Jan
16
Written by:
masterblogger
1/16/2010 6:03 AM
As usual, NAMM has been jam-packed with people and sound. The meet
and greet with "Weird Al" Yankovic at the Shure booth and the Bone
Thugs N' Harmony interview at Steinberg were just a couple of the
celebrity sightings. And as usual, there were lots of demos and
presentations of new gear and software. 
You can see some demos at the video section of our http://www.eqmag.com/Community
page. We talked to Grammy-nominated producer Carmen Rizzo about his JazzMutant Lemur tricks and working
with Kobe Bryant as music director for tonight's Nike Live event in Los Angeles. We also interviewed
QSC Audio founder Pat Quilter about the future of power amps and active
speakers and talked to Avid marketing manager Dusty DiMercurio about
the trend of guitarists working with amp sims and DAWs (including
Avid's Eleven rack).We also have some new video demos from Line 6, MOTU, and Samson.
Victoria Kane at iZotope showed us the cool iPhone app, iDrum, a really
cool drum machine that works a little like an MPC and a Lemur. iZotope
worked with Wu-Tang Clan's RZA for the project. And Waves demonstrated
their new line of producer collaborations, with new plug-ins from Chris
Lord-Alge, Jack Joseph Puig, and
Eddie Kramer.
I got particularly excited about the Blue en•Core 200-series mic. Blue
is renowned for their studio mics and recently entered the performance
market. I'm going to test drive the 200 live and see how it goes. But
the look of the mic with its copper grill already has me hooked.
The Waldorf Zarenbourg electric piano is another cool-looking entry.
The the one the floor was royal blue with white racing stripes, but I
hear it will also come in an array of colors, including orange. Nearby,
we got a demo of the Softube amp and effect simulator software (in the
video section).
Meanwhile, Celemony Melodyne's Editor software takes pitch correction
to the next level with its DNA (Direct Note Access) technology,
allowing you to isolate and change the pitch of notes and even chords
in stereo mixes. Obviously, Editor would work to pitch correct
out-of-tune vocals in an old recording, but you can do much more, such
as changing the horn lines in an old Chet Baker song. Just imagine the
possibilities with remixing.... 
Coming up today, I'll be interviewing Grammy-nominated remixer
Morgan Page and hanging out with Universal Audio at Downtown Disney.
And I'll be swinging by Numark and a bunch of other manufacturers.
Although after all that walking yesterday, I managed to pulled a muscle
in my foot, so I may be hobbling. Anyone have any crutches I can
borrow? :)