product engineers

NAMM President/CEO Joe Lamond today released a statement about Steve Jobs and his impact on the music products industry and music making.

Will Alexander worked for Oberheim in the heyday of the synthesizer boom of the 1970s. He helped engineer the Oberheim Four Voice System as well as the popular OB-X units. He soon realized the role computers could play in music making and by using the early Apple products he began engineering instruments on his own. Over the years he played a vital role in designing and maintaining the electronic instruments for performers such as Keith Emerson. In fact, Will’s engineering helped create the sounds used in Emerson’s recordings of “From The Beginning” and the first hit for Emerson, Lake and Palmer entitled “Lucky Man.”
 

Craig Anderton was among a very small group of engineers at the dawn of the synthesizer revolution during the 1970s that was in the position to report, educate and compose music based on this new technology as it was being created. His monthly articles for Keyboard magazine have become a historic chronicle of the evolution of the new electronic music age. Craig’s compositions continue to establish new forms of musical expression and have long since been the source of inspiration for up and coming composers around the world.
 

Bryan Bell was given the task of engineering a working synthesizer using all of Herbie Hancock’s favorite keyboards back in the early 1970s, well before MIDI. Herbie’s single instruction to Bryan was that he wanted all of the sounds of his 20 plus instruments powered and fully controlled by one unit to allow Herbie to make all of the musical changes on the entire bank of synthesizers. Bryan succeeded and went on to play a vital role as one of the music industry’s most innovative sound engineers. Bryan’s NAMM Oral History interview was completed on January 21, 2005 

Dr. Leo Beranek is considered by many to be the father of concert hall acoustics. His amazing career has not only traced the growth of acoustic measurement but has documented it in a series of articles and books. His first book, Acoustics, was published in 1954 and is considered the bible for the field. Much of his later research was based on projects he led within the company he co-created: Bolt, Beranek and Newman. Among the most noted projects he was involved with for BBN was designing the general assembly room for the UN buildings in New York. Dr. Beranek was then interested in the acoustics for concert halls and opera houses, on which he focused for several years.

Andy Bereza was on the team that created the now famous Portastudio products for TASCAM. In fact, Andy is credited with the mixer’s first blue prints as well as coming up with its clever name. The product forever changed the industry by offering a small mixer for home and road use. His work with TASCAM resulted in several products as did his association with Fostex and before that for the famed Allen & Heath Company. Andy’s mixing boards led him to work with several British musicians and bands such as Pink Floyd as well as with master engineer Yoshiharu Abe.

Sam Berkow has a deep rooted passion for acoustical design & sound measurement. Sam began his career in the era in which very little practical information was written on the subject of acoustical measurement. He applied his knowledge to both indoor music events as well as those set outside. Over the years he used his experience to design the SIA-SMAART software. Sam’s work within the software has become a standard tool for the industry and one he is proud of. In more recent years Sam has designed concert halls with acoustic design such as the home of Jazz at Lincoln Center in New York as well as renovation work for the Hollywood Bowl and the Grand Ole Opry.

Don Buchla grew up with a passion for music and a passion for engineering. When he combined the two loves, he created electronic musical instruments the world had never dreamed of before. His early synthesizer pre-dates the work Robert Moog was doing on the East Coast while Don was working in Berkeley, California. Composer Morton Subotnick commissioned Don to build an electronic musical instrument for live performances and recording. As a result Don introduced the Buchla Series 100 in 1963 and began selling them three years later. Over the years he has introduced the first digitally controlled analog synthesizer, the Buchla Series 500 in 1971 and the portable Music Easel a year later. 

Roger Bucknall is an instrument maker who formed Fylde Guitars, which is located in Penrith, England, not so far from the Scottish boarder. Roger’s long and well regarded career as a guitar builder began as a teenager, although he actually made his first guitar when he was just nine years old. Roger’s love of tool making, woods and the process of designing and hand crafting instruments, is more than his job, it is indeed his passion.