Fishman and Akai Team Up to Create Aura

The Summer NAMM show brought they debut of Fishman's Aura controller, the company's new digital technology at Summer NAMM in Nashville, TN. The Aura was conceived and developed by a joint team of Fishman and Akai engineers exclusively for acoustic musicians, and incorporates Akai's AST (ACOUSTIC SPECTRUM TRANSFORM) technology.

"At Fishman for over 20 years, we've been committed to helping acoustic musicians sound their best both live and recorded--two very different environments. A recording studio setting affords things that are simply not practical or possible to take with you to the gig or on tour," explained Larry Fishman, Founder and President of Fishman. "Those include classic guitars, world-class condenser microphones, and an optimal recording environment and control. For one, condenser microphones are extremely expensive and fragile, prone to leakage and often feed-back in live performance settings and force the musician to remain stationary. The technology in the new Fishman Aura changes all of that."

The new Aura captures the sound that only distance, air, and a high-quality condenser microphone could previously produce, according to the company. With the integration of Akai's AST technology, the Aura captures the whole system: the characteristics of the guitar, the position of the instrument relative to microphone, the characteristics of the mic, the air and makes it available in a high volume live performance setting via blending. Users may modify up to 13 patches (or scenes) and save up to 50 in memory. In the future, Fishman plans to enable users to exchange and download additional patches from the Fishman website.

Mainstream acoustic musicians will appreciate the small size, price, and reproduction of classic acoustic tones that the Aura offers. The Aura's compact size will make it useful for the project studio and at gigs. Performing musicians, especially those who are very particular about their sound and nostalgic about the vibe from trusted age-old technologies, can enjoy the stage mobility the Aura offers and peace of mind knowing that fragile and prized equipment can be left securely at home.

Initially the Fishman Aura will be available in a foot controller design. Pricing for the Fishman Aura is $429.95 and it will begin shipping in the fall.