OH Taxonomy
Honoring Keith Mardak for his invaluable service in assisting the NAMM Resource Center in obtaining fantastic interview contributions to the NAMM Oral History Program.
This video contains some of the highlight interviews that Keith helped us gather over the years. Thanks Keith!
Joe Berger knows sound! Joe has been mixing sound for over 30 years and he stopped counting at 35,000 bands! Also a virtuoso guitar player with his own definitive, unique playing style and “ear”, Joe has jammed with the likes of John Entwistle and Jack Bruce. He has also been a fixture at music...
Peter Gotcher played drums in a band with Evan Brooks and they both became interested in creating electronics to change sounds. Together the two school mates created digital audio machines and in 1984 they formed Avid Audio. Later the company became Digidesign and produced a string of innovative...
Gus Acevedo is the owner of the International House of Music in downtown Los Angeles, a store that first opened in 1902. Gus purchased the store from the Schireson Brothers and over the last thirty years he and his business partner, Oscar Naranjo, have focused a great deal of their energy and...
Scott Houston is known as The Piano Guy thanks to his long running PBS teaching show. During the programs long run Scott has encouraged thousands of people to become music makers, making him the ideal person to speak about the importance of Recreational Music Making (RRM). His passion for teaching...
Don Teach is the owner of Shreveport Music store, which was once run by his father. While his father guided the store it was mainly a Hammond dealer and became one of the first to offer Yamaha instruments. By the mid 1960s, he was asked to carry guitars for players who did not want to travel to ...
Jon Haber is the president of Alto Music in Middletown, New York. Jon grew up in New York and as a kid would go into Alto Music, which he later bought and expanded to include sales in their store as well as on the Internet. In 2006, when Jon was asked by American Express to appear in one of their...
Chuck Wackerman always enjoyed making music. As a child he took trumpet lessons and later fell in love with jazz. Chuck joined the United States Air National Guard after high school, and later graduated from USC to become a music teacher and band director. He began teaching in 1957 at McGaugh...
Glenn Roberts is the president of Best Music in Oakland, California, which was first established in 1934. The store was established by Art Best during the Great Depression and soon became a cultural center within the community. When Glenn was in high school he began teaching music and formed a jazz...
Leslie Ann Jones is the renowned recording engineer and pioneering producer and mixer who helped re-define the craft of engineering in the 1970s and 80s. She is well known for her long list of successful and award winning projects as much as she is known within the industry as a giving and talented...