OH Taxonomy
Ralph MacDonald grew up in Harlem, where he was exposed to many musical traditions. As a drummer, he focused on his African roots and as a songwriter he relied on his soulful understanding of the blues. Ralph wrote "Where Is the Love", the Grammy winning song made popular by Roberta Flack and Donny...
Masani Yanagisawa’s father formed the Pearl Drum Company in Japan just after World War II. Masani applied his marketing knowledge to assist in the growth and development of the company. Working with his brother, who served as president, they built the brand name out of a pure OEM business to become...
Yngwie Malmsteen is a ferociously talented guitar player, composer, and producer from Sweden. He first gained notoriety in the mid 1980’s when he exploded onto the music scene blending his mastery of neoclassical guitar technique with the heavy metal music genre. Building upon the fame from the...
Aidan McCullough grew up in the music business. His grandfather was a piano tuner who established a small store in Ireland that grew over the years. The store expanded in 1967 when Aidan graduated from college and came into the business full time. Over the years he saw a need for a new...
Kathy Peck spent her youth laying down the bass lines for some of the most innovative punk music in the San Francisco Bay Area during the 1970s and 80s. She rocked and rolled with the best of them and was among the most noted bass players of the era, but it has been her passionate dedication to...
Russ Miller, drummer on more than 400 albums including Tina Turner, Hilary Duff, and Andrea Bocelli, has always had a passion for music. During his 2008 interview for the Oral History Project, Russ discusses how important it is to connect to the music and his 3 important rules for keeping his...
Norm Thompson began his career in the music products industry as a salesman for retailers in Memphis during the 1950s. He worked his way up to a position of buyer for the store O. K. Hauck, which introduced him to the wholesalers, many of whom he would later work for. Norm found it rewarding to...
Roy Fawcett was very successful when it came to thinking outside of the box. Unlike most retailers, Roy has not advertised his products and services in the yellow pages or in the newspaper. In fact, Roy didn't even have a sign outside of his store. Roy built his entire business on the...
Dave Gupton has had a long career with a number of companies and a rather impressive list of innovators who helped pioneer our industry. Dave worked in retail with Karl Bruhn before joining Fender--before the CBS Musical Instruments buyout in the mid 1960s. As a result he was able to work with Leo...
Norman Goldberg studied music from an early age and became a band director early in his life. Seeing the needs of music educators, Norman opened his own store called Baton Music in 1948, in St. Louis, MO. A year later he began working with German composer Carl Orff (1895-1982) and Orff’s unique and...