Music Research

The NAMM Foundation today announced the findings of a recent study that shows how group drumming can improve social and emotional behavior in low-income children. The study, that appears in the Oxford Journal: Evidence-based Complementary and Alternative Medicine, was conducted by the Pediatric Pain Program in the Department of Pediatrics at the David Geffen School of Medicine, University of California, Los Angeles.

The study, funded by Remo Belli (longtime NAMM Member and founder of REMO, Inc.), demonstrates how group drumming can significantly improve such problem behaviors as:

The Majeski Family has donated decades of Music Trades back issues to the NAMM Resource Center. Courtesy of Paul and Brian Majeski, the Resource Center has received bound annual editions of a nearly complete run of issues from 1951-1974. This in-depth documentation of the music products industry over this historic period of time in the pages of Music Trades is an invaluable research tool. This is a fantastic asset and we are honored to make it a fixture of our ever-growing documentation of the music products industry.

Marsha Berman grew up in a home filled with music. Her mother sang and her father played, so she was encouraged to play piano. She took lessons until college, at which point she studied music at UCLA not knowing just what she wanted to do with her degree. She wrote a paper on music library studies and found herself attending UC Berkeley soon after on her way to earning her masters in library science. The degree was not rare in the 1940s, but most certainly not common in the west, which presented Marsha with many opportunities. She became a leader in the field and a strong supporter of the Southern California Chapter of the Music Library Association.  

Paul Bierley is the leading expert and author on the life and music of John Philip Sousa. A passionate fan of band music, Paul noticed several elements of Sousa’s career that were not documented. With his own publishing company, he penned several books on the March King’s life, including unearthed volumes of Sousa’s own photographs and manuscripts that otherwise may have been forever lost. Beginning in the 1960s, Paul began interviewing all of those he could locate who were associated with Sousa, from performers in his bands to the bandleader’s personal cook. What Paul discovered and wrote about often was Sousa’s charm and passionate personality.  

Joseph Boonin formed two successful music-publishing companies, which have played an important part in the music products industry. The first of his companies was Joseph Boonin Inc and the second was Jerona. As a leader in the field of research, Joseph added great insight to industry organizations such as the Music Publishing Association (MPA) and the Music Library Association (MLA) of which he has been a member for over 50 years. After selling Jerona he returned to work as a music librarian. Among his most noted jobs was as head of the Recorded Sounds and Images Collection for the New York Public Library for the Performing Arts.
 

Q David Bowers contributed greatly to the archiving of the music products industry. As an author, he researched and published several books on the early era of mechanical instruments. His 1972 publication, The Encyclopedia of Automatic Musical Instruments, has become the definitive reference source on the topic. Along the way he also saved an enormous and invaluable collection of vintage trade magazines dating back to the 1880s from being lost. Those materials have since been scanned by the NAMM Resource Center, thanks to Mr. Bowers’ devotion to history, and will be made available for access to those seeking to learn more about our industry.