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Music trade show draws northeast Ohio enthusiasts
This year’s National Association of Music Merchants (NAMM) show took place January 23-26 in Anaheim, California, drawing over 95,000 registered attendees and featuring more than 5,000 brands from around the world, expanding categories such as technology-driven music products. Although not an attorney, Woodsy’s Music owner Paul Braden has attended NAMM for the past 41 years in an effort to keep the store’s Kent and Medina locations stocked with the latest products. He plans to stock a number of products. (Photo courtesy of Woodsy's Music).
SHERRY KARABIN
Legal News Reporter
Published: March 4, 2014
Lawyers stay abreast of the latest laws and developments by completing their continuing legal education requirements and perhaps attending conventions or other events in their practice areas.
But for attorneys like Rik Williger that are also one part musician, the annual National Association of Music Merchants (NAMM) show is their way of keeping tabs on the newest products and instruments available on the market.
This year’s show took place January 23-26 in Anaheim, California, drawing over 95,000 registered attendees and featuring more than 5,000 brands from around the world, expanding categories such as technology-driven music products.
Williger was not among this year’s crowd but has attended in the past. He plays several instruments and sings background vocals for the Bruce Springsteen tribute band, “Jersey” and “Jonah Koslen’s Stage Pass Now.” He said he makes it a point to check out the new offerings online even if he cannot go.
The Kenmore attorney said his top pick for this year is “Aerodrums.” The new air-drumming percussion instrument is based on motion capture technology. “It is a computer program that uses a program with sampled drum sounds and positions various parts of a drum kit on the screen,” said Williger.
“A camera is focused on the player and the player holds two sticks that show up on the computer screen. By moving the sticks in the real world, the sticks can be positioned over the drum/cymbal to be hit. The player makes a ‘playing’ movement, and the sound is generated.” He said it not only looks cool but also would allow for less setup time for drummers.
Williger said he also likes the fact that various artists are offering online lessons. “I happened across one called ‘Artistworks’ by no less than Paul Gilbert, best known for being in the bands Racer X and Mr. Big. The lessons are good opportunities to communicate and learn from your heroes on an almost face-to-face basis,” he said.
KRK ROKIT Generation 3 Powered Monitors are showcasing new soft-dome tweeter and lightweight, glass-aramid composite woofer monitors, said Williger. “Although the ROKIT is my preferred reference studio monitor anyhow, they are showing off their ‘keeping-up-with-tech’ features, including multiple inputs,” he said.
While the show was filled with new guitar models, the one that caught his attention was the Charvel Guthrie Govan Signature model.
Williger also liked several Moog products, including the Sub 37 Paraphonic Analog Synthesizer which has a 37-note keyboard, external audio input, filter with multidrive, dual ADSR envelope generators, dual oscillators, sub-oscillator, dual LFOs and an onboard arpeggiator and sequencer.
Also on his wish list, Moog’s new Theremin known as the Theremini. “Think ‘Good Vibrations,’ and you’ve heard the Theremin,” he said. “I first heard one in eighth grade science class and fell in love with it then,” said Williger, who explained that it is very difficult to play reliably, as “it’s all muscle memory, and you’re operating in space around an antenna. The new ‘Theremini’ is, I think, meant to address that because it can be set to quantize the note you’re closest to so the end result is more of an actual ‘note,’ versus a note that ebbs and flows around its recognized frequency.
“It has a few built-in processing features and many output options, including MIDI, USB, Control Voltage and of course quarter-inch outputs,” he said. At a cost of $299 Williger said, “If you’re looking for a heterodyning oscillator to play with this is your toy.”
In addition, Williger said he was glad to see that MXL has such a wide range of mobile microphones for iOS devices.
“There are a full range of mics, including shotgun, lavalier, gooseneck, boundary mics for conferencing, larger recording and podcast mics,” he said. “They all have a ‘y’ adaptor, so that you can monitor while recording. The handheld mic has a standard XLR connector that is nice because if the cord breaks you can just pitch the cord and replace it.”
Although not an attorney, Woodsy’s Music owner Paul Braden has attended NAMM for the past 41 years in an effort to keep the store’s Kent and Medina locations stocked with the latest products.
Braden said this year he came across a new line of Yamaha basses that are “really nice for the price,” along with the Roland RD-800 stage piano, which produces acoustic, electric piano, organ, synth and other tones.
“It is an incredible playing and sounding piano,” said Braden. “It was one of the most impressive things that I saw at the show.”
He said Woodsy’s has been dealing with the Eastman Music Company for years, but he was particularly impressed with the handmade mandolins and jazz guitars that they displayed this year.
“Taylor totally revamped their 800 guitar series, with ‘revoiced’ new electronics,” said Braden. “We have already ordered them and expect they’ll be a big hit.”
