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Episode 9: Studio 49’s Legacy in Music Education
24 Plays5 days ago
In this special international episode, host Aaron Hansen sits down with Jakob von Wolff, President and Owner of Studio 49 — the legendary German instrument maker co-founded by Carl Orff himself. Jakob shares Studio 49’s incredible history, their deep commitment to quality and music education, and why their handcrafted xylophones, metallophones, and glockenspiels have inspired generations of young musicians around the world. Hear behind-the-scenes stories from the factory, insights on Orff’s influence, and why Studio 49 continues to set the standard in elementary music classrooms today.
Learn more about Studio 49 here: https://www.studio49.de/en/
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Transcript
Introduction of Host and Guest
00:00:06
Speaker
Hi, everyone. You are listening to Play Now, Play for Life, a podcast for music educators. I'm your host, Erin Hansen, and I'm a former band and general music teacher for 29 years and now part of the West Music team.
00:00:21
Speaker
Every episode, we sit down and chat with experts in music education to learn about tricks of the trade and different topics in music education. And I'm very excited about this particular podcast because this is our first international podcast because our guest today is coming all the way from well he's in Germany not here so today we have Jacob von Wolf from Studio 49 and we're gonna be talking about Studio 49 so welcome Jacob thank you Aaron it's great to be here and just as we get started because I forgot this information but what what is your role at Studio 49
00:01:00
Speaker
Well, my role since one year is I'm the president and owner of Studio 49, third generation and since January 2024. Oh, amazing. Okay, because we're going to get into all that, but I just wanted to clarify.
00:01:16
Speaker
Cool.
Jacob's Musical Background and Career Path
00:01:17
Speaker
First question, could we just learn a little bit about you? We always like to just learn a little bit about our guests, kind of your... um your're ah little bit about your growing up, your music background, your experiences with music, and then maybe how this just brought you at some point to Studio 49.
00:01:34
Speaker
Yes, yes. Welcome to give you a short introduction. So my name is Jacob. I'm now 50 years old. i grew up and close to Munich and here in Germany in a family of six.
00:01:49
Speaker
We all were... you know, taught music all our lives. I was, I'm playing the piano, I'm singing, I'm playing the guitar. I have a twin sister, she's on the violin. i have an elder brother on the piano.
00:02:02
Speaker
My father was playing the flute. My and elder sister was playing the cello. So we did do a lot of chamber music at home. And this was basically a ah normal musical background, and lay music, nothing professional. and I did my school education here in Germany. And then I went for my studies to the UK, to England for three years and one year in Spain.
00:02:29
Speaker
And then ah immediately after finishing my university degree, I started here in Germany with a brass wind instrument. and manufacturer called BNS, the former East German state-owned conglomerate for um brass wind making.
00:02:49
Speaker
And for many years, more than 10 years, i was into wind instrument making, crafting, very traditional craftsmanship.
00:03:01
Speaker
And when the company was sold to private equity investors, That was no longer really good for me to stay on board.
00:03:12
Speaker
And then I changed and I went to into very different industries. ah did some tableware, hand-painted Austrian tableware. I was in high-tech,
00:03:27
Speaker
And at some point I was looking for a good place to end up and to really ah feel at home for the rest of my career. And I was very lucky to be very good friend with Gerhard Meindl, who is for many years the president of the German Association of Musical Instrument Makers.
00:03:52
Speaker
And he connected me with Bernd, my predecessor here at Studio 49, who was looking for succession. And his kids didn't want to continue and and and step into his company.
00:04:05
Speaker
And we got on very well. And I ended up here as his successor.
State of Music Education in Germany
00:04:12
Speaker
um And that's now a year ago. Wow. Okay. I have so many questions because this is so interesting.
00:04:19
Speaker
First, going back to your growing up, is it typical over there? Did you have classroom music as you grew up at your school? Is that a typical thing? I'm just being curious. I mean, we do have, let's say elementary music education at school.
00:04:37
Speaker
Unlike in the U.S., the... you know, music education following elementary education is pretty weak, actually.
00:04:49
Speaker
So it's down to the um private family initiative to find then path beyond elementary education means finding a teacher, finding and the instrument you want you like, and then actually you know funding everything yourself. And it's it's something you do in your spare time.
00:05:14
Speaker
And my father, who was and playing the flute and loved classical music a lot, he was he was really responsible for making sure all his kids learned an instrument properly. And we were, you know, we, he was pretty strict on us that we practiced every day and played chamber music together and took it somehow serious in in in in in a in a lay way.
00:05:45
Speaker
And that was my upbringing and and really For me, it was very beneficial because now music is my life and has been for 25 years. and And that's pretty good. did you learn more?
