NAMM Oral History Program

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A NAMM Oral History Interview with Karl Denson Karl Denson.png
A NAMM Oral History Interview with Karl Denson

The NAMM Oral History Program is an oral history project and archive of recordings of interviews with people from all aspects of the music products industry, including music instrument retailers, musical instrument and product creators, suppliers and sales representatives, music educators and advocates, publishers, live sound and recording pioneers, innovators, founders, and musicians.

Contents

Established in 2000 by NAMM: The International Music Products Association to preserve the history of the music products industry as well as improve music education worldwide, the program includes over 5,000 audio or video interviews available to the public via online streaming. [1]

Background

In 1996, NAMM established the NAMM Resource Center to preserve the history of the music products industry. In 2000 the Oral History Program was founded, with Dan Del Fiorentino, NAMM Music Historian and former curator of the NAMM Foundation's Museum of Making Music as lead interviewer. The first NAMM Oral History interview, with professional harmonica player Bill Walden, was conducted on March 5, 2000 at the Museum of Making Music's opening day. [2]

Purpose

The NAMM Oral History Program seeks to capture one-on-one interviews with those involved with the music products industry to document and preserve the evolution of musical instruments and music retail, and improve music education worldwide. Interview subjects include but are not limited to: music instrument designers, manufacturers, and retailers, composers, arrangers, and publishers, recording and live sound engineers, and musicians.

The Collection

The collection includes interviews with people from over 80 different countries and all 50 U.S. states, born between 1903 and 2001.

Musical instrument pioneers and founders of companies that manufacture music products have been interviewed for the collection, including Moog Music founder Bob Moog, [3] Roland and Boss founder Ikutaro Kakehashi, [2] Korg co-founder Tsutomu Katoh, Orange founder Clifford Cooper, guitar innovator Ted McCarty, [4] Taylor Guitars co-founder Bob Taylor, [5] Remo founder Remo Belli, Roger Linn, Tom Oberheim, [3] Ray Kurzweil, [5] Henry E. Steinway of Steinway & Sons, [2] [4] Meyer Sound Laboratories co-founder Helen Meyer, and Hirotaka Kawai, a key figure in the Kawai Musical Instruments Manufacturing Company. The collection's interviews also include factory workers and salespeople who worked for music product manufacturers or sold the products those companies produced.

The collection includes interviews from Music product retailers, covering the history of such music store chains as Guitar Center and Sam Ash, as well as independent music stores around the world such as Andertons Music Co. in England, Daynes Music in the U.S., and Tom Lee Music in Hong Kong. Other interviews include key figures in music product retailing, such as Henry Goldrich of Manny's Music [4] and George Gruhn of Gruhn Guitars. [2]

Interviews with songwriters within the collection include interviews with Songwriters Hall of Fame members Allee Willis [6] and Marilyn Bergman, [2] and folk singer and songwriter Pete Seeger. [1] Composers interviewed for the collection include electronic music pioneer Morton Subotnick [3] and former Yes guitarist and film composer Trevor Rabin. [1]

A wide variety of musicians from different musical eras and genres are included in the collection, including recording pioneer Les Paul, [1] [4] blues legend and Rock and Roll Hall of Fame member B.B. King, [4] Country Music Hall of Fame members Emmylou Harris [1] and Roy Clark, [5] rock musician Lita Ford, [1] Ike Turner, [7] Steve Miller, [8] John Waite, [9] and Jason Mraz. [6] The collection also includes interviews with Herbie Hancock, [3] Keith Emerson, [3] [4] Rick Wakeman, [3] and 27-time Grammy Award-winning artist Chick Corea, [2] as well as big band leader and former Glenn Miller Orchestra member Ray Anthony, [1] jazz drummer Joe Morello, [5] Elvis Presley guitarist Scotty Moore, [1] Wrecking Crew Drummer Hal Blaine, [10] Sun Studio session drummer J. M. Van Eaton, [7] Johnny Cash and Carl Perkins drummer W. S. Holland, [7] guitarist Brian Setzer, [6] percussionist and singer Sheila E., [2] and A. R. Rahman. [2] Interviews with pioneering hip-hop artists and DJs in the collection include Afrika Bambaataa, Grand Wizzard Theodore, DJ Jazzy Joyce, Grandmaster Caz, and Jazzy Jay. [7]

Over the years the scope of the collection has expanded to include audio engineers such as Grand Ole Opry engineer Kevin McGinty, SoundGirls executive director Karrie Keyes, [9] and the "Father of Festival Sound" Bill Hanley, [2] as well as pro audio pioneers such as Al Schmitt [2] and George Massenburg, whose involvement with professional audio equipment and recording studios has helped the industry grow. Additionally the collection contains interviews with such producers as Quincy Jones, [1] Matt Ross-Spang, [7] and Stax Records executive Al Bell.

