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Winter NAMM 2010 Reports


Joe Muscara

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The EV SXA360 speakers have been discontinued has of Jan. 1.

 

Stopped by the EV booth, they are still working on a replacement prototype in the Z series. I was told around June this would be available.

In the meantime this was new and looks to be very cool:

http://electrovoice.com/product.php?id=1004

 

They will continue support for the 360 SXA for 5 more years. The street price had come down to $800 per box last year, now I would think you'd be able to find some great closeout deals on a pair.

 

These also caught my eye at the Nord booth:

http://www.allen-heath.com/UK/news_story.asp?view=560

 

If they sound good, that would be a killer ultra-compact solo piano/vocal/duo/trio sound system.

 

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So far from the online side, the best thing I've seen come out the NAMM is SSL's X Patch

Triton Extreme 76, Kawai ES3, GEM-RPX, HX3/Drawbar control, MSI Z97

MPower/4790K, Lynx Aurora 8/MADI/AES16e, OP-X PRO, Ptec, Komplete.

Ashley MX-206. future MOTU M64 RME Digiface Dante for Mon./net

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I'd say the big thing from a keyboard playing standpoint is the Yamaha CP1.

 

http://photos-b.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-ash1/hs293.ash1/22061_1335738401576_1474562130_30978779_1931520_n.jpg

 

Boy, does that thing look BIG and HEAVY!

 

Noah

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Drumagog 5 is out in April, and is a complete rewrite and reworking, with many new features (including recognition of hi-hat closed vs. open, etc.).

 

I think everything else has already been mentioned here. There weren't many vendors at NAMM this year.

 

The Brasilian B3 clone was on show but I didn't bother trying it as I just bought an XK1. I heard it a bit with others playing it, but wouldn't want to make a statement based on the acoustics and keyboard amp at a NAMM show.

 

Waldorf's Rhodes clone was on display but wasn't hooked for sound. I tried its keybed though and it was pretty cheap. Kind of a surprise really. Wish I could have heard it.

Eugenio Upright, 60th Anniversary P-Bass, USA Geddy Lee J-Bass, Yamaha BBP35, D'angelico SS Bari, EXL1,

Select Strat, 70th Anniversary Esquire, LP 57, Eastman T486, T64, Ibanez PM2, Hammond XK4, Moog Voyager

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Oh, Electro-Harmonix has a new standalone vocoder stompbox, and of course Roland has the VP-7. I couldn't find either unit to try out, but Roland occasionally had a demo of the VP-7 (which I missed). The latter seems derived from the VP-770, which I did try and which seems very good for vocoding but not as believable for harmonising as TC Helicon products. It could work well in a church/worship setting. Seems more flexible than the VP-550.

 

Roland has a significant V2 upgrade for the V-Synth GT, which is a firmware upgrade for those with V1.

Eugenio Upright, 60th Anniversary P-Bass, USA Geddy Lee J-Bass, Yamaha BBP35, D'angelico SS Bari, EXL1,

Select Strat, 70th Anniversary Esquire, LP 57, Eastman T486, T64, Ibanez PM2, Hammond XK4, Moog Voyager

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Oh yeah, Roland had their new Combo on display as well. The keybed feels nice and seems to "speak" as an organ should. I think the other sounds are from the Fantom series and/or the Supernatural expansion boards. Seems like a much better version of their earlier Combo model, and that they're marketing it this time.

Eugenio Upright, 60th Anniversary P-Bass, USA Geddy Lee J-Bass, Yamaha BBP35, D'angelico SS Bari, EXL1,

Select Strat, 70th Anniversary Esquire, LP 57, Eastman T486, T64, Ibanez PM2, Hammond XK4, Moog Voyager

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The Nord Piano was there and quite popular. So popular that I lost patience waiting in line to try it out. I didn't see a price list. It looked well-constructed and solid. Not sure which keybed action. Features seemed more focused on Digital Piano needs and less cross-purposed than the Nord Stage. Looks promising.

Eugenio Upright, 60th Anniversary P-Bass, USA Geddy Lee J-Bass, Yamaha BBP35, D'angelico SS Bari, EXL1,

Select Strat, 70th Anniversary Esquire, LP 57, Eastman T486, T64, Ibanez PM2, Hammond XK4, Moog Voyager

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I wish I could find a specific list of Ethno 2 vs. Ethno 1. I sold Ethno 1 last year, frustrated at how the percussion instruments were undocumented and how much time that cost me figuring out (by intuition) which articulations each key was mapped to. Then I had some minor regrets as I never found individual sound libraries for some of the rarer melodic instruments that it included.