00:05:59
Speaker
Did you learn your instruments from a private teacher or did you learn at home? No, no, no, no. every Everyone has a private teacher
Studio 49's History and Mission
00:06:07
Speaker
then um has a lesson every week like you probably have in the US as well.
00:06:14
Speaker
Sure. and and and And you usually, the teacher comes to your home or you go to their home and that's where you taught. Wow, but you had so much music in your home. I mean, with all your siblings and your father. and yeah yeah we can have to Did your mother play something?
00:06:32
Speaker
Not really. she She played the flute, but not as actively as the rest of the family. She was mainly there to listen and to applaud when, you know, appropriate.
00:06:45
Speaker
Well, we always need an audience. You have to have an audience. Exactly. Okay. Now that's very, that's interesting stuff to know. I didn't know that about that. So what drew you into Studio 49 and how do you see that as a really good fit for you? oh yeah.
00:07:00
Speaker
Oh, there's plenty to talk about this. Well, first of all, I really had the longing, the wish to return full-time into music, into the music industry after having left it for some time.
00:07:17
Speaker
But it's pretty hard to find a good place close to your home, suitable for your you know for your setup. and So what is so suitable with Studio 49?
00:07:29
Speaker
First of all, it's music. Something ive I love and I've been know professionally doing for a long time. Second is it's about music, education, and kids.
00:07:43
Speaker
And that's something very important to me. i have five children myself. I do know, you know i just love kids. I love education.
00:07:54
Speaker
m i'm I'm pretty into it myself. And to find a musical instrument company that was you know bringing these two worlds together, my you know my passion for kids and for education and for music, that's pretty unique.
00:08:11
Speaker
And that was the second big thing, which I loved here at Studio 49. Well, and then I found out a little bit about more, a little more about the brand and the history behind it And my, I mean, it's, it's very relevant with Carl Orff being one of the founding fathers of this place himself and being such a famous person.
00:08:37
Speaker
It's hard to find a brand with. quite such a story. And I'm a brand guy. i I've always loved working for traditional, long-term, you know historic brands.
00:08:51
Speaker
And you know here, it was obviously quite unique. And then i love handcrafting. I'm i'm ah i'm a, how do you say, a tangible person. I need product. I need nice materials. I need you know, something for the senses.
00:09:15
Speaker
It's small enough to be a family business and for me to, you know, to run it. and It's close to home. it has an important US exposure. And that was always the market I was feeling most familiar with. So lots of things fit very well.
00:09:36
Speaker
And then it was an easy thing to, you know, to get passionate and excited about it. So how far, i just have so many questions. How far away from your home then is your work, is Studio 49?
00:09:50
Speaker
It's an hour away. Okay. It's an hour away from where my family and where I live, which given, you know, the specific and the specific music exposure that I had,
00:10:04
Speaker
is very close for finding something good to work in. And that was for me, you know, obviously very important element besides all the other, you know, beauties I found here.
00:10:19
Speaker
Yeah. Well, okay. Before i we go on to the next one, I'm curious now, I don't know how old your kids are. Do any of them, are they musicians already? That's a good question. I've been, you know, I've been trying hard. I've been trying hard.
00:10:34
Speaker
We have, and now i My kids are between 18, the eldest, and six, the youngest. Okay. Okay. And I have two daughters and three sons.
00:10:47
Speaker
And my second daughter is the who went the deepest into music making. She's playing flute for a long time and passionate and, you know, is...
00:11:00
Speaker
is my pride and joy in this case. And then I had Lucas, our eldest, and he was on the cello for some time and then he was on the saxophone.
00:11:12
Speaker
And then when he turned 14, 15, he lost interests. Too many other things going on too exciting other things. Margareta plays the piano.
00:11:25
Speaker
Alexander... Oh boy, he's, no, he's not into it. but he's He's so hard to handle and he's he's he's he's full of energy and full of ideas and it's hard to get him, you know, sit still and practice.
00:11:39
Speaker
And Hubertus, he's starting. He's my hope still. Yeah. So it's it's more of a diverse picture in my family it was in my, you know, when I was a child.
00:11:52
Speaker
Yeah. Well, and what I've come to see as a teacher is if your kids don't want to do it, you can't make them do it. I mean, I have two brothers. I'm the middle child and and my older brother just never really got onto music.
00:12:09
Speaker
And my younger brother did a little bit, but then like with yours, when he became teenager, then he was done. and So I'm really the only one that Made a profession out of it. Right.
00:12:20
Speaker
and And neither one of my parents played anything. Well, my mom played a little piano. So people always ask me, they said, you must have a really musical family. And I said, no, not really. Yeah, so we're working on it. That's, yeah, you know. Oh, that's great.
