Marco Alpert has had a fascinating career in the music industry and lucky for the NAMM Oral History collection he shared many of his stories with us. Marco was an electronic music compose...
Drew Armentrout worked in music retail for years before being hired by the Roland Company to work in the electronic drum division. His early experience served him well as he viewed both ...
Evan Brooks became interested in electronic musical instruments during the early days of synthesizer development. He worked on MIDI (Musical Instrument Digital Interface) controllers for ...
Pat Downes combined his engineering background with his passion for music to create the electronic air drums. Forming the company Palm Tree Instruments, Pat became an inventor in the wor...
Sandy Gennaro’s skills as a drummer can be heard on recordings and live performances by artists such as Hall of Famers Joan Jett and the Blackhearts, Bo Diddley and Cyndi Lauper, The Monk...
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 ...
Akira Jimbo, a drummer out of Japan, has been playing drums since he was 17. Akira has released over 10 solo albums throughout his career and has demonstrated a passion for education thro...
Ikutaro Kakehashi, the founder of Roland Corporation, created more than a successful business with a host of important innovations in electronic musical instruments; he has also paid trib...
Ikuo Kakehashi’s passion for music developed early in his life. Of course, he was exposed to many innovative electronic musical instruments being the son of synthesizer pioneer and Roland...
Roger Linn forever changed the way people dance! As the inventor of the electronic Linn drum machine, he ushered in the new wave of electronic dance music beginning in the 1980s. The Linn...
Makoto Muroi's passion for music began in school when he played the French Horn. He studied computers in college and worked on microcomputer development. While working on drum machines ...
Cary Nasatir grew up in Chicago, surrounded by rhythm and the beat of his father’s drums, often visiting the iconic Frank’s Drum Shop. It was inevitable that young Cary would develop a lo...
T. Bruce Wittet is the widely read drum journalist who began his musical passion playing harmonica. His love for all things music led him to an exciting career playing in the school’s jaz...
