 |
| A cymbal-smith hammering out a new cymbal in the drum hall at NAMM 2015 |
Winter NAMM 2015 was just as fun and informative as you would expect. Walking the many large halls of the Anaheim Convention Center, I passed by Stevie Wonder on more than one occasion, had a brief encounter with a playboy playmate (courtesy of Steve Clayton USA), and met none other than the famous comedian Sinbad. The show also provided a venue to reconnect with old band mates, learn about new software and hardware tools in the audio engineering world, and watch countless musicians exhibit their talents with passion amidst a chaotic trade show environment where the scene is constantly changing as people shuffle themselves around from one fleeting moment to the next.
Like I mentioned last year, there is an incredible feeling of togetherness at the NAMM show. This feeling grows out of the camaraderie of so many creative people coming together in one place, sharing their insights and talents with one another, and forming new relationships at an accelerated pace compared to normal social situations. And while this was no surprise, something in particular that stood out to me this year more than ever before was the quality of the creative talent wandering the halls.
There were so many nameless* musicians performing spectacularly who should have been on a grand stage, but instead were performing for small groups of onlookers or even nobody as they messed around with new instruments, effects pedals, and more. What's so special about this is how it puts talent into context so quickly: even though the lack of a big stage or audience can seem to devalue the significance of such talent, in reality it creates an even more special venue for the few observers who manage to catch that special moment. It becomes a unique memory as you gel into the space-time continuum together with the artist in a close setting.
*When I say nameless, I have to also issue an immediate apology to the many musicians (myself included) who I am calling nameless. Their hard work and efforts to master their creative passions should not go unnoticed, and in fact I did notice these such individuals more than ever this year. But to give a little "real talk," let's face it: this is the dilemma of being a musician. It takes years of hard work to even have a shot at making it, and without a little luck in the mix we can easily remain nameless.
Speaking of being a "nameless" artist, the incredible thing is that this oft-true classification does not un-motivate most performing musicians. If it did, I wouldn't have seen nor heard several hundred absolutely amazing but unknown players fill the convention halls with beautiful sounds this past weekend! Nor would so many of us participate in bands and play local shows, or attend them, in our free time. Thus part of the beauty here is that creativity as an agent is independent; it is able to survive even without recognition or financial support from the outside world. It continues to live on in the hearts and souls of countless musicians and pushes forward with strength, while many other pursuits of business, money, or life in general are kicked to the curb the moment those pursuits fail to produce a measurable return.
I suppose this is another one of those examples of a life situation where the lesson is a simple "money isn't everything." Money can be a lot of things, but it can't satisfy the need a musician has for a creative outlet. Not in the least. Moreover, while music does not always produce money nor abdicate our need for it to survive in the modern world, what it does do is provide a therapeutic and calming effect that allows musicians and music lovers everywhere to better manage their emotions and get through tough times. Through careful expression of thought and emotion, music brings us together in an instant and grounds us in the present moment.
Now, with that said... let's take a look at what I found to be the best, most impressive, and most unexpected things this year:
Best of Show
Presonus Studio One
One product I was particularly impressed with at this show (and which I've used before, but not in depth) was Studio One by Presonus. For the home studio gurus of us that are out there working on sh**ty laptops with little CPU headroom, systems like Pro Tools can simply be unmanageable. In this video that I took during the presentation, you'll hear this engineer talk about how the performance and load on his CPU is ridiculously low using his $300 Studio One install whereas his $20,000 Pro Tools setup would hog all of his system resources. I've always been a Pro Tools fan but as a utilitarian-minded mix engineer, there's something to be said for efficiency, balance, and workflow. Simply amazing -- more people should be talking about this.Most Impressive Vendor Booth
Marshall Amplification PLC
 |
| The Marshall Amps booth was rad as always this Winter NAMM 2015 in Anaheim, CA |
Yeah, I know... I do like to support the little guy, and putting a big name up here doesn't quite accomplish that. However, there's something to be said for building a huge wall of 4x12's that just really catches my eye, and I have always been a fan of this British brand. Jim Marshall did an incredible job growing this into a world-class operation over the years, and now Marshall is a staple in almost every genre of professionally recorded and performed music. The individual employees and Marshall reps working the event were very knowledgeable and helpful, too, answering questions with a high level of expertise and without blinking once. Nicely done, guys.
Most Unexpected Innovation
Oscar Prat's Epic 24-String Bass
 |
| Who knows the manufacturer of this BEAST? |
Oscar Prat is such a creative builder of unique instruments. When I passed by his booth, I was on my way out of the show for the evening on Friday and somehow forgot to write down the info for this beautiful beast. But in looking back at the picture, I quickly recognized the Prat logo and then everything started making sense. Even still, seeing this style (3 strings/octaves per 'string') caught me totally by surprise even though it probably shouldn't have given the crazy things people are doing with bass guitars (and other instruments) these days*. Great job, Oscar!
*Speaking of which, at NAMM 2013 I was blown away when I uploaded this video to YouTube after the show and it quickly accumulated more than 25,000 hits within a few weeks, and now over 50,000 two years later. The video itself is pretty lo-fi but features a similar, gnarly looking multi-string bass.
In conclusion to this post-show review article of Winter NAMM 2015, what I can say is that it's always an incredible journey and I can't wait to see what's in store for next year!
Comments
Post a Comment