00:12:36
Speaker
Yeah. um Well, let's talk a little bit about... um about the history of the company you were already stating that i i love the fact that carl orf was one of the co-founders of this company i mean that's huge it's amazing being orf teacher me i mean you know um and just kind of the history of the company yeah give us a little bit of that background yes well it was in the 1940s when and carl orf when kala orph
00:13:08
Speaker
you know, created his whole and pedagogy and started developing the right instruments for for his ideas. And he then, i mean, he was teaching, he was composing, and he was always looking for a partner to build instruments that followed his idea and all his needs for both things, for his,
00:13:36
Speaker
and compositions as well as for his education. Because when when he composed, he had very interesting ideas about the sounds he needed for his compositions. And you oh he was in touch with people you know so solving these issues for him as well as the education side of it.
00:13:55
Speaker
Anyway, and he he it he had sort of starting with somebody who was building and at Cembolo's here in Munich at the very beginning and doing some ah work for him. And then he the Cembolo guy retired and then he met a talented, young, music-passionate engineering student, Klaus Klaus.
00:14:34
Speaker
And Klaus saw his opportunity here to combine his um you know his engineering background with his music passion and became dear friend with Karl Orff.
00:14:49
Speaker
And he and Karl Orff started to build these instruments and a perfection, ah improve them and then get them ready and and and expand the the line.
00:15:01
Speaker
And when his ideas about his concept spread, and suddenly the demand became much bigger.
00:15:13
Speaker
and And that's when Klaus expanded his production. He started in in his backyard, and and in the garage basically with Karl. he they added to the garage and more garage. And and and in 1949, then he created a real sort of legal entity called Studio 49 because it was the year 1949. And it was then ah very close relation all the way...
00:15:49
Speaker
So basically, Karl Orff passed away.
00:15:55
Speaker
Klaus passed away pretty early as well. um The company grew. In 1969, they actually built the factory that we are in today.
00:16:09
Speaker
um Here, close to Karl's ...hometown where he taught in Grefeving and then the son Bernd, he took over um and continued the company until a year ago.
00:16:29
Speaker
and And so his father was almost 40 years, Klaus Bernd was 40 years and now um it's me starting since a year.
00:16:40
Speaker
and And really the...
Innovations and Influence of Carl Orff
00:16:44
Speaker
The company then obviously expanded, the line expanded, and they added the orchestral line. They were pretty um innovative also on the ah school instrument line with bringing the you know, lower volume 1000 series as a completely new concept, big sound compact size.
00:17:11
Speaker
So there were some so relevant steps in in in in in in the development of the company. um And yeah, that's where we are today, pretty much unchanged.
00:17:24
Speaker
You're just taking me back into my ORF history, so I have to ask a couple things. when When the company started, yeah if I remember my history right, didn't Karl ORF get some marimba-type instruments from Africa that kind of gave the inspiration? Exactly.
00:17:42
Speaker
he that That was the inspiration. he was He was looking for instruments that were easy to play, melodical, so that he could combine rhythm and speech with movement with um melodic music making when he discovered this as you say marimba style and instrument out of Africa, he realized that this was pretty much the type he he was looking for as an instrument because it's easy to play, but it makes beautiful sound and you can play melodically without having too much you know focus on it. And it's an easy entry and
00:18:28
Speaker
And obviously the big thing then was these these and instruments from Africa, they had like big nuts as um resonance, how do you say resonance boxes underneath each of the individual bars.
00:18:47
Speaker
And that's where he made this Yeah, step of having one large resonant and box with obviously compartments and so on now improved, but and and and make it a standard instrument. And that' that's what happened over time with with Carl and Klaus.
00:19:12
Speaker
So the company started in 1949. Then did the company immediate, when did you start selling like to schools and actually getting those instruments in classroom? Immediately. i mean, actually before 1949 already in smaller scale, especially in Carl's school himself.
00:19:31
Speaker
because he was teaching and he needed instruments for his school. And that's where it all started. And then when the Bavarian radio and transmitted his pedagogic ideas, then suddenly people called and said, we want these instruments. And that's a great idea. And it works so well. and Suddenly they needed real production and it became much more of a so series rather than individual pieces for his school.
00:20:02
Speaker
Interesting. Okay, so let me ask this question. Aside from xylophones, glockenspiels, metallophones, um what other instruments does Studio 49 specialize in? I know you have percussion instrument.
00:20:17
Speaker
Yeah, I mean, to be very clear, the vast majority of what we do is exactly what you just mentioned. We do some additional percussion, um um tambourines, and um the English words are always a little difficult, and hand percussion, stuff like that.
00:20:41
Speaker
um And we do a small line of orchestral barred instruments, means orchestral glockenspiels, xylophones, um marimba, and vibraphone.
