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02/06 Editorial: Nothing New at NAMM


Anderton

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Craig (and all) -

 

Well, it's always kind of like that. Sometimes the "breakthroughs" are really obvious, like when we first saw SAW, or maybe even Sequencer Plus. Other times they're little things that, when integrated with other products, make a big difference. For example, last year THAT Corp. was at the NAMM show with their InGenius input chip that, when incorporated into the front end of a mixer, can make almost any connection to it hum-free because of its extremely high common mode rejection. This year they showed their new mic input chip. Now all we need is for a few manufacturers to start using them.

 

For many years, I wrote a lengthly show report (which startred out as a daily log long before the term "blog" was invented, but after growing to 20,000 words I decided to retire and leave that job to young bucks like you who have managed to find someone to pay you for your efforts. I always find a thing or two in The Anderton Report that I missed and I always wonder if you took notice of some of the things I found interesting. You always seemed to get better swag, though.

 

I no longer go to the shows to find my next mic or recorder. I let my dealer tell me when he has something that he thinks I'd like to play with. Today I look for things that might make my day-to-day work go smoother. Most are not relevations, but many are in the "Why didn't I think of that?" category.

 

About the only "innovative" thing that struck me as particularly interesting was the Audio Impressions Concert Organ Workstation system. Virtual instruments and sample players are kind of ordinary now, but the kind of interesting thing about this one is that it at least offers a sort of excuse for high sample rate recording. Since it constructs its organ sounds from recordings of individual pipes, supersonic energy coming from the pipes (assuming they use a good enough microphone, and there are some today) is preserved and can combine in playback (assuming a good enough loudspeaker, and there are some) in the same way that real organ pipes do. I'm sure it makes a difference to organ fanatics, but Joey D will probably stick with his B3.

 

In no particular order, here are some of the things that tickled my fancy:

 

Edirol R-09 micro-flash recorder, smaller than their pioneering R-1, better user interface, 24-bit recording.

 

Sensaphonics in-ear monitors with a "leakage" binaural mic setup so you can hear some stage ambience and, most important, your band members can talk to you on stage without going through the monitor system, and without having to remove an earpiece.

 

IK Multimedia Stealth Plug, a really simple and clean plug-in USB interface for electric guitar. Comees with a couple of versions of AmpliTube amplifier simulator which give you both a plug-in and a "live" version that can be run as a stand-alone program. Another cool product from IK is a USB foot controller for AmpliTube.

 

mPathX Multi-output DC power supply. This seemed to be one of the most talked-about devices at the show, at least among my friends. Output voltages are programmed via a computer connected to a USB port. If you don't know the voltage the wall wart you're replacing but you have the wall wart, you can plug it in to a port and it will measure the voltage for you. I have some reservations about putting the powering of your gear in the hands of a stored-memory box (I asked - if it loses its memory, it defaults to 0 so it won't blow anything) but I guess that everyone who has studio or even live gear these days has a computer along with him. Too bad it doesn't have AC outputs, too, since some wall wart devices that use a bi-polar power supply start with AC going in. The part of their technology that you won't see for a while, because they have to sell it to other manufacturers, is a smart chip that goes into a wall-wart powered device. When the mPathX senses that chip on a device plugged into one of its outlets, it knows what voltage to send it.

 

Wrap-N-Strap cable ties. This is a more sturdy and potentially longer-lived alternative to the familar Velcro cable tie. A sturdy synthetic rubber strap wraps around a cable bundle and is secured with a plastic button. Various length from 6 to 24 inches in proportional width and thickness accommodate a wide range of cables from a short mic cable to a 100 foot heavy duty power cord. The maker's beef jerky swag was really good.

 

Peterson StroboSoft strobe tuner on a computer. Peterson has been making mechanical strobe tuners for ages, and in recent years, has branched out to less costly electronic tuners while retaining the traditional multi-bar strobe display. The StroboSoft package runs on a Mac or PC and provides the familar strobe display on a computer screen. Being the resident old

time banjo player in the Recording zoo, I'm particularly attracted to the Deluxe version's ability to store and recall multiple tunings . Since I know about fifteen different banjo tunings, it's handy for both remembering the notes and getting in tune. It will co-exist with

most DAW programs (not ProTools yet, due to the dedicated hardware and drivers) and uses the standard audio device for input.