The Woodsy’s owner said before he stocks any product he wants to be sure that it can compete with others on the market and withstand the “rigors of northeast Ohio.” One such company he said is Virginia-based Huss & Dalton Guitar Co., Inc., from which he ordered six custom guitars for those interested in a unique instrument.
Also on its way to the store is the Blackstar ID: Core Series amps, which were among the items that won “Best in Show” at NAMM. “They are versatile and inexpensive starting at $99 apiece,” he said.
Other items that caught his attention included Temple Audio’s Locking Pedal Board System, which he said is a “versatile, lightweight solution” to all those cables and wires.
Braden also said he would stock the AirTurn BT-105, a wireless hands-free page turner for iPad and other Bluetooth-equipped Mac and PC computers. The device connects to foot switches, enabling musicians to keep both hands on their instruments while using apps for reading sheet music and guitar tabs.
The final “must-have” product on his list is Fender’s Fishman TriplePlay Stratocaster HSS guitar, which features state-of-the art digital technology that allows musicians to emulate other instruments and create all-new sounds. The TriplePlay system also enables wireless transmission of MIDI data to the computer.
Todd Mobley, sales manager at The Music Farm in Canton also attends NAMM regularly. He plans to stock Fender’s American Deluxe Strat® Plus.
“It’s no surprise that a company like Fender recreates the wheel from time to time, but what is surprising is that they seem to do it every NAMM show,” said Mobley. He said while the electric guitar’s exterior may look like a “run of the mill” Strat®, the inside features a world of “innovation, performance and design that should be respected.
“For the first time on a Strat®, Fender has introduced 100 percent solderless pickups. Instead of the cables being hardwired, they connect via quick-connect plugs. For a guitar, this is huge,” said Mobley. “The task of swapping your pickups becomes less of a task, and more of an adventure. I predict that Fender will be releasing an entire arsenal of aftermarket solderless pickups in the coming months.”
In addition, he said Fender has introduced “Personality Cards”, which allow players to “quick mod or re-wire” the guitar by simply popping a card (analog circuit board) into the back of the body. “By changing cards, it re-wires the tone controls for a desired sound. The guitar will ship with three Personality Cards from the factory, and like the pickups, I imagine we’ll be seeing many aftermarket cards available in the coming months.”
In the category of acoustic guitars, he said he plans to order the Washburn R360K Parlor Resonator. “Based on the design of the Parlor guitars that were in production over 100 years ago, the Parlor Resonator sports some intuitive new upgrades,” Mobley said. “The R360K is offered in two finishes, vintage natural, and spalted maple. For resonator players, the cone on the resonator is spun aluminum and features a biscuit bridge.” Another impressive upgrade he said is the quick-access bridge cover. “On most resonators bridges to have any work done to the bridge itself, it requires the entire resonator being removed. The R360K features a custom quick access bridge cover for easy access.”
In addition Mobley said he is very excited about Yamaha’s TRBX Series Bass Guitars. “The most enticing feature of these basses other than the modest price point is the Performance EQ switch,” he said. “It has preset EQs built in depending on the style of music being played.” He said switching the toggle control gives you the desired EQ curve, including Flat, Slap, Finger, Pick and Solo. Customers should expect to see the bass guitars in the store now.
In addition to the products already discussed there were several other items that received “Best in Show” from a panel of NAMM experts.
Alfred’s Mastering Ukulele: An advanced method book for the instrument, said Gayle Beacock, co-owner of Beacock Music in Vancouver, Washington.
Line 6 Amplifi: According to Jack, a musician who attended the show but was not the “expert” on the panel who picked the product, it is a full-frequency amp that uses digital signal processing to create a guitar tone versus “traditional electric” guitar amps that mostly rely on tubes to change the sound of an electric guitar to give it that sound. “By using DSP, basically a computer modeled tone of a tube amp, the amp can be a great high-quality amp which is fed the ‘guitar tone’ as a source, and more importantly, it can be fed an iPod or iPhone to play music like any high quality amplifier,” said Jack.
Universal Audio Apollo Twin: A desktop recording interface that has processing plug-ins, said John Grabowski, senior director of merchandising at Sweetwater Sound in Fort Wayne, Indiana.
QSC TouchMix Digital Mixer: Jeff Mozingo, president of Mozingo Music, in Ellisville and O’Fallon, Missouri describes it as compact, light and easy to carry with “big” mixer features.
Triad-Orbit Advanced Microphone Stand Systems: Selected by Chris Tso vice president of merchandising at Musician’s Friend at Guitar Center in Westlake Village, California because of their “unbelievable quality and durability,” and many versatile features.