OH Taxonomy
Ron Raup was among the first commercial members to serve on the NAMM Board. His long career in the industry has been highlighted by his incredible vision and marketing skills for the MakeMusic company. MakeMusic, Inc. is a world leader in software and systems for music educators and musicians....
Rudy Schlacher has become of the great businessmen of the music products industry, which is incredible considering his humble beginnings. With an idea of detail, customer service and the budget, Rudy took his small music retail store called the Sound Post in Chicago and expanded the business. He...
Jimmy Cypher is a vanguard guitarist who is forging a career of guitar performance with live DJ's in their environment. Reversing the trend of incorporating DJ's into musical instrument ensemble performances, a la Incubus and Sugar Ray, Jimmy is turning this concept a full 180 and being the...
Robert Bromberg has had a long career in the music products industry, as did his father. In fact, his father designed the mirror piano, which helped keep the industry alive during World War II. Adding mirrors to used pianos helped to make them more sellable, as all-new pianos were not being made...
George Massenburg has been the recording engineer on countless successful albums during his long and varied career, but may be best known for changing the way the music products industry looked at pro-audio gear with his 1972 paper on the parametric equalizer. Parametric equalizer, also known as EQ...
George Quinlan Jr. began working in the store his father established before he can remember, sweeping up on weekends and helping with band rental season in the fall. George worked in every position within the store to learn first hand all he could about the business. He said he also did a lot of...
Robert Dove joined Steinway & Sons at a time of global change and development. He helped establish the Far East division of the piano company and for many years assisted with the company’s growth in the US and in Asia. He helped to develop the company’s two OEM brands, Boston and Essex and...
Brooke Ludwig Crowden remembers her grandfather, William F. Ludwig, working around the factory inspecting drums and insisting on a quality product. She remembers the day her father, William F. Ludwig II, took her to meet the Beatles on the occasion of her father presenting Ringo Starr with a...
Gary Ingle is the CEO of the Music Teachers National Association (MTNA). As a music educator, Gary sought to bring teachers together in ways that could benefit the profession as well as the school programs they were supporting. Under his direction, the MTNA has expanded to include programs around...
Bill Crowden was one of the true veterans of the music products industry! He owned and operated Drums Ltd, one of the hot spots for jazz, symphonic and rock drummers for several decades. The store was located on Wabash Avenue in Chicago, Illinois. When Bill married into the Ludwig family by...