 

Planet Waves S.O.S Guitar Tuner. This was just too cool to ignore. SOS stands for Strobe On String. It's shaped and sized like a flat pick (a fat flat pick - about 1/4" thick) with a thumbwheel switch on the flat side and a pair of LEDs on the picking side. Set the switch for the note you want to tune and the LEDs illuminate the string with a strobe light of the correct rate. Pick the string with the tuner's "pick" and tune so that the lights shining o the sring stop moving. You can tune accurately in the dark, in the noise, and without any cables, plugs, or pickups.

 

I was pleased to see Mackie getting back to working with analog mixers again after the introduction of the Onyx two years ago. They now have an Onyx update of the 4-bus live sound consoles. Can an update of their very long-in-the-tooth 8-bus recording console be far behind? This was their first show since LOUD's acquisition of St. Louis Music and it's nice to know that I can now get a banjo (though admittedly not a great one) from the same company whose hard disk recorder I use.

 

Acoustica Spin It Again is a combined audio recorder, click-and-tick reducer, and CD burner with automatic indexing. It's designed to simplify the process of making CDs from your LP collection. This is old hat to most of us so you don't really need it, but it's just the thing to give to Dad for Father's Day - HE'S probably got a few yards of LPs that he never plays any more. And you don't even have to help him hook it up. It has a setup guide built in with on-screen diagrams and even voice prompts to help you along.

 

Art Strings Publishing is the work of guitarist and artist Karen Cannon. The drawings (they're pastels) are a bit Norman Rockwellish, but they all involve really well done renderings of stringed instruments. She has a great line of musical Christmas cards. If I sent Christmas cards, I'd have ordered some.

 

That's all, folks. Web pages are all the obvious URLs if you want to look this stuff up. All the mics, speakers, headphones, keyboards, and toob preamps sounded wonderful, of course. Buy some today. And I'll be looking for Craig's report when it comes out, to see what I wish I had seen or paid more attentin to.

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I'd have to agree with you on the Audio Impressions Concert Organ Workstation, cool idea and from what I heard quickly it sounded great (at my college in Scranton they had an amazing pipe orgran that they just restored, incredible). the planet waves S.O.S. tuner was very neat as well, great for jamming i am gonna get one to throw in my case instead of my old clunky tuner and I will definitely be getting a strobe tuner from PW also cuz it's gonna be a lot cheaper than a peterson and i am sure just as good. oh yea and that Acoustica Spin It Again is great, I have a large record collection and I definitely need to start transferring it to my computer/CD so this should be cool. this was a great show this year and I think it's only gonna get bigger and bigger.

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Thanks Mike, good stuff!! Not sure if I'll do a conventional-style report, what with all the videos and press releases being posted in the site. But observations will appear in various places...might do some "executive summary" stuff like I did for AES.

 

But to me, the real point of the editorial is whether there are more people playing music these days. Those numbers at NAMM were huge, and there does seem to be an upswing in musical interest compared to several years ago. I may just be imagining things, but all those sound cards with bundled software seem to be having an effect.

 

I was talking with Ernst of Propellerheads after the show, and he said that 2005 was a banner year for them. Now, I would think by now that all the "serious" musicians who use Reason in their work have copies, and just do the upgrades. So where are the new customers coming from? Musicians who just didn't "get it" about Reason the first time around, or a new audience? I suspect it's a bit of both, but maybe more of the latter. I'm also seeing Cakewalk put on a full-court press with their home studio-oriented products, and lite versions of Ableton Live bundled with M-Audio interfaces are, I'm sure, making some converts.

 

Hartley Peavey said he sold more guitars last year than any year he's been making guitars. So I think maybe there is something going on here.

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Maybe the apparent "death knell" of big record companies and the subsequent rise of MP3s makes people think that they actually have more of a chance of getting people to hear their music now.

 

Maybe the "anyone can do it" attitude of electronic music and recording on your computer (as reflected in music gear ads) has people believing that they should be the ones doing it.

 

Maybe it's a combination of these things and other things. Musicians making and distributing music is not only the domain of the rich anymore, and may be a huge contributing factor.

