “The Slingerland Book,” “The Rogers Drum Book,” and “The Ludwig Book.” Rob also established Rebeat Vintage Drums and the magazine...
Dominic Milano played an important role in the history of the music products industry as editor of Keyboard magazine beginning in the 1970s and into the 1980s. It was Dominic’s article of MIDI that first shed light on the inner workings of the development of MIDI and the issues that faced the...
Herbert Deutsch was down in Robert Moog’s basement when the two men were redrafting the design of an electronic synthesizer in the early 1960s. Herb suggested that the modular unit with patch cords was hard to play as a musical instrument and wondered if it could be controlled by an organ-type...
Mark Vail has preserved some of the music products industry’s greatest history as author and researcher of a series of publications. In 1993, BackBeat Books published Mark’s landmark book Vintage Synthesizers. Four years later the same publishers released his The Hammond Organ: Beauty in the B....
Frank Luppino Jr. wrote for Billboard Magazine in the 1940s when the noted publication dedicated a segment to the music products industry and an annual NAMM issue. He oversaw the NAMM issue, which covered the recording industry, as well as electrical products such as washing machines and...