NAMM 2023 is in April, right?

[Anderton]

Rumor has it that there will be some MIDI 2.0 gear there. Whether it's behind a curtain for dealers or being shown to the public, I don't know. But there is going to be a big 40 Years of MIDI celebration, so the timing would be propitious.

[Radagast]

9 hours ago, Anderton said:

Rumor has it that there will be some MIDI 2.0 gear there. Whether it's behind a curtain for dealers or being shown to the public, I don't know. But there is going to be a big 40 Years of MIDI celebration, so the timing would be propitious.

That would be cool.

[humannoyed]

Here's an interesting Namm leak...

 

Midigimix midi CC controlled compact digital mixers

 

New start-up Midigimix is announcing a new line of ultra compact digital mixers that are app or midi cc controlled for the traveling musician or small home studio owner who wants to downsize their mixer footprint while adding all the features of a full featured digital mixer including future expandability.

 

The smallest is the DI box size Midigimix6, and the slighty larger Midigimix8. As one might guess, the 6 has six ¼” inputs that can be treated as six separate channels or three stereo channels. The 8 adds two XLR/1/4” combo inputs for extra mic inputs. Occasionally need more inputs? There is a cat5 jack on each model to add a stage box that takes mic input count from 8 to 16 depending needs and also adds extra outputs.

 

Now the fun part.. every feature on these mixers is controllable from your midi keyboard or other type midi controller using midi CC messages. That's right, these tiny digital mixers have five pin din midi input (also built-in wireless midi). You can control channel volume, muting, effects, etc, or entire scene presets directly from your keyboards sliders and switches, or if you prefer from a tabletop midi controller using buttons, knobs, and sliders. There is also usb for midi control to or from your laptop or usb-midi controller if needed or just prefered. Both units are controllable wirelessly from your phone or tablet with an app. Built-in bluetooth is included for both audio or wireless midi.

 

BTW The correct pronunciation is mi-digi-mix, not midi-gimix (gimmicks) though that would would seem to be the appropriate pronunciation for today. Happy April 1st everyone!😁

[Radagast]

It’s coming soon.  Any more keyboard rumors?  Dexibell likely has something new to show.

[Docbop]

Real quiet considering NAMM is only a few days away.   I haven't seen any keyboard stuff that wasn't already known about even new guitar gear there is some but not as much as usual.  From seeing what's going on with computers and other things appears most companies are adjusting product lines for the slowing economy. 

[Nathanael_I]

That and in many industries marketing departments are realizing that they can have clear air for their announcement weeks before or after a show. Word spreads to the interested almost instantly….

[The Piano Man]

Yamaha CK61 and CK88

Hammond XK4

Nord Stage 4

 

Adding to these, I predict…

 

Korg will add some new color options for the SV2

 

Roland will release something very underwhelming, like FP10-x and a new gig bag for their V Accordion range! (I suppose they could refresh the Juno DS line) A RD2000 replacement would be cool but perhaps not quite yet. 

 

Kawai could have a new MP model?

 

Any other predictions? 

[stoken6]

3 hours ago, The Piano Man said:

Roland will release something very underwhelming

"Ninth drawbar add-on kit for Fantom-0" would have made a great April Fool.

 

Cheers, Mike.

[Sunlight2]

Hoping for a successor to the Yamaha P515...feels like the right time in the cycle, with one of the updated actions from the CLP7 line.

[AnotherScott]

15 minutes ago, stoken6 said:

"Ninth drawbar add-on kit for Fantom-0" would have made a great April Fool.

🙂

 

I just wish they'd let you assign the knob over the 8th slider to function as a 9th drawbar control. Fantom-0 is great, but there are a bunch of "little tweaks" like that that could really improve it.

[jeffincltnc]

4 hours ago, The Piano Man said:

Yamaha CK61 and CK88

Hammond XK4

Nord Stage 4

 

There's a few things there for a wide range of the gigging keyboardist in what may be a muted year for new keyboard launches.

