Once considered just a “music store” show, NAMM has evolved into a premier showcase for pro products for live sound, touring, and even the installed sound market. We make the annual pilgrimage to Anaheim for the Winter NAMM show after our holiday cheer has worn off and before the Super Bowl and Grammys get us all wound up again.
The annual NAMM show crosses all genres of music and production, and Hall A is the world’s healthiest Pro Audio Mecca, boosted by the presence of real rock stars side by side with mom and pop instrument manufacturers and music stores, all coming together to feel the excitement of a career committed to something that everyone can feel passionate about.
This month we have a pair of Buyers Guides, one on live concert software plugins for Venue digital consoles and a second on personal stage monitors that are worn in the ears. Both products have come a long way in the last decade, one small, the other smaller, proving again that less is more, even on the biggest stages. Both these categories have been transformative in their ability to take musicians and their personal vision to the next level of live performance.
We also have two full pages of New Gear just before heading into the Anaheim Convention Center for more new product releases. Speaking of which, this month we also have two Tech Previews of equipment that’s being released at the NAMM show: Crown’s new 4-channel I-Tech HD amplifier, which completes their V-Rack solution for JBL’s VerTec line arrays, and Allen & Heath’s next generation of affordable digital iLive console, the GLD-80.
This month’s Showtime showcase, put together monthly by managing editor Frank Hammel, is Billboard’s Top 10 Tours of 2011 in a special three-page feature. How many of the Top 10 tours are Clair Global this year?
Two of our writers discuss column speakers from both sides: Jamie Rio in Sound Sanctuary from his house of worship perspective and our loudspeaker editor Phil Graham, who talks about the physics of columns.
Woody LaCerra, who mixes FOH for Blue Öyster Cult, explores miking guitar amplifiers, including Buck Dharma’s, while David Morgan, who mixes James Taylor’s last and next tours, discusses using Waves CLA-2A plugin on a Yamaha C7 grand piano.
Dan Daley extols the virtues of networking — one of the reasons we make the trip to NAMM each January — and SIR’s Baker Lee talks about the difference between right and wrong. Kevin Mitchell introduces us to the winners of the 2011 Parnelli Hometown Hero award, Production Support Group from Tallahassee, FL.
This month’s Production Profile looks at Bob Seger’s powerful arena tour that just wrapped up in Jacksonville, FL with the usual gorgeous photos by Steve Jennings. Every time Alto Reed plays those five lonely notes I get chills.
BTW, anyone know the “song from 1962” he was humming? It was the Ronettes’ “Be My Baby,” whose opening Hal Blaine drumbeat appears in many other hit songs, including those by Billy Joel, Meat Loaf, Asia and Springsteen. Can you name any? BMB is considered the epitome of Phil Spector’s Wall of Sound “Just like Ronnie sang.”
Turn the Page,
—Mark Frink
