Jeff Nelson's mother was a sought-after pianist who had a regular gig in San Francisco playing at the Top of the Mark. As a kid, Jeff took lessons from a woman who had the best name for a...
Erik Norlander is the perfect musician to have come into his own as a performer as the synthesizer and other electronic musical instruments were being developed in the 1980s. In addition ...
Richard O’Donnell was vice president of Yamaha Corporation of America at a very historic time in the company’s growth and development, the 1970s. Richard worked on several projects includ...
Tom Oberheim is the inventor of the first polyphonic music synthesizer, who played a vital role in the establishment of MIDI standards back in the early 1980s. The Oberheim Company create...
Dave Oppenheim is the founder of Opcode Systems, a Palo Alto, California software company that pioneered MIDI sequencing for MAC OS and Microsoft Windows. With Dave’s programming, the com...
Steve Oppenheimer grew up playing music, as did his younger brother, known as Larry The O. Steve was seven when he made his TV debut singing “Big Rock Candy Mountain” on a children’s show...
Brockett Parsons is proud of the musical education he received in grade school, which was furthered by participating in the school band program at his high school. He went on to graduate ...
Micky Patten, a lifelong musician who studied Jazz in College, always wanted to provide a space for musicians to shop for gear and feel comfortable. With that vision and dream, Micky open...
Alan R. Pearlman was nicknamed “ARP” as a kid growing up in New York City, so it seemed the perfect name for a company when he was later designing electronic musical instruments. The firs...
Marco Ragni is the president of Fatar, which has concentrated on the development of keyboard actions for electronic musical instrument. The company products include keyboards for digital...
Cecil Ramirez started in the music industry in retail, at the Music Box in Lodi, California. He created a keyboard studio feel within the store in1983, which was an exciting time of tech...
Dave Rivard has thoroughly enjoyed his role at Roland Corporation as a sales rep. He has grown the role over the years and covered nearly every state, making connections, introducing new ...
Jeff Rona played a critical role in the coming together of the minds and companies that would agree on the MIDI specs back in the 1980s. The meetings took place at NAMM shows over several...
John Rosborough has always immersed himself in music, particularly through his active involvement in his church, where he frequently performs in gospel groups renowned for their rich four...
Dave Rossum and Scott Wedge attended college together and soon developed a few clever ways of combining their engineering training with their passion for music. They began creating sound ...
Tim Ryan still a student at the California Institute of Technology in 1978 when he and two partners formed a company to produce a highly innovative, all digital synthesizer which they bra...
Marcus Ryle began his career in the industry as an engineer for Oberheim while he was still a teenager. In those pre MIDI days, Marcus designed a series of sound controllers as well as pr...
Kim Ryrie was just a few years out of high school when he called his friend Peter Vogel to discuss a new idea. Peter and Kim worked on several electronic related projects together in scho...
Rey Sanchez is a professor and the Associate Dean for the Frost School of Music at the University of Miami - one of the leading schools for music business programs. This special focus has...
David Sancious always had records playing in his home growing up and his dad would take him to jazz clubs when he was just a child to sit by the stage so he could see the piano player. As...
Ryoichi Sasaki was hired by Yamaha in 1967 working in the method book division. In 1978, he formed his own publishing company, Rittor Music, which focuses on producing music-themed magaz...
Rich Schermerhorn is a proud volunteer at NAMM’s Museum of Making Music, located in Carlsbad, California. The museum has several positions for volunteers and Rich seems to do most of them...
Drew Schlesinger started playing organ after seeing The Doors on The Ed Sullivan Show. While in college, Drew purchased his first Moog synthesizer and attended the Boston School of Electr...
Dave Smith was the founder of Sequential Circuits and inventor of the polyphonic synthesizer, the Prophet 5. Dave was also the designer and original pioneer of MIDI (musical instrument di...
Dallas Smith began playing the clarinet at the age of eleven. By the time he was in high school he was in an all-star group and later focused on classical music throughout college. His l...
Nancy Kewin Smith is a pioneering senior executive who served the music products industry in an era in which she was among a small number of women in high-ranking positions. After earning...
Mike Soldano says he was late to game, picking up the guitar when he was 20, but soon made up for lost time by jumping in with both feet! He studied the instrument and listened to live an...
Larry The O has been at the forefront of electronic music and audio technology for decades, shaping the landscape of sound innovation. From studying with Joel Chadabe on the iconic Moog m...
Lol Tolhurst formed a rock band with some friends in high school that went on to revitalize and define music in the 1980s. The Cure enjoyed wide success with millions of albums sold, live...
CJ Vanston was thrilled to have the opportunity to produce for Toto, one of his all-time favorite bands. The project was a symbolic full circle experience having been a studio musician, ...
Brian Vincik was in the right place at the right time. As a synthesizer enthusiast and engineer, Brian graduated from Cal Poly San Luis Obispo in 1979 and moved to the San Francisco Bay A...
Peter Vogel and his schoolmate, Kim Ryrie, created the Fairlight Computer Musical Instrument (CMI) in 1975. The innovative computer based synthesizer helped revolutionize the music indust...