 

I am always surprised by something or another that I didn't see coming, but I suspect this most likely isn't the NAMM where the next generation of Montage or Kronos replacement drops.   With the Nord Stage 4 on preorder and the addition of a Nautilus in my gigging toolbox I'm really good on keyboards for the year for sure.

[The Piano Man]

1 hour ago, Sunlight2 said:

Hoping for a successor to the Yamaha P515...feels like the right time in the cycle, with one of the updated actions from the CLP7 line.

I think the P-S500 is intended to fill this gap. I get it, it’s the GHS action and more plastic construction than the P515, but I just don’t see how a P525 fits in to the range without being very pricey. The P-S500 is coming in at a similar price to the P515. 

[MathOfInsects]

I will be there. 

I'm going to lay hands on the NS4, and then gripe to the poor sales rep about the fixed split points, which is costing them 5000 of my American dollars, and if I happen also not to mention that that is more American dollars than I actually have, who am I hurting really?

I am going to walk past the Roland booth and soak in the sweet sounds of 12,000 similar-sounding saw patches regaling us with tales of navigating the last 40 years virtually unchanged.

I will check out Kurz, mostly because I feel bad for them. Having to sell that fine but unsexy product at NAMM is a little like operating a mime troupe next to a strip bar.

I'll lay hands on the SKXPro if Hammond-Suzuki has a booth. I wouldn't mind shifting my rig to a good multitimbral dual keyboard clone, but only if it saves work instead of adds it. I've got my Norgan sounding pretty good, and have tweaked the APs and EPs into behaving nicely in a crowd. I don't know if anything slightly-better that I might get from another clone adds more in organ than it loses in the rest. 

Ditto the above with Mojo. Those are monotimbral still though, right?

I'll *probably* walk right past the 15 various same-sounding modulars. I can only take so many waxed handlebar mustaches in one place. And that number is "none." Seriously, why don't you just put "It sounded better on vinyl" on a shirt and use the grooming time to work on your app?

I'll wave at Stevie Wonder just to let him know I saw him. That guy never waves back though. 

They always put the food and coffee next to the drum jungle. This is cruel. I will eat outside at the trucks. This is good for authenticity, since "outside at the trucks" is also where we usually have to buy our heroin at gigs.

I've got some friends playing there, though I am not this year. I'll watch them and others. I'll stand there and nod deeply like God himself is giving me instructions that only I can understand, which is the required pose when watching music at NAMM. Maybe I'll lean over to the dude (because it will definitely be a dude) next to me and say, "That guy's tone is ridiculous." I'll mean exactly what I said, but they'll hear it as praise, and in the time it takes to say that, whoever is playing will have played 129,347 additional notes, all of them Important and Good.
 

[nursers]

Thanks @MathOfInsects I now feel like I've been to NAMM this year! Though no mention of sore feet or back.

[EricBarker]

A great April Fools would have been “Nord, tired of complaints over 9th drawbar percussion, completely removes 9th drawbar from all Stage4 Models”

[AnotherScott]

30 minutes ago, EricBarker said:

A great April Fools would have been “Nord, tired of complaints over 9th drawbar percussion, completely removes 9th drawbar from all Stage4 Models”

 You know, when the Stage 3 came out, people complained that it did not have all the organ tweaking options the Electro 5 had. They fixed that, though. They took those same options out of the Electro 6. Now the Electro doesn't have better organ anymore, problem solved. If only that were an April Fool's joke.

[EricBarker]

I’m starting to get used to the 9th drawbar, and I realized it was never actually a real problem. Weirdly, I’ve always kept my 9th drawbar at Zero by default, because it aligns best with PercOn tone. Now, I just make sure to manually slide it up if I want it with PercOff.

 

yeah, it’s not authentic, but I see it as largely a non-issue.

[Radagast]

3 hours ago, MathOfInsects said:

I will be there. 