 

~~~~

 

I always see cool new things at NAMM, but maybe it's because I'm not always exposed to all these things, I dunno. But downstairs in "E" Hall, I always see fun new things.

 

And yes, I also liked the mPathX Multi-output DC power supply.

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NAMM is all about selling music products. That suggeests that as more people are enabled (or empowered) to make music, there should be more good music for us all to enjoy. But I think we're getting near the saturation point now. If buying a copy of Reason or Garage Band or Band In A Box enables someone who has never played a music instrument to create something that sounds like what he hears on the radio or in clubs, that's good for the music products industry. He'll probably buy a better sound card, maybe some better monitors, some samples or loops, in hopes of making his creations sound good enough to get on the radio. Will he ever gig a gig? Proably not.

 

Is this good for the world? Probably not. What's the chance that he (or anybody) will become another Beethoven or Dylan, or even a great DJ or recording engineer? Probably pretty slim.

 

I hate to make judgements of others' music, but I can tell you that I'm not buying any more music today than I did 25 years ago, I'm hearing more music on the radio (OK, I listen mostly to college and community radio over the Internet) but it's all just so ordinary that it goes in one ear and out the other. And that's not good for the music industry.

 

I think that "all you need" software, MP3s, and downloadable music is making more music product available, and it's consuming more output from the music products side of the industry, but there are no more artists whse name we'll remember for more than ten minutes, or more than 3 years than there ever were. There might be more people today who can name a song that Niko Case is known for than one that Frank Sinatra is known for, but in ten years the same people (assuming most are still alive) will still know about Sinatra, but mention Case and people who remember her name now will say "who?" or "Oh, didn't she record some Hank Williams song?"

 

There may be more people playing at music these days, and that's indeed good for the manufacturers and dealers. But how many of them will choose music as their trade? And of those, how many will be successful?

 

But that's not what NAMM is all about. NAMM is about encouraging people who have never played music before to give it a try. It's about giving those who are doing it better tools. The organization (and the show) is doing a great job at that, as witnessed by the number of attendees and exhibitors. But NAMM is also about education, and that's something that we gearheads don't talk much about. While they have lobbyists in Washington trying to keep funding for school music programs (which are rapidly going into the dumpster) their big push at the show is in educating dealers in how to market and sell the products - and this is indeed one of the important reasons why dealers attend the convention.

 

I remember attending a NAMM educational seminar least ten years ago led by Tim Tully (what the heck is he doing now?) in which, during two hours, he explained what a dealer needed to know in order to assure that a customer wanting to buy "a MIDI" walked out with something that he could acutally use and be productive with. in 1990 when there were only half a dozen sequencer programs to sell, he was able to do a good job. Can you imagine a similar seminar today even to teach a dealer how to help a customer choose the right microphone?

 

To respond to Craig's question about where all these new people are coming from, well, it's all around us. Sell me a program. I can do that as good as he can. Frankly, I don't "get" Reason myself. And my 1956 Martin D-18 might be pretty shoddy looking, but it still sounds great. I don't need another guitar.

 

However, today you can buy a servicable guitar for under $200, and a program that will help you learn to play it. Or you can buy a $400 (or $50) computer program that will let you rearrange someone else's music to your heart's content. Both are good, but the latter gets you a "wow!" from yoru friends quicker, so there's a real attraction. But the former will probably stick for a lifetime.

 

It's all good, as long as I don't have to listen to it all. ;)

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Audio Impressions Concert Organ Workstation system. Virtual instruments and sample players are kind of ordinary now, but the kind of interesting thing about this one is that it at least offers a sort of excuse for high sample rate recording. Since it constructs its organ sounds from recordings of individual pipes, supersonic energy coming from the pipes (assuming they use a good enough microphone, and there are some today) is preserved and can combine in playback (assuming a good enough loudspeaker, and there are some) in the same way that real organ pipes do. I'm sure it makes a difference to organ fanatics, but Joey D will probably stick with his B3.

 

 

Oh, this sounds extremely interesting to me -- I think "pipe organ" gets treated by many..even verious species of keyboard players as "a sound"...and much like "guitar sound" to a guitarist has a whole world in there

Being, essentially, a mechanical additive synth..I'm glad to see someone take the effort to do this

There are still, obviously, some parts that won't get modelled (some of the interactions that can be mechanical in nature with various pipes going) with individual sampling...but a great step!

 

Q :a ny idea if this syste alows loading of different organs (ugh, they are each so different)

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Originally posted by UstadKhanAli

Maybe the apparent "death knell" of big record companies and the subsequent rise of MP3s makes people think that they actually have more of a chance of getting people to hear their music now.


.

 

 