00:20:54
Speaker
But is it's all small, very small in comparison to what we do in in terms of and educational products. Sure, sure. Well, and I mean, I could just say as a teacher, I've had Studio 49 in my classroom.
00:21:12
Speaker
yeah And I mean, the kids love those instruments and the sound quality is very good quality. Yeah. um Yeah. And I was lucky to have them.
00:21:23
Speaker
And this was always very important for Karl Orff. His idea was that it's real music making and real music making needs sound quality. Otherwise you're not there.
00:21:40
Speaker
And, and obviously, yeah, that's still totally, um, our main focus. Well, you kind of touched on this a little bit, but is there kind of an overall vision or mission to studio 49?
Commitment to Quality and Partnerships
00:21:57
Speaker
Yeah. And for me,
00:21:59
Speaker
it's always very important to have a clear picture of, on the one hand, you know what what is the um core of our brand and our company?
00:22:12
Speaker
And on the other hand, what's our mission, was what's our vision? So i you know I had some, I need it for myself really when I talk about the company. So I may have four points when I say, what does Studio 49 stand for?
00:22:28
Speaker
And the the first thing is for me very clear, we follow Karl Orff. He's our co-founder. His idea of quality in the elementary music education is our guideline.
00:22:46
Speaker
Second, we honor our origin. Means we are in Germany, we stay in Germany, and this is never going to change. Third, we believe kids deserve quality.
00:22:57
Speaker
So it's all about quality in terms of sound, intonation, and sturdiness.
00:23:08
Speaker
Easy handling. Fourth, we strive for unique service. And that's where we we want to be seen as a company where it's easy to get replacement and spare parts.
00:23:24
Speaker
you need to be able to repair your instruments because this makes you happy for more than a generation. you know if If small things can be easily repaired and changed.
00:23:37
Speaker
So that's really the four things we stand for. We follow Karl Orff. We honor our origin. We believe kids deserve quality and we strive for unique service. That's the core of our brand, of our company.
00:23:51
Speaker
And when i when I thought about vision and mission,
00:23:57
Speaker
really, I mean, the vision is goes far beyond instrument making. The vision is we want a world full of kids making music.
00:24:08
Speaker
i mean, that's really what what motivates us and what is we dream of. And also, we we we want to empower teachers to open hearts for music making.
00:24:23
Speaker
it's That's one step closer to our instruments. It's an empowering tool for teachers.
00:24:32
Speaker
Very clearly, we preserve Karl Orff's vision of quality music education. It's part of our um mission. And my mission as well is I want to continue the mothership of Orff instrument making where I honor the heritage but also lead with ideas and innovation.
00:24:57
Speaker
It's a tough one, but it's a beautiful challenge to have these two things, you know honor a the the heritage, and continuing a mothership, and on the other hand, be leading in innovation and have good ideas.
00:25:15
Speaker
That's really my my mission. Well, I love everything you just said. I love that you talked about the quality ah the instruments and the sound and also having children all around the world getting to make music because I've hardly ever met a child that doesn't enjoy getting to a xylophone or whichever one. Of course, they love the bass bar for some reason, but...
00:25:37
Speaker
but they everybody wants to play. So I will say to you, though, that teachers are scared to fix our instruments because we're always afraid we're going to do something wrong.
00:25:50
Speaker
and And, you know, fair enough. Sometimes it's better for professionals to fix our instruments, but they need access to the right spare repair parts.
00:26:03
Speaker
and yeah And that's what we want to facilitate and make easy. and you and and And I totally admire Klaus and Bernd because they have designed instruments for 80 years, always with the idea that with every change, they can actually go back with their parts, especially with the bars, to the very beginning.
00:26:33
Speaker
So you can actually get replacement bars
00:26:37
Speaker
Back to 1949. I think that's that's amazing. That is amazing. It's beautiful. I think as a teacher, we had a workshop and we had somebody from West Music come. I think it was Judy.
00:26:51
Speaker
And it was all about repair and things we could do. So we were all supposed to bring, you know, one of our broken instruments. And I mean, some of the stuff she showed us, I mean, we're all gasping because we're just like, oh,
00:27:03
Speaker
I can't believe she just did that. And no, you can pull this pin out and you can replace it. And this is how you do it. And, you know, we learned so much about taking care of our equipment, but we were just all too scared to attempt it. Yeah, and fair enough. I mean, I fully understand because it's it's a delicate instrument in the end. You love it and you you you want to keep it and you feel more comfortable with people who who have experience doing it, but they need support as well. They need to have access to you know, whatever they need to make it happen. And, and that's why we want to be a good service partner.