 

Ethno 2 looks to dig even deeper into territory that most other vendors ignore. What I will say for MOTU over other vendors is that they really understand musician's needs and world music as well (just like Ensoniq did). Therefore I am actually interested in getting back into Ethno with v2. The list that I saw includes a LOT of rarely-covered instruments (including Brasilian Cuatro, Celtic Bombarde, and some Korean instruments).

 

I didn't have time to stick around for the Digital Performer 7.1 demo, but saw the feature list at KVR today and it blew me away. This is like a major new release, for free. Most of the new features are unprecedented in ANY existing DAW program. Looks like MOTU is finally fighting back against their ongoing negative publicity on Gearslutz, which has probably hurt them badly.

Eugenio Upright, 60th Anniversary P-Bass, USA Geddy Lee J-Bass, Yamaha BBP35, D'angelico SS Bari, EXL1,

Select Strat, 70th Anniversary Esquire, LP 57, Eastman T486, T64, Ibanez PM2, Hammond XK4, Moog Voyager

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YAMAHA has a live Stream From NAMM

The CP1 is being streamed Right now

 

http://www.yamaha.com/namm/?COLTYP=LIVE

 

I really didnt like the sound of those new yamaha electric drums. This was not an advance in sound IMO.

 

Keyboards are way ahead of drums in this department.

-Greg

Motif XS8, MOXF8, Hammond XK1c, Vent

Rhodes Mark II 88 suitcase, Yamaha P255

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Ethno 2 looks to dig even deeper into territory that most other vendors ignore. What I will say for MOTU over other vendors is that they really understand musician's needs and world music as well (just like Ensoniq did). Therefore I am actually interested in getting back into Ethno with v2. The list that I saw includes a LOT of rarely-covered instruments (including Brasilian Cuatro, Celtic Bombarde, and some Korean instruments).

 

It loads Scala files! That's one reason I think it's pretty cool.

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One thing I didn't see mentioned was (I'm forgetting what it's called) where extremely low velocity playing plays no sound.

 

Keyboard Mag's Ivory II video

 

Sympathetic String Response means that Ivory II does this, and according to the video, is set under Silent Key Velocity.

 

From the video, Ivory II sounds like it will be great.

 

Someone get Fortner a tripod or monopod though! :sick:

"I'm so crazy, I don't know this is impossible! Hoo hoo!" - Daffy Duck

 

"The good news is that once you start piano you never have to worry about getting laid again. More time to practice!" - MOI

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18 layers, yeesh!
The interface looked much faster than the current version, and hopefully it's a bit better laid out too (not that the current one is horrible, but it doesn't flow like it should).

 

I wonder how big the libraries will be. The current Grand Pianos are 40 GB now. I'd hate to have to get an even bigger drive for this. My older drives are sitting around unused!

"I'm so crazy, I don't know this is impossible! Hoo hoo!" - Daffy Duck

 

"The good news is that once you start piano you never have to worry about getting laid again. More time to practice!" - MOI

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Couldn't find a Korg Wavedrum on the floor to try out, but some dude was doing a demo of two of them set up for left-hand/right-hand conga-style playing. The sound quality seemed deep and expressive, but it was a frustrating demo as the guy needed a lot of time to figure out what he was going to do next (not sure if it was a musical inspiration issue or technical complications).

Eugenio Upright, 60th Anniversary P-Bass, USA Geddy Lee J-Bass, Yamaha BBP35, D'angelico SS Bari, EXL1,

Select Strat, 70th Anniversary Esquire, LP 57, Eastman T486, T64, Ibanez PM2, Hammond XK4, Moog Voyager

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I missed the Moog booth somehow, and didn't realise it until I'd walked back to my car. If I had remembered the Taurus pedals might be on display, I might have been more motivated to walk back to the convention hall. I'd like to hear them, but personally feel uncomfortable with linear vs. splayed pedals.

Eugenio Upright, 60th Anniversary P-Bass, USA Geddy Lee J-Bass, Yamaha BBP35, D'angelico SS Bari, EXL1,

Select Strat, 70th Anniversary Esquire, LP 57, Eastman T486, T64, Ibanez PM2, Hammond XK4, Moog Voyager

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Forgot to mention I stood next to Bono at an acoustic guitar booth at NAMM, but left him alone as I respect the privacy of stars and how rarely they get any. He didn't have anyone with him. He's much shorter than I realised! Also very soft-spoken and respectful, and he just quickly flashed the peace sign and then went back to his business, when he noticed a crowd gathering.

Eugenio Upright, 60th Anniversary P-Bass, USA Geddy Lee J-Bass, Yamaha BBP35, D'angelico SS Bari, EXL1,

Select Strat, 70th Anniversary Esquire, LP 57, Eastman T486, T64, Ibanez PM2, Hammond XK4, Moog Voyager

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