Norbert Stumpf was elected the mayor of Bubenreuth in 2014 and actively promotes the legacy of his town as an important center for stringed instrument production. At the end of World War II, hundreds of families involved in the production of stringed instruments settled in Bubenreuth. Even though the heyday of instrument production may be over, and companies such as Höfner and...
Library
Recently Completed
Ewald Sommer’s grandfather, Ignatz Sommer, started building machine heads for stringed instruments in 1911. Early on,...
Carola Schlegel is director of the International Instrumental Competition in Markneukrichen. This juried contest is...
Manfred Gleissner is a part of Gleissner tonewoods, which is known for supplying high quality tonewood to luthiers...
Full Interviews
This is the full length NAMM Oral History interview with Andy Bereza, which was captured on April 14, 2011. For his...
This is the full length NAMM Oral History interview with Peter Perez, which was captured on February 25, 2006. For his...
This is the full length NAMM Oral History interview with Ed Cornett, which was captured on January 24, 2013. For his...
Vignettes
Long time music store owner and rights advocate, Fat Dog, was looking for a way to pay tribute to his all-time favorite...
Studio Engineers make the music come alive for the listener. As Brooks Arthur notes, engineers are like the extra band...
While there are many facets to the development and building of a guitar, acoustic guitars are able to take the raw wood...
About the Library & Resource Center
The NAMM Oral History program is unique, unlike any other collection in the world. The heart of the collection is the depth of its narrative that covers innovative creations, the evolution of musical instruments, the ever changing world of music retail, as well as our collective quest to improve music education around the globe. Oral History participants have come from 46 different countries, 49 U.S. states and were born between 1903 and 1988. This collection is our journal, our own way of chronicling ourselves and our community—the community we so eagerly embrace at the NAMM shows and so proudly celebrate throughout the year. This library of video interviews, now 3,000 strong and always growing, contains the story of our industry told by those who helped to shape it and have watched it expand and develop through the years.
We hope you find what you're looking for right here, but if you have any questions, please contact us at 760.438.8001 or via e-mail at dand@namm.org.