OH Taxonomy
Hans-Peter Messner’s story begins in Trossingen. After he completed his studies in economics and law, he started working in sales and marketing at his uncle’s company, Hohner, which is known for their accordions and harmonicas. Here Hans-Peter gained experience with the Hohner line of electric...
Johnny “Vatos” Hernandez is the long-time drummer for the rock band Oingo Boingo, playing on all of the band’s big hit songs including “Deadman’s Party” and “Just Another Day.” He played jazz drums for several years before the band was formed. Johnny has been involved with the NAMM community for...
Melvin Dunlap played bass on several classic soul and R&B recordings beginning in the early 1970s. When he was a kid, he was sick and stuck in bed for an extended period of time and started playing an old Fender bass his parents purchased from a pawnshop in his hometown of Cleveland, Ohio....
John Avila was greatly influenced by the Ampex recorder his father owned and let John use. He recorded his friends and later his own bands on the two reels he had access to. The experience was the beginning of his fascination with recording, which has been a key component of his career all...
Tilman Herberger was born in Leipzig to a family of music educators. At an early age, he was interested in electronics as well as music. While attending high school in socialist East Germany he decided to build a synthesizer out of radio parts, an electrical train set and parts of a defunct grand...
Chuck Davies is the founder of American DJ, which provides a long list of innovative products, many of which Chuck designed and engineered. He opened his own audio store in 1979 selling Hi-Fi equipment, which has since branched out to include six locations in Southern California. By 1982, it was...
Elisabeth Link, wife of Horst Link, played an important role in the success of Sonor - a company synonymous with quality percussion instruments. For many years, a critical part of the product palette has been the Orff Schulwerk instruments, which are used in classrooms all over the world. Elisabeth...
C.J. Chenier is the son of Clifton Chenier, known as The King of Zydeco. C.J. was always encouraged to play music and fondly remembers his father purchasing a guitar for him at a very young age. While in school, C.J. began playing the saxophone, which is the instrument he played on stage with his...
Hans Dörner grew up in the music town of Schönbach/Luby surrounded by musical instrument makers - including his grandfather the violin maker and tonewood dealer Joseph Trasny and his uncle violin maker Hans Trasny, who was master of the guild until 1945. Hans lived in Luby until 1946 and worked for...
Thomas Schreiber, grandson of Wenzel Schreiber, today runs his own repair shop and takes care of the woodwind instruments of several music schools in the region of Frankfurt. After an apprenticeship at Buffet Crampon in France starting in 1977, Thomas joined his father’s company ESM in Austria for...