ATI - The guys from ATI show up with their high end products and just make me drool every show. I bought an ATI mic pre last year, but I've been hot for an API for a long time. Though the models haven't changed, they still warrant your attention. The 512 module is a classic mic preamp and daddy of the 500 series of signal processing and racking choices. The 200 series is a more affordable and smaller solution, with it's own racking options. The 7600 Input Module channel strip and the 7800 Master Control Module are single rack space pieces that can be chained to suit your needs. Of course, you can opt for the Legacy or Legacy Plus full-blown studio consoles. http://www.apiaudio.com.

Garry:Moog - Moog introduced the Piano Bar, a MIDI controller for acoustic pianos. The Piano Bar rests just above the keys on the piano and senses their movement and velocity using infrared technology. I attended a demo of the Piano Bar after the show on Saturday. We were in a small room, so you could hear the blend of the acoustic piano and the synth module it was driving. The pianist used a volume pedal to control the output of the Piano Bar, so he could blend it with the piano (or mute it) as desired. Pretty cool. It doesn't require any mods to the piano and is portable, so you can schlep it from gig to gig as needed. More info at http://www.moogmusic.com



Bill: Bob Moog is a pioneer in the synth industry. Moog Music released the Voyager to much aclaim earlier this year. The "Piano Bar" is a scanner which reads the performance information from any standard 88 key piano. It consists of a ½" thick infra-red sensor bar which lays against the fall board and a pedal sensor to read pedal movements, and a Control Module. The Control Module contains 300 sounds of its own, and also acts as the MIDI output. 16 MIDI channels are supported.

Garry:Blue Microphones - I'm not sure if Blue actually had a booth or not, but the pianist demo'ing the Moog Piano Bar was singing through the new Blue Ball mic. It's a phantom-powered dynamic mic. Interesting looking mic and a cool name (gotta love a company with a sense of humor). I'm expecting to get one (and a Blue Kiwi) to review in the very near future. More info at http://www.bluemic.com

Bill: Speaking of mics, the big players were all there and most had new products or familiar favorites to show. AT, Shure, Audix, Neumann/Sennheiser, AKG, ADK, CADD, SE, MXL, and Studio Projects presented new choices for the 2003/2004 season.

The many booths filled with no-name Chinese knock-off microphones at past shows were gone. But several companies with brand recognition have started marketing cheap mics, which leads me to believe that we'll continue to see these types of mics popping up in various guises with familiar labels. At any rate, they are all using Chinese capsules, which is the first weak link in the chain, even though it is the catalyst that makes an inexpensive yet decent sounding condenser microphone a possibility.

Sennheiser/Neumann - In addition to the microphones, Sennheiser/Neumann was also demoing the Inovasion console. In the increasingly more crowded digital console marketplace, Innovasion has become more popular than ever. I've seen larger format consoles at recent NAMM shows, but this summer, Innovason was one of the few, if not the only large format live console on the floor.

The new 609 Silver has been the subject of some on line discussion here at ProRec. The original 609 reissue was not as successful as Sennheiser had hoped, did not sound quite like the 409 that it was supposed to emulate, and was expensive to manufacture. The 609 Silver is a less expensive yet more authentic sounding replacement for the 409.http://www.sennheiserusa.com

Garry:Trident / Oram - John Oram and company were showing the Trident S-series. I'm hoping to get the S40 channel strip in for a review. The Oram line has been expanded to include the new OctaSonic Plus 8-channel mic preamp. Bill bought one on the spot. Look for a review on Bill's new toy and an interview with John Oram in ProRec. More info at http://www.oram.co.uk/ and http://www.tridentaudio.co.uk/

Bill: I also spent a few moments talking with John Oram. We met John at last year's summer NAMM, and found him to be surprisingly outgoing and an energetic self-promoter. Most people in his position would have turned the promotion of the company over to professional media people, but John still shows up at the trade booths and talks to the buyers personally. I think that a lot of people appreciate this, I know that I do. John will be celebrating his 40th year in pro audio next year, and he is still in the trenches. How cool is that?

Garry:M-Audio: M-Audio continues the trend of offering audio interfaces that talk USB or Firewire. Bill was especially interested in the MobilePre USB, a small USB-based two channel interface. They were also showing their new FireWire 410, a 4-in/10-out Firewire-based interface. More info at http://www.maudio.net

Bill: Software and computer hardware technology played a smaller role this year at the Summer NAMM, and many of my favorite companies chose not to show. But stalwarts like Ederol, Echo, Korg, Lynx, Playpro, Tascam, Sibelius, Thinkware, M-Audio, Cakewalk, PG Music, PreSonus, and Aardvark, among others, were present. M-Audio in particular fielded a large space and ran constant demos for their software and hardware products. The Firewire 410 looks like a standout small product, though I thought that the Transit was a nice piece for those seeking an device interface solution among various digital formats as well as two track analog, and the Mobilepre USB caught my eye for those seeking a simple two track bus-powered interface with mic pres and phantom.