Music History Project podcast

In 2017, NAMM launched the Music History Project podcast covering interviews and topics from the NAMM Oral History program. [7]

The NAMM Oral History Service Award

George Gruhn, the 2011 NAMM Oral History Service Award Winner Gruhn George.jpg
George Gruhn, the 2011 NAMM Oral History Service Award Winner

The NAMM Oral History Service Award was established in 2011 and recognizes the major contributions of those who have been interviewed themselves and who have strongly supported the program by providing historical context and suggesting others to be included. The award is presented at the  NAMM Show  each year by the NAMM CEO and the NAMM Music Historian. The list of winners is as follows:

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Korg</span> Japanese musical instrument company

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hal Blaine</span> American drummer (1929–2019)

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Avid Audio is an American digital audio technology company. It was founded in 1984 by Peter Gotcher and Evan Brooks. The company began as a project to raise money for the founders' band, selling EPROM chips for drum machines. It is a subsidiary of Avid Technology, and during 2010 the Digidesign brand was phased out. Avid Audio products will continue to be produced and will now carry the Avid brand name.

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tom Lee Music</span>

Tom Lee Music is a musical retail company, Tom Lee Music Hong Kong was founded in 1953 by Thomas T.V. Lee. Tom Lee Music Canada was founded in 1969 and operate independently from the Asia operation. The Canadian head office is located in Vancouver. Tom Lee Music Hong Kong has 15 stores in Hong Kong and 1 in Macau. The thirty thousand square feet flagship store in Tsim Sha Tsui is one of largest musical instruments and accessories retailers in South East Asia, offering the most extensive range of product including pianos, guitars, amplifiers, percussion, electronic keyboards, music publications, professional and personal audio products. Tom Lee Music also offers the Yamaha Music Program. In 1960, Tom Lee Music became the exclusive distributor of Yamaha musical instruments and audio equipment in Hong Kong. The Canadian operation operates 12 locations across Canada under the Tom Lee Music and Steinway Piano Gallery names.

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sam Ash Music</span> American musical instrument retailer

Sam Ash Music was founded in 1924, and is the largest family-owned chain of musical instrument stores in the United States, with 44 locations in 16 states. With corporate headquarters in Hicksville, New York, Sam Ash sells musical instruments, recording equipment, DJ and lighting equipment, and professional sound.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Robert Wilson (music entrepreneur)</span>

Robert Allan David Wilson, MBE, born in 1951 in the Scottish Borders, is an entrepreneurial business leader, musician and philanthropist. He lives in Knebworth, Hertfordshire. He was awarded an MBE in the 2016 Queen's New Years Honours for services to the music industry and charity.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Bell, Diane (22 November 2022). "Music history is being made in Carlsbad". San Diego Union-Tribune . Retrieved 11 February 2023.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 "The History of The NAMM Oral History Program". Mix . Future plc. 14 October 2022. Retrieved 11 February 2023.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Diduck, Ryan (2018). Mad Skills: MIDI and Music Technology in the Twentieth Century. Repeater. ISBN   1910924768.
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Dungan, Ronnie (25 August 2016). "3,000 up for NAMM history program". MMRmagazine.com. artistpro LLC. Retrieved 24 July 2023.
  5. 1 2 3 4 "NAMM 2018: Dan Del Fiorentino (NAMM Music Historian)". Australian Musician. 24 January 2018. Retrieved 27 July 2023.
  6. 1 2 3 Kailus, Katie (February 2023). "The Voice of MI". Music Inc. Magazine. Maher Publications. Retrieved 21 July 2023.
  7. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Barnes, Laura (5 August 2017). "NAMM launches Music History Podcast". bbico.com. British Band Instrument Company. Retrieved 27 July 2023.
  8. ↑ "Now You Can Watch Jamal Batiste In A NAMM Oral History Interview". Offbeat. 29 March 2021. Retrieved 3 August 2023.
  9. 1 2 "NAMM Oral History Project Shines Light on Parnelli Awards Honorees". PLSN.com. 24 February 2020. Retrieved 21 July 2023.
  10. ↑ Blaine, Hal; Goggin, David (2010). Schwartz, David M. (ed.). Hal Blaine and The Wrecking Crew (3rd ed.). Rebeats Publications. p. 130. ISBN   978-1-888408-12-6.
  11. ↑ "The 2020 NAMM Oral History Service Award presented to Robert Wilson MBE". Music Industries Association. 29 January 2020. Retrieved 3 August 2023.
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