00:27:37
Speaker
Yeah. Yeah. Um, so now let me ask, we're still talking history here a little bit. When did your, when did your partnership with West music kind of began? but That's an interesting story.
00:27:50
Speaker
Well, the thing is, you know, I started in the wind and cement segment pretty much 26 years ago. And I,
00:28:00
Speaker
and We were a larger manufacturer and whoever wants to be relevant in the music industry has to be well represented in the US because that's where the biggest market is.
00:28:16
Speaker
And we have been, at the time we were pretty badly represented there. So I started traveling a lot to the US doing the dog and pony show, you know going from one dealer to the next and and and you know introducing our instruments and so on. and Pretty early on, I you know and met Steve, Ryan at the time, Andy, um West, and we we started no we started to become business partners. They bought our um our wind instruments.
00:28:54
Speaker
and And they were very relevant for us. they They opened lots of channels for our wind instruments in the US beyond their own store. and And so they were always one of our focus you know people and for for our brass wind making.
00:29:12
Speaker
So I spent a lot of time with them. i went you know We went skiing together and we have been at the Oktoberfest together and it real fun. i was I was with Steve, celebrating 4th of July with you and in Iowa.
00:29:27
Speaker
So that's all 20 years ago. We do love the 4th of July. yes.
00:29:35
Speaker
So this is 20 years ago. And then when I went astray, obviously we weren't in touch very intensively, but now returning here, was beautiful because I knew that West music was very,
00:29:51
Speaker
important for the Orff community and us being, you know, part of it, I knew that we would be in touch again. And it was just beautiful to see everybody again and and meet the same people then 25 years ago.
00:30:05
Speaker
So, well, now i'm just being snoopy, but how often did the West people, did they come visit you over there in Germany? Oh, absolutely. Several times, several times. They came and saw, uh, um,
00:30:19
Speaker
our production. They actually brought once Dallas Brass, one of their endorser groups to perform in our workshop in Germany.
00:30:31
Speaker
um we They've been to Munich to the Hofbrauhaus with us as um as a big group. So several times they've been over here. Yeah. Definitely. Oh, that's great.
Factory Operations and Instrument Lines
00:30:42
Speaker
you where um So can you talk a little bit about your factory and how the size of it and what what all goes on at the factory? Yeah. Well, and as I said, we moved into the building that we are in today in 1968. I can't remember exactly how many square meters it is, but couple of that thousand square meters, to two story.
00:31:10
Speaker
You know, it's an old fashioned company. We are not, you know, we are not, how do you say, highly...
00:31:23
Speaker
Like super industrial. Yes, we are not industrial at all. It's a hand crafting workshop. And it it all starts with drying our wood in our own wood drying facilities. And then we have a wood workshop where we,
00:31:38
Speaker
one On the one hand, build our our resonance boxes. On the other hand, start working on the bars. Then we have and ah lacquering facility where we lacquer what we need to lacquer.
00:31:53
Speaker
We have our own whole area that is just doing all the tuning for all the bars. So we have several people that we call tuners. and and And really, they they tune and our bars and in metal and in wood.
00:32:13
Speaker
and and And then we have an assembly where we put everything together and ship it out to to all the places in the world. it's it's it's it's a what I like, it's a very familiar atmosphere. We are 35 people. We know each other. We have, we call each other by names and we, I don't know, we go out and we, we, we go beyond just, you know, working hours. Um,
00:32:43
Speaker
it's, we have many people who have, who have been with us for a long time. Our head tuner has been with us for 46 years. Oh, wow.
00:32:53
Speaker
He started at the age of 16 and he's now retiring in a year and a half. So it's it's amazing. He knows wood and he knows bars better than anybody else.
00:33:08
Speaker
and Yeah, it's, and and and and we do everything ourselves here So we buy planks of wood and and and and and long metal bars, and then we cut them and do the whole ah whole thing.
00:33:28
Speaker
um But that's what makes our instruments you know good and unique. And that' make that's what makes us proud. And that's what we live for.
00:33:39
Speaker
So. Yeah. yeah um Could you talk a little bit about, with your barred instruments, what each line, I know you have a couple lines with Studio 49. Yes.
00:33:50
Speaker
I mean, i am we have three lines. The most important line is the what we call the 2000 lines. It's the traditional sized, biggest sound, best wood, largest sound box or resonance box.
00:34:15
Speaker
traditional designed instruments and that's really where all our care and knowledge goes in as much as we can it's it's the honduras rosewood that we dry eight weeks continuously with our very specific drying process um where we you know it's where we Add humidity and take more humidity out and add some more and take more out just to make sure it's it's a perfect relaxed
00:34:50
Speaker
and and and and and and piece of wood that has perfect vibration. and And that's the 2000 line.