Cakewalk - Sonar is the current big dog at Cakewalk, and is a rather amazing piece of work. But there is also the new Project 5, based around software synths.http://www.cakewalk.com

Lynx - Lynx seems to be setting itself on the pro course, offering a new card that is a 16 channel 24 bit 192kHz AES/EBU digital PCI card for Mac or PC. Included is a 32 channel software mixer, SyncroLock jitter reduction technology, and Lstream format conversion. There is an optional Lightpipe I/O adapter.http://www.lynxstudio.com

Pearl, Yamaha, and most other drum manufacturers have come out with interesting new shell colors, and black hardware seems to be replacing chrome on rims and lugs.

Mapex- Mapex has a new system that allows one pedal to work either the hat or to quickly switch over and work as a second kick pedal. I also liked their new Carmel Fade color. http://www.mapexdrums.com

Yamaha - Yamaha has taken the old trick of using a large speaker as a microphone for the kick drum and turned it into a product. Called the SubKick, it is a 10 inch woofer mounted inside a 7 ply drum shell, and is designed to be used in conjunction with a standard kick mic.http://www.yamaha.com

Gig Box - I was first exposed to Gig Box products at a Marty Stuart show. I was sitting on stage playing The Clarence White (and if you don't know what THE Claerence White IS, go back to Guitar 101 for a refresher course in guitar history ) when the tech opened a road case that turned into a cool guitar stand. Now, I've seen many different types of guitar stand and case combos, but this one appealed to me. I asked about it, and they told me about the company. Turns out it is a Nashville-based group. They also showed me an amp made by the same parent company, the ESP Corporation. Go to the plant, play your guitar through their setup, tweak knobs and change speakers and cabinets until you find "your" sound; then they build an amp for you with the amount of power that you want, using the speakers that you picked, and with the tone settings that made "your" sound being the mid-point or zero settings on the amp. Turn on your amp, put all the settings at flat, and you are starting out with your signature sound, and you have the ability to tweak up or down from there should you need to do so. I like it!

Back to Gig Box. Ths basic Gig Box product line encompasses a collection of road cases that are pedal box cases, guitar stands, guitar repair/string changing stations, and combinations of those options. You can pick from pre-existing products or have one custom built to your needs. http://www.gig-box.com

VOX - Among the products in the Vox line, Vox showed their stand-alone modeling box, the ToneLab. Garry recently bought the AD60VT modeling amp and is quite happy with it. He brought it over to my studio and gave me a demo and let me play with it for a while, and I enjoyed the many options, too. And I know that I barely scratched the surface of what their modeling technology can do. The stand-alone box is the same front end, minus the amp and speaker cabinet. Vox also introduced the VC-12Foot Controller for the Valvetronix and Tonelab. In the spring the Vox Brian May Special amp was released, and this was also shown. I ordered one, but missed the first round of manufacturing and I have been waiting ever since. If you are also waiting for one of these cool little 10 watt amps for your studio or practice room, the rep PROMISED that the new batch would hit the store in two weeks. No, really, two weeks. He promised.http://www.voxamps.co.uk

Korg - Korg showed the microKontrol MIDI Controller, a 37 note keyboard with 16 velocity sensitive pads, 8 rotary encoders, and sliders. The D32XD and D16XD 24/96 recorders were a new addition in the stand alone DAW world, with 188 track/hours of recording to the internal 40 gig hard drive. The successful D1600 and D1200 both received updates and new Mark II status.

The Toneworks division announced the Ampworks and Bass Ampworks Personal Modeling signal processors, which allow multiple popular amps, cabinets, and effects to be chained together.

Marshall news includes the new Mode Four dual amplifier system. Happy birthday to Jim Marshall, who turns 80 this year.http://www.korg.com

PGMusic - PGMusic's Band In A Box is now on version 12. PG shows some interesting products at bargain basement pricing, and the consumer really gets a lot of value for the dollar spent. PowerTracks ProAudio, their Power Paks and MegaPaks, The Barber Shop Quartet, Oscar Petersen Note By Note, the Master Class series of guitar and piano instruction... really, they have a very comprehensive and wide ranging product line. http://www.pgmusic.com

Edirol - Last year Edirol caught my eye with a handful of handy audio gozintas and cumzoutas boxes for computers. This year they continued that tradition, with some handy interface boxes. But they dropped a new product into the DAW fray with their UA-1000. 10 ins, 10 outs, 24/96, front panel XLR inputs for four channels and phantom power. http://www.edirol.com