I agree with this statement. I think the artist has a better chance now than ever to get his music heard. I would like to hear more real, self made internet success stories, though.

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I don't think it matters. If they enjoy making music, that's all that matters. They don't have to do it as a trade, and if they have a friend who likes it, that's pretty successful.

 

The important part about music IMHO is creating it. Marketing/selling it is important only if you want to make a living from it.

 

I get to have my cake and eat it too: I can make music for the sheer fun of it with no commercial pressures, and I do music that pays the bills. Sure, it's a kick when I hear something I did on the radio, but it was more of a kick when my daughter walked in to the studio while I was doing some outrageous Frippertronic thing on the Variax/Vetta and she decided, right at that second, she wanted to play guitar. Now she's a ten-year-old taking a "school of rock" type class and learning how to mix.

 

Ultimately, you're absolutely 100% right: It IS all good -- as long as I don't have to listen to all of it :)

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RE: mPathX Multi-output DC power supply. I have wanted something like that for years and years. About time.

 

My question is, how many of the independent musicians (myself included) actually buy independent music? Do we put our money where we want others to put their money?

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Originally posted by MoreGuitars



I agree with this statement. I think the artist has a better chance now than ever to get his music heard. I would like to hear more real, self made internet success stories, though.

 

I would too. There's some (MySpace, maybe some others), but there could definitely be more. But at least there's somewhat of a chance of an artist getting his/her music heard. That's better than a snowball's chance in hell.... :D

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Originally posted by UstadKhanAli



I would too. There's some (MySpace, maybe some others), but there could definitely be more. But at least there's somewhat of a chance of an artist getting his/her music heard. That's better than a snowball's chance in hell....
:D

 

Has there been anyone yet who has made it big by only having their music in a download format, without ever being signed to a label?

 

I guess "big" is subjective, but I have not heard of anybody. Maybe there is one. I know it is very common for older bands to make a pretty good living at selling live concerts for download, but they also do the traditional record label distrubution route.

 

I think when selling music direct is the norm rather than the exception, then the revolution will finally be here. And I can't wait!

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Originally posted by MoreGuitars


Has there been anyone yet who has made it big by only having their music in a download format, without ever being signed to a label?

 

 

Arctic Monkeys. Although they are now signed, many attribute their fast success to the fact that their music was so available for downloads. HERE'S one story about it.

Barry

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My few favorite things I saw at NAMM were

Lemur by Jazz Mutant, from Cycling74 Lemur

 

Way over my head but fscinating to say the least was max/msp also by Cycling74 max/msp

 

Also "Notion" (music composition and notation software) by notion music

 

 

All futuristic methods for creating and manipulating music and parameters in a more instinctive manner.

 

Enjoy,

Dave Reitzas

www.reitzas.com

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Originally posted by Anderton

If they enjoy making music, that's all that matters. They don't have to do it as a trade, and if they have a friend who likes it, that's pretty successful.


The important part about music IMHO is creating it. Marketing/selling it is important only if you want to make a living from it.

Agreed, but I wasn't talking just about marketing music. When I wrote "music products" I was talking about guitars and keyboards and drums and picks'n'sticks and books and software and magazines. Those are all things that people who make music, whether as a business or for their own enjoyment, buy. And NAMM is where the suppliers of those things show their wares. So, yes, the more people who make music, the more markert there is for 'stuff" related to making music, and the more NAMM will grow.

 

So music fuels NAMM and NAMM fuels music. Nothing wrong with that of course. If only our cars worked that way. ;)

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Originally posted by Anderton

And can you imagine how many people would have been at NAMM if there was some really big, significant musical trend happening?!?

I'm not sure that would bring in a lot more people. iPods and downloaded music is certainly a really big, significant musical trend. Do you suppose that's what caused the larger attendance this year? I think that with exception of a few "slump in the economy" years (where some people who would have attended simply couldn't afford the travel) the numbers have been increasing every year.

 

Yamaha's human voice synthesis that they demonstrated a couple of years ago was pretty big, as was their acoustic modeling technology several years before, but what really draws the crowds is Kelly Clarkson or Stevie Wonder or a free Elton John concert.

 

What would bring in more people would be to open the show to the general public. There are hundreds of thousand musicians who would love to have the opportunity to kick some tires if they could get in. Periodically there are rumors that NAMM might have an "open" day, but the exhibitors are all against it and they're the ones who pay the bills for the show.

 

Which brings up another subject. Since NAMM attendance is pretty tightly controlled (though just about anyone can pay the NAMM membership fee and attend the show as a member) how do all the people who aren't directly tied in with the trade get in?

 