00:35:01
Speaker
And then we have the 1000 line, which is different wood Pal Rosa, West African Pal Rosa, and which has these compact um resonance boxes, which make them very you know easy to handle, easy to store, can play them on a table.
00:35:29
Speaker
You can store many more instruments than normally in your classroom because they are compact. And they still have an amazing sound and for their size and and and the wood.
00:35:44
Speaker
The wood and is is, I would say, the second best um in in terms of its sound qualities, but obviously and not quite as ah smooth, more overtone, a little harder than Honduras.
00:36:03
Speaker
and And then, so that's the 1000. And then we have the 1600, and that's pretty much the combination of the traditional resonance box with the power rosa bar.
00:36:24
Speaker
And basically bringing these two worlds somehow together for a more economic intermediate sound. And the same logic is for the ah for our um, metallophones work exactly the same. We have large residence boxes, beautiful, thick rounded bars on the 2000 line and the 1000 line compact residence box with more economic, um, thinner, less wide, no rounded, um, uh,
00:37:06
Speaker
bars and the 1600 the combination of you know 1000 bars 2000 residents as far as the wood when you dry the wood i'm just curious now my dad does woodwork um what's the average time to dry the wood how long does that take is that like days oh no no no no oh no definitely not well okay First of all, I mean, we are very proud to to and dry the wood ourselves.
00:37:39
Speaker
And it's not just for the pride, but it's because our process is very specific and brings out a different result than a traditional dry. There are other players in the market, also in the educational market, big names, and they don't dry themselves. they they buy already dried wood. In our case, wheat we buy wet wood and then we dry it.
00:38:06
Speaker
And the whole drying process is is about eight consecutive weeks. Oh, wow. So we fill our drying ovens and for eight weeks continuously,
00:38:21
Speaker
we design the drying process And when I say we design a drying process, it's not that you just bring in heat that takes the humidity out.
00:38:33
Speaker
Because it creates stress for these materials if you continuously reduce their humidity. So what we do is we we take, we put in some heat and take out humidity, but only little.
00:38:54
Speaker
And then we bring back some humidity into it to relax it again and take out some in the next cycle, take um out some more humidity than we brought in and bring in a little relaxation again.
00:39:09
Speaker
And this goes on for eight weeks. And then we have we have um sensors all around our stack of wood that actually ah measure the remaining humidity in the.
00:39:27
Speaker
wood and because we have such a. smooth and careful drying process, we can dry the wood further down than anybody else.
00:39:42
Speaker
And the benefit of a very dry wood for you as teachers is that it and that the bars keep their intonation.
00:39:54
Speaker
much longer and much more independent of the surrounding atmosphere. And that's why we put so much effort into drying it and bringing it down to very, very low remaining humidity.
00:40:12
Speaker
So that's that's our drying process. And it's it's energy energy intensive. It's knowledge intensive. But it's one of the keys to have perfect intonation on your instrument and to have stable intonation across the different lines at and and and independent of the atmosphere.
00:40:37
Speaker
Well, and that is always a concern, at least over here in the United States, because not all of our schools have air conditioning. Of course. And especially in Iowa, Iowa summers get very hot and humid. Yeah.
00:40:50
Speaker
And you want your instruments hopefully in a in a good temperature. i was lucky my school was air conditioned, so it stayed pretty stable. But yeah if you don't have that.
00:41:03
Speaker
Yeah. And that's really our... Our drying process makes a difference. Because the the end humidity is so low you you you can and low, you can be sure that it keeps its intonation.
00:41:22
Speaker
Yeah. Well, I'm going off script just for a second here because I have to get your thoughts on this. Because you were just here this... last fall in Iowa at West Music and at the AOSA conference.
00:41:37
Speaker
That's right. Was this your first AOSA conference or have you gone before? no No, First time ever. first of but Well, we loved having you there. So I'm curious if you had any thoughts or impressions.
AOSA Conference and Teacher Advantages
00:41:53
Speaker
No, no. This was an eye opener.
00:41:55
Speaker
This was sort of no no this was an eye opener this was this was sort of you know, love at first sight or I don't know, whatever you want to call it. But for me, it all started with the opening ceremony.
00:42:14
Speaker
I mean, you walk into this huge hall and it's packed with people and packed with kids at the front stage. and And you see the passion and then you see all the chapters walking with their,
00:42:33
Speaker
with the banners with their banners and you realize how many shoulders in this country carry responsibly the whole idea of, and that by itself was really mind blowing for me.
00:42:48
Speaker
Then at the very end of the ceremony, at the opening ceremony, you had these kids singing together this song where, I mean, I had to fight with my you know emotions. And I wasn't the only one. Yeah.
