Trumpets
Snooky Young was given his first trumpet from the local junk man who saw he had an interest in music, but whose family could not afford the expense. The gift served him well as young Snooky went on to record with the famous 1939 Jimmie Lunceford Orchestra, Count Basie, Gerald Wilson and Lionel...
Irwin Berg has a million great stories, like the one when Glenn Miller ensured that his father not serve in the infantry during World War II, but instead, design and manufacture all the mutes for the Army Air Force band and those of the Navy bands as well. Irwin has since expanded the business to...
Byron Autrey loved to tell you everything you needed to know about how a trumpet works, and I mean everything! Byron studied the craft of trumpet design for decades, having been a player all of his life. The mathematical approach he took in understanding the flow of air and the vibration of the...
Ziggy Kanstul knew more about brass instruments than most people. As an important part of the manufacturing end of the FE Olds Company, Ziggy became an expert on model designs, the specifications for each and every product, and the measurements of the horns made by their competitors. He later...
Flip Oakes is the designer of the Wild Thing series of trumpets and cornets. Although Flip is a master of many musical instruments including the clarinet and saxophone (for which he was widely known during most of the 1960s and 70s), the trumpet later became his main instrument. He established the...
Bobby Shew’s cool jazz trumpet style helped revolutionize jazz in the 1960s through a series of successful recordings and world tours. During those years he developed several ideas that would lead to the design of his own trumpet. He felt that these improvements and adjustments would make it easier...
Herbert Fischbach spent his entire working career in the design and crafting of brass musical instruments. As was the tradition in the German village of Markneukirchen, Herbert studied the fine craftsmanship that was handed down from generation to generation, and then handed down his techniques to...
Patrick Selmer is proud of his family’s long and important history as instrument makers in France. The company produces many of the finest band and orchestra instruments in the world and for decades were leaders in design and craftsmanship. Selmer Paris continues to focus on innovations and under...
Roberto Weingrill Jr. spoke during his Oral History interview about the early days of his family’s business and the many changes that have occurred over the years. His great-grandfather moved to Brazil in the 1890s to establish his own instrument company. Weril Instruments was established just a...
Alois Mayer formed his own brass instrument company in 1988 with the hope of bringing high quality hand-made musical instruments to the finest orchestras in the world. In a very short time Alois did just that. His brass instruments, including the famous line of trumpets, have been played in...