I've always gone as a Media (press) person. I started that years ago when I was running the Washington MIDI Users Group BBS and found that I was going to be in LA on day-job business during the show one year. It was a pretty hard sell since the concept of electronic media was very new back then, but I eventually convinced the Director of Trade Shows that there was a significant number of readers of my AES show report on line who would like to read a NAMM show report as well. I managed to convince him to issue me a pass and I became NAMM's first "on line" media coverage, at least officially. In fact, back when Harmony Central was a MIDI BBS run by an MIT student (are you still around, Scott?), I convinced him that it was OK to post press releases on his BBS and encoruaged him to attend the show himself.

 

It's getting harder to be a Media at NAMM these days, and I have to rely on the good graces of my friends at Recording Magazine to vouch for my legimacy. I don't know how much longer that will last since these days it's rare that they publish anything from me. NAMM doesn't accept independent free-lance writers as Media - a free-lance writer needs a letter of assignment from what they consider a legitimate publication related to the music industry.

 

Still, there seems to be plenty of people from the customer side of the industry attending the show. NARAS members can get a guest pass, but I don't see too many of those. So if you're one of those non-trade (other than your own) folks who come to the show, how do you get your badge? If you're going to buy your way in, joining NARAS costs less than joinomg NAMM, and NARAS is probably a more worthwhile organization for a musician or studio owner to support (besides, you get to vote on the Grammys). But musicians are cheapskates by nature (except for their prize instruments) so paying to play isn't likely to be all that popular. Do you get a pass from a friendly dealer? Do you know some magic words that gets you a badge? Or are there really an insignificant number of spectators, and I just happen to know a lot of them? ;)

 

Curious minds want to know.

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Originally posted by Rique

I think all this new participation will lead to even more of a focus on the gear than

on the music. As I surf the net, the conversation is usually about, is this piece of gear better than this piece of gear? Or, what gear did this artist use and how does he use it

This is one of the reasons why attendance at NAMM is up - more people want to buy gear. And NAMM is the place that manufacturers go to show their wares and dealers come to see what to order for their customers.

For the most part, I think we are in for a lot of crappy music from people who have computer and engineering chops but no musicality.

There's certainly plenty of that, and people who have computer chops, some musical ideas, but no arranging or recording skills. But somehow a few good musical things still manage to escape. The trick is to find them in the pile of mediocre stuff that manages to get out through the perservernece of the purveyors.

I think we could hear some really interesting music if talented old school musicians acquired the computer and engineering chops that are required today.

Most of the old school musicians are smart enough to let someone else worry about the technology and just make music. But the few that set up their own studios usually do pretty well with them because they have years of studio experience so they know what to expect, when to rely on the computer for assistance and not to rely on the computer to create what they can (and should) create themselves.

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Hey Tom!! Great to see you here.

 

I'd agree that the Tronical system is something new and different ... brings new meaning to the word "autotune" :)

 

But I still think your workstation desk thang is waaaay cool. I'm communing with my checking account as we speak .

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Originally posted by Anderton

I'd agree that the Tronical system is something new and different ... brings new meaning to the word "autotune"
:)

The implementation might be new, but the idea isn't. I remember seeing two automatic guitar tuning systems at NAMM (Hall E of course) at least a dozen years ago. One was a fully installed system with a stand-alone control box, the other looked like a power screwdriver (in fact it may have even started out as one) that had a chuck that fit over the tuning peg. It connected to the guitar's pickup to get the pitch of the string.

 

The whole system system survived to return to the show for a second year before it disappeared. The power screwdriver-like thing never showed its face again.

 

Another old-is-new-again idea that showed up this year was a light beam (in this generation, a laser) metronome. I can remember two from my early NAMM years. One was a row of LEDs about half a yard long, arranged in a wide arc. It emulated the motion of the pendulum of a mechanical metronome but you could see it from across the room. The other one was a lot cooler. It was a box with a grid of LEDs, and the visible motion emulated the motion of a conductor's baton, both horizontal and vertical. It got both time and velocity information from a sequencer, so loud portions made for wider swings of the simulated baton tip. It lasted a few years.

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Originally posted by MikeRivers

Most of the old school musicians are smart enough to let someone else worry about the technology and just make music. But the few that set up their own studios usually do pretty well with them because they have years of studio experience so they know what to expect, when to rely on the computer for assistance and not to rely on the computer to create what they can (and should) create themselves.

 

 

That

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