00:43:01
Speaker
And then i was amazed to see the the the energy and passion of all the teachers. They start at eight o'clock in the morning. They finish, you know, at nine o'clock in the evening. And it's a full day in, I don't know how many classrooms.
00:43:19
Speaker
And it's, you know, it's, it's everybody. you know contributes and takes part in it it's not just listening no it's actually you know being really involved amazing and one of my highlights was as well at in the evening we once went out with a couple of teachers just for dinner and it was so beautiful because not only we have great conversations and just sharing know
00:43:50
Speaker
passion for what we do but then they started singing and and it was just it was just exactly what i you know what i like and where i feel it's it's more than just you know uh it's it's it's yeah it's much more than just a business so no it was great for me it was definitely a ah beautiful time we We are a very enthusiastic group, that is for sure. yeah and
00:44:23
Speaker
Yeah. And I love when people came to ah to our booth and, you know, started to improvise and one person stars and others share in and, they you know, they they cheer each other up and, you know, and bring other people in and it's just beautiful. It's community, it's music, it's connection, it's it's great.
00:44:49
Speaker
Well, you kind of touched on this before, but let me ask this one more time. is What do you think specifically makes Studio 49 the best option for music teachers?
00:45:01
Speaker
Yeah.
00:45:04
Speaker
I mean, you don't have to sell me because I've already used Studio 49 in my room and I loved them. I love yeah i have the 2000s. It boils really down to and the the key... won but What moves us is quality and sound, intonation, and sturdiness.
00:45:27
Speaker
And I think that's where we stand out. The good thing with Studio 49 is that you can combine instruments from the different lines, and they work well together.
00:45:45
Speaker
That's because they all come from here, and they come go through the same hands and the same tuners. And we make sure that you you know if you play 1,000 series with 1,600 and 2,000, it's no problem.
00:45:57
Speaker
That's one big advantage beyond that they're overtone tuned and and and have a very large and beautiful sound.
00:46:11
Speaker
and The second thing is, We really think that it that
00:46:19
Speaker
we we want to support the longevity of our instruments. And key for this is easy access to pins, to bars, to all kinds of parts.
00:46:34
Speaker
um And that's where we we are we stand out. That's where we make life easy. Last but not least, We are proud of a very and complete product offering that is specific just for the and for the educational world.
00:46:55
Speaker
And it is all made in Germany.
00:46:58
Speaker
It's all handcrafted here. And I like the first point that you brought up about being able to combine the different lines because for a lot of teachers, and I've been in this position in my years of teaching,
00:47:15
Speaker
A, sometimes we don't have control how much money we're going to be allowed to spend. You know, everybody would like to have one line of instruments and have it all be the same. Most of us don't walk into that situation because through the years, different teachers have bought different and they don't all work well together.
00:47:32
Speaker
Yeah, exactly. What you're saying with Studio 49 is at least if you can have all... Yeah. Studio 49, they're going to work you know well together. And that's important, is that sound.
00:47:44
Speaker
Definitely. And that's the advantage of of having everything made here um and having the tradition of of designing it this this way that we can always combine it. Yeah.
00:48:00
Speaker
So with your job, I'm guessing you don't spend a lot of time in the factory or are you down there quite a
Jacob's Management Style and Personal Insights
00:48:08
Speaker
bit? Oh yeah, we have to be down there. sure you have a lot to do.
00:48:11
Speaker
Yeah, the thing is I'm taking over after 40 years, my predecessor and 40 years, his father. and So 80 years, same family. and And there is the need to for you know new ideas and improvements, especially when it's down to cleaning up, you know making space, making sure people have good working tools and machinery, and making sure that you have young people coming in, that you train so that the company has a good future.
00:48:54
Speaker
So i'm I'm a lot also in and in in our factory, in our workshop, working with the people and and and making sure projects are followed up and put into you know place.
00:49:10
Speaker
and And yes, there's this that's the beauty of my job. I do production, research and development, IT, t finance, sales, marketing.
00:49:25
Speaker
It's pretty much everything. i think that's probably enough. It's not that I do everything myself, but I have to be into all these topics in in in the company. And in quite a few of them, I'm pretty much in details part of the game, because that's what you have to have in a small company.
00:49:50
Speaker
we are not We don't have overhead layers and departments and the second and third and layer of leaderships all not existing. There's two guys basically leading it.
00:50:06
Speaker
How many, ah how many employees do you have? 35 in total. Okay. i mean And 28 are da in the workshop.
00:50:18
Speaker
So they are really producing. So that's where I have to be around quite a bit. Right. Well, Fair enough. i Yes, and I like it.
00:50:30
Speaker
it's It's what i I was looking for. i like, you know, creating things, making things, improving things, having my hands on the product, on the very specific individual problems. That's what I want to do.