I'm going to lay hands on the NS4, and then gripe to the poor sales rep about the fixed split points, which is costing them 5000 of my American dollars, and if I happen also not to mention that that is more American dollars than I actually have, who am I hurting really?

I am going to walk past the Roland booth and soak in the sweet sounds of 12,000 similar-sounding saw patches regaling us with tales of navigating the last 40 years virtually unchanged.

I will check out Kurz, mostly because I feel bad for them. Having to sell that fine but unsexy product at NAMM is a little like operating a mime troupe next to a strip bar.

I'll lay hands on the SKXPro if Hammond-Suzuki has a booth. I wouldn't mind shifting my rig to a good multitimbral dual keyboard clone, but only if it saves work instead of adds it. I've got my Norgan sounding pretty good, and have tweaked the APs and EPs into behaving nicely in a crowd. I don't know if anything slightly-better that I might get from another clone adds more in organ than it loses in the rest. 

Ditto the above with Mojo. Those are monotimbral still though, right?


 

Reportedly, Roland won’t have a booth there.  Also, if Nord is there, I’m sure you’ll complain about the harpsichord in the NS4.

[The Real MC]

I'll be browsing the show too.

[Dave Bryce]

I’ll be there, as always.  Cloud Mics booth (9510), right across the big aisle from Casio.

 

dB

[Radagast]

I got this from Yamaha today in an email.

[Docbop]

Two days away and still so silent made me think of the movie from the 70's  Suppose They Gave a War and No One Came.     So Suppose They Had A NAMM and No One Came.    Make for a cool video go into NAMM in the middle of the Night and film with all the booths, but they are empty, kinda Twilight Zone version of NAMM. 

[Joe Muscara]

I'm gonna be there, if they let me in.  

[Docbop]

[MathOfInsects]

I will be up there on Friday. If any brethren or sistren will be there then, DM and we can trade phone numbers and say hello.

[nursers]

1 hour ago, MathOfInsects said:

I will be up there on Friday. If any brethren or sistren will be there then, DM and we can trade phone numbers and say hello.

I'm hoping to be there in 2025 - keep your diary clear m'kay?

[Dockeys]

I wish Yamaha would bring out a desktop version of the modx/montage. I’m sitting in the pit now playing through some stuff on the 76 note modx. I love the sound but the action is poor. The 88 note version isn’t any better. Would like the option of a desktop that would allow me to play these sounds on a board of my choosing while availing of a smaller footprint. 
 

That or an iPad version. Neither will probably ever happen…..

[Docbop]

8 minutes ago, Dockeys said:

I wish Yamaha would bring out a desktop version of the modx/montage. I’m sitting in the pit now playing through some stuff on the 76 note modx. I love the sound but the action is poor. The 88 note version isn’t any better. Would like the option of a desktop that would allow me to play these sounds on a board of my choosing while availing of a smaller footprint. 
 

That or an iPad version. Neither will probably ever happen…..

 

I can't see something like that on a iPad, but be nice to have a keyboard less MoDX that would be the whole top control panel and electronic and I/O connectors in a package with stand or shelf holder. Then  someone could buy a MIDI controller and this would set on it or in a shelf just above it.   

[zephonic]

Or Yamaha could just put better actions in...

[Roger Hooper]

On 3/3/2023 at 3:30 PM, MPN21 said:

Hoping that somebody comes out with a weighted 73 key with built-in speakers at this NAMM.  If not, I am going with the 121.   Someone suggested a Casiotone.  I purchased a CT-S1.   What a fun inexpensive keyboard!   Someone said everyone should have a Casiotone.  I will say plus a 73 weighted key.  

MPN21, the Casio PX-1100 (and other models) are about 52" wide; is that too long? I used to use a Nord Electro for wedding ceremony/cocktail jobs, so I understand (plus I've had disc problems along the way) wanting the smaller size. I've been using a Casio PX-S3100 for the weddings and church services. Most of my work is in my home studio writing for library cues and ads/short docs, and when I do perform outside the home I like its light weight (25lb).