Seymour Duncan - Duncan announced the release of a new pickup, the Twang-Banger. Said to be a combination of the sounds of a Tele and a Strat, it is a direct replacement for the bridge position Strat pickup. http://www.seymourduncan.com

The John Lennon Songwriting Competition Bus - The John Lennon Educational Tour Bus is a non-profit traveling audio and video recording studio, with instruments, turn tables, mics, and multiple recording formats. The Bus travels the country bringing the technology of recording to youth groups, clubs, and schools. They were parked inside the convention center, spreading the good word.http://www.jlsc.com

Garry: OT: Beer Hunting - I'm a home brewer and beer geek, so when I travel I'm more interested in finding good beer than good food. Here are my picks for beer hunting in downtown Nashville. I know of two good beer bars downtown: Flying Saucer (10th and Broadway, part of the Wyndham) and the Beer Sellar (Church St. between 1st and 2nd) The Flying Saucer is my favorite. I know of four brewpubs: Big Wind Brewery (111 Broadway), Market St (134 Second Ave), Blackstone (1918 West End Ave, Music Row) and Bosco's (1805 21st St South, Vanderbuilt). Bosco's is my favorite, but it's the farthest out. I prefer Big Wind to Market St if I'm downtown. Only been to the Blackstone once, but it was nice as I recall. Here's a URL with more info: http://beerexpedition.com/tn/b_nashville.shtml

Post-NAMM Friday: Bill and I went to Third and Lindsley, one of Nashville's showcase clubs, for an early set by Ally Taylor. More information is available at www.allytaylor.com . She put on a funky, soulful set of originals from her album "Do You See Me". Bill and I then headed back downtown to the famous Wild Horse Saloon. Fender was sponsoring a show headlined by the Brian Setzer Trio. Our timing was perfect. The place was packed, but we found an acceptable spot to stand and next thing we knew, Brian and the band were on stage. I've been a Brian Setzer fan since the early days of the Stray Cats and he did not disappoint.

Bill: Glenn Meadows turned me on to Ally's recordings some time ago, but this was my first chance to see a live show. Ally has a lot of soul, and a lot of presence on stage. Third and Lindsley provided me with what has been the most enjoyable tequila-based drinking that I have been able to find in all my years of visiting Nashville. And what can anyone say about Brian Setzer? He rocked, he rolled, and he set the place afire in a set that started out about as hot as I could imagine, but he was able to raise the temperature with each number. Great fun, and a great way to end the night.

Another problem with going to Nashville is that there are just so darned many things happening there all the time anyway, outside of the conference or event that you were there to attend. While I was at NAMM ,I ran into another NARAS member, who asked me if I was going to the Grammy Professional Development Program event. These are ongoing events, and this particular one was entitled, "From Student to Studio". It was sponsored by the Producers and Engineers Wing of National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences and Steinberg, with additional support from BMI, Mix, NHTPro, Waves, NAPRS, Apogee, AudioTechnica, Soundstage Studios, Primal Gear, SAE, and Studio Network Solutions.

It was a day of Nuendo studio demos at Soundstage and manufacturers demos at SAE, followed by a panel discussion in the BMI lobby with Chuck Ainlay, Jeff Balding, George Massenburg, Steve Bishir, Tony Brown, Gary Paczosa, moderated by Frank Wells. After the panel discussion, there was a big party/concert, featuring Blue Mother Tupelo, being recorded live on Nuendo by Chuck Ainlay, George Massenburg, and Jeff Balding.

Again I felt the pinch of a schedule conflict, but as I was there to cover NAMM, I went to NAMM.

But I did manage to sneak out to 10 Music Square East long enough for the panel discussion. The space was filled with both students, and luminaries. Paul Gallo came in and sat next to me, and a lot of other familiar names and faces dotted the crowd. Topics ranged from work methods, the evils of digital technology, the evils of technology in general and the choices that they bring, to archival and inter-studio storage and transmission technologies and opinions about the future. I think that George Massenburg commented that "Choice was the enemy of commitment", while Frank Wells countered with something about indecision equaling flexibility, thereby mating the ying and the yang, the two sides of the same coin. We were all seated under a particularly pithy quote from 17th century John Dryden,

"..What passion cannot music raise and quell?
The trumpets shall be heard on high.
The dead shall live and living die,
and music shall untune the sky."

I dearly wanted to attend the party and see these guys at work, but Garry and Mike Rivers were waiting for me back at NAMM, so I hit the street. Maybe next time. Meanwhile, stick around, as Garry and I cover the October AES Conference in New York City.