00:50:44
Speaker
Well, and I love what you said way back at the beginning of the podcast about why Studio 49. And you said, you know, making music and having children make music. And so it sounds like a perfect fit for you It is.
00:50:57
Speaker
To me, it is. No question. You look very happy doing that job. So that's always a good thing. Yes. Okay. yes yeah Oh, go ahead. No, no. And I'm saying i'm I'm here now for years. So it's...
00:51:13
Speaker
maybe a little beyond the honeymoon, it's now already reality and I'm still happy. So that's pretty good. That's excellent news. Now we always end our podcast with some fun questions.
00:51:25
Speaker
Okay. So just so you know, there are no wrong answers to these questions. They're just fun music questions. And I can't wait to hear what you're going to say. Cause since you are in Germany, I'm very curious about this.
00:51:39
Speaker
Do you have a favorite song that's specific to Germany? Yes. It's called Mena. and And it's very famous here but with a German singer.
00:51:59
Speaker
and Hold on. What's his name again? I'm putting you on the spot. Yeah, yeah. um No, Herbert Grönemeyer, I'm sure you, I'm not sure whether you know it, but it's he's called Herbert Grönemeyer and he sings Manna and it's it's big.
00:52:14
Speaker
It's about men. Okay. Yeah, that's my favorite song. I'm going to have to look it up. Yeah, Herbert Grönemeyer. Oh, I was wondering what were going to say to that.
00:52:25
Speaker
Okay, that's a good answer. All right. My next question is, which instrument do you think is overperformed? Do you think it's the glockenspiel or the bass xylophone?
00:52:36
Speaker
Overperformed? No. If at all, it's the glockenspiel.
00:52:47
Speaker
I was hoping you were going to say that. I think the glockenspiel does sometimes get overperformed. I was always taught in my ORF levels it's a color instrument to just add some color. And and people just want to play these frantic melodies on the glockenspiel.
00:53:02
Speaker
Yeah, and it's like the trumpet. Yes.
00:53:08
Speaker
Okay, well, now I also want to know, your between these two German composers, who would you rather listen to, Bach or Beethoven? Bach. Ooh, that's what I was going to say too. Yeah.
00:53:22
Speaker
Well-tempered piano. Wonderful. Okay. And then my last one, hopefully this is an easy one. Just, you might have to think for a second though, but something, do you have a favorite musical memory in all your years?
00:53:37
Speaker
That's a good ask a question. I always love to hear what people have to say to that one. You know, i have, you probably have many.
00:53:48
Speaker
Well, no, it goes into this direction because I've been, you know, going to the US regularly by all by myself on my business trips. And I have, you
00:54:03
Speaker
you know, a specific music that I listen when I'm traveling by myself, you know in my car. going to Iowa whatever.
00:54:15
Speaker
and And that's always really funny because it it's it's it's music that I only listen to when I'm traveling by myself. And that's when I listen at home, it brings back the memories of me sitting in the car driving long time through the US.
00:54:31
Speaker
That's pretty much it i'm I wouldn't have a ah specific song, but but i know what you mean. Well, I would guess since you have children at home, you don't get to do that until you're by yourself.
00:54:46
Speaker
You get have your time. Yeah, and and it's so, it's a very specific and experience to fly 12 hours all by yourself and then you rent a car and then you drive and i four to six hours in a different continent with very different people, different landscape, different car, and you're all by yourself. and Yeah, it's it's it's something very specific. And then you underline it with with a certain melody and music, and it sinks in, and it reflects these feelings and these yeah this experience.
00:55:23
Speaker
Oh, I think that's great. Well, and the landscape in Iowa is not super exciting, so you kind of need to have some music if you're driving in Iowa. Absolutely. And my thoughts under you know wander around. Yeah.
00:55:35
Speaker
Oh, my gosh. Jacob, this has been such a great chat.
Conclusion and Social Media Information
00:55:39
Speaker
Where um where online can we find Studio 49? www.studio49.com is where you can find Okay.
00:55:52
Speaker
And do you have anything on social media? Is there like... Of course, we are on Facebook. it's how We are on Instagram.
00:56:02
Speaker
I'm sure we are somewhere at YouTube. Yes, you can find it. Sure. Yeah. Okay. Well, I want to thank you, Jacob, for joining us. And thank you, everybody else, for listening. Because this has been Play Now, Play for Life podcast with Aaron. You can find us at westmusic.com slash play now, play for life. We also have Studio 49 on our webpage because I helped write some of those product descriptions. So please check them out.
00:56:29
Speaker
And we're also on YouTube, Instagram, Facebook, TikTok, and X. And you can find those in the description. So Play Now, Play for Life is podcast by West Music.