Hidden Gems: Meet Allen Garbuzov of Oleg’s Music Inc

Today we’d like to introduce you to Allen Garbuzov.

Hi Allen, thanks for joining us today. We’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
My story with this business, formerly Oleg Products Inc., now Oleg’s Music Inc. began when I was a child. In the early 1990s, the business involved our entire family. My father, Oleg, was busy making his mark in the industry through his world-renowned acoustic work and repair expertise on woodwind instruments, while also developing revolutionary products that would eventually leave a lasting impact on the industry itself.

During those early years, when the company was really beginning to grow, my older sister Suzanne worked alongside him in the retail shop while my mother kept everything organized behind the scenes. I was still too young to contribute much of value at the time besides experimenting with my father’s tools and occasionally damaging more than I successfully assembled product wise, but my dad never hesitated to let me learn, though perhaps with a little closer supervision once things started becoming expensive (ha ha).

One memory that always stands out to me was going into the shop a couple times after Christmas morning with my older brother Andre and the rest of the family to help prepare for a trade show. Through the years, we traveled all over the world together, often as a family, introducing and promoting the Oleg line of products at trade shows. Those experiences remain some of my fondest memories.

I remember feeling incredibly proud of my father and the genius behind his ideas and creations. It was a unique experience being so young yet still being taken seriously while presenting products and explaining concepts to musicians. Sometimes even world-renowned artists and highly respected names in the industry. Not everyone took me seriously at first because of my age, but many would leave with a different perspective and philosophy toward their craft after hearing about our products and approach. Of course, my father was the main force behind those moments, but being part of them had a profound impact on me.

As the years went on, I worked with my father on and off while also pursuing other goals and interests. From 2010 to 2015, before moving to Germany for over six years, I worked closely with him, thoroughly learning how to manufacture and complete production on our full product line while also gaining deeper insight into his legendary scientific approach to acoustics. This knowledge which especially applies to our saxophones, necks, mouthpieces, flutes, and head joints, have now been successfully reverse engineered and brought back into production.

Near the end of 2021, I returned home during what was still a very hectic period. The pandemic had disrupted nearly every industry, especially entertainment and music, and everyday life felt uncertain for everyone. On the bright side, however, I was able to spend meaningful time with my father before he passed away in January of 2022. Even though it was only for a couple of months, I will always be grateful for that time together.

Following my father’s passing, everything slowed almost to a halt. The business had changed dramatically during my years away, and in many ways it felt like starting over from the beginning. At the same time, however, it brought our family back together working in the shop much like we had in the early years, and I often felt my father would have been smiling seeing all of us together again.

From that point forward, rebuilding the company became a gradual step-by-step process — reorganizing, restructuring, and relearning how to bring back many of my father’s more scientific creations. This is where the help of my father’s longtime friend and associate, Alan Markowitz, now Vice President of the company, became invaluable. He guided me through many of the changes that had taken place and helped fill in gaps in knowledge that I had not yet fully learned, making what initially felt like an impossible mountain much more manageable.

Alan also introduced me to his longtime friend Joseph Lukasick, who has since taken on an engineering role within the company. Joseph’s mastery of his craft, along with his mathematical and acoustical understanding, problem-solving ability, and intricate hands-on work, has been instrumental in helping us recreate some of my father’s most profound work — the work that truly made the company special and separated us from others in the industry: “Acoustic Optimization”.”

Our unique approach to tuning and acoustically optimizing instruments has led many musicians to describe our products as having unmatched responsiveness, resonance, intonation, and freedom of playability. Together, as a team — alongside my mother, who still helps behind the scenes, my fiancée Melissa, who oversees marketing and company structure, and many others who continue to support us — the company is growing once again exactly as my father always believed it would.

Today, we are working to take Oleg’s Music Inc. to new heights by expanding our reach to a larger audience through new ideas, new technology, and a stronger team than ever before. My goal is to honor my father’s legacy by continuing to share his knowledge, passion, and innovations with musicians around the world and helping them become accomplish their goals.

Even though my father is not here physically, I am grateful for the opportunity to be able to work with him every day and make him proud.

Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
Although I had worked with my father over the years in inventory, packaging, and production, the design and acoustical engineering behind the saxophones, necks, and mouthpieces was truly his domain. Over time, I learned from him the concepts, craftsmanship, and science behind everything we created. But there is a big difference between learning alongside someone with their guidance and having to carry it forward entirely on your own. Working with him made everything feel easier and enjoyable, even with the father and son dynamic at times. That all changed once he was gone.

After my father Oleg passed away in January 2022, it felt as though I was starting from the beginning. The legacy he built was extraordinary, but that also meant there were enormous shoes to fill. Picking up where he left off became a long, difficult, and often emotional journey. I had to rebuild and reorganize many parts of the business while simultaneously teaching myself how to work on products and processes I had never fully handled before, all while maintaining the uncompromising level of quality control that the company has always been known for and that we refuse to lower. Even simply letting the world know that we were still here and continuing forward became a challenge in itself. All while taking the steps forward to grow by working on the business not just in it.

Great, so let’s talk business. Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
Our company is known for producing one-of-a-kind saxophones and accessories that improve ergonomics and acoustics in woodwind instruments including saxophones and flutes. Known for their amazing responsiveness, resonance and intonation while being incredibly in tune. The Oleg accessory line for ergonomics includes our unique Enhancer line and neck straps, making playing more comfortable and hard to reach notes playable. Olegatures (saxophone ligatures) that truly are on a level of their own, mouthpieces (many new and reengineered models to come) and one of a kind “optimized sax necks” that improve acoustics featuring our “Acoustic Optimzation” method along with sax stands, flute head joints and flute enhancers as well. We now offer our expertise in instrument overhauls and repair as well but on a limited scale due to being constantly busy.

The company gained its notoriety through its new creations that are only found through our company and our distinguished knowledge of acoustics. We are not here just to sell products but to help change the way musicians approach playing and to give them more insight into their craft. While the idea is that buying a new product will help a player change their sound, our goal is to show them the how and the why. This way, players will have a better understanding as to how they can make the best decisions for themselves moving forward.

Our main goal is not only to improve musicians playing experience but to teach them as well if they desire. Our philosophy is that if we can help players acoustically and ergonomically, we can enrich the quality of joy in their art though understanding and increased longevity. This is the Oleg difference and why the legend of my father will live on.

Is there something surprising that you feel even people who know you might not know about?
I studied nursing for 3 years while living in Germany and very much enjoyed working with and helping people. Covid had caused me to come back to the states and it was the luckiest thing to happen during an unfortunate time / event to lead me back on this path.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://olegproducts.com/
• Instagram: instragram.com/olegproducts
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/olegproducts