NAMM seems poor this year (for electronic musicians)!

Kevin Nolan · Post by **Kevin Nolan** » Thu Jan 23, 2014 11:36 pm

I've been dropping in on sonicstate, gearslutz, musicradar and so on - and - from the perspective of electronic music / synthesis, this is a really poor NAMM.

There have been essentially no major announcements other than the Moog Sub 37. I had hope for new generations of workstations, some radical new designa, mature new analogue and robust update and libraries for top end products like Kronos and JP80; but it just hasn't transpired.

Not a good state of affairs over all.

Bertotti · Post by **Bertotti** » Thu Jan 23, 2014 11:41 pm

Agreed but I am excited about the sub37.

Kind of hard for anyone including Korg to top the release of the Kronos. I remember being at set for a Nord Stage 2 and waiting for NAMM just in case and the saw the Kronos release. Wow it set a new bar for exciting releases.

BobTheDog · Post by **BobTheDog** » Thu Jan 23, 2014 11:49 pm

The Elektron Rytm looks interesting as well, 8 voice analog drum machine with sample playback.

NuSkoolTone · Post by **NuSkoolTone** » Thu Jan 23, 2014 11:49 pm

I dunno. Depends who you ask. The DJ's and DAW musicians got a lot of controllers and cool stuff. I thought Roland's new FA keyboards looked pretty cool (Though cool enough? Jury's out.) Alesis's wireless Keytar is pretty cool (even cooler if it could plug right into the Kronos!) for a keytar. Korg released a Keytar too.

So: Roland's a tease, Yamaha is now a limp noddle, and Korg is addressing Keytars and electro guys.

The bright side is there was NOT a Kronos replacement! Hopefully that means more cool things and updates are in store.

Also I think it's an indication of where the Market is going. People EXPECT updatable stuff these days. I see our live workstations becoming hardware shells/controllers that will house updatable programs and the market moving more software.

To be honest it's been a long time coming! VSTi's are now getting BETTER than hardware. The challenge is to manage and encapsulate it all into something that works. I mean hell, as much as I love my Kronos, I'm starting to look into it myself. And if you don't play live, there's almost no reason to even bother looking at the usual Synth Market! With a few exceptions of course

Hugo · Post by **Hugo** » Thu Jan 23, 2014 11:58 pm

I think it's been pretty good this year. Great new offerings from Elektron, Roland (the FA series), Korg (Gadget), and some more. It's been a lot worse, that's for sure!

Jan1 · Post by **Jan1** » Fri Jan 24, 2014 12:18 am

I had expected more from this NAMM, so yes, it's a bit of a disappointment.
But who knows, maybe the focus for major releases is shifting more to Frankfurt?
But I agree that Moog's new sub 37 looks great, and Roland has a very interesting mid-range workstation as well as the mystery surrounding the AIRA products.

BobTheDog · Post by **BobTheDog** » Fri Jan 24, 2014 12:23 am

I just looked at the sub 37 video here http://www.sonicstate.com/news/2014/01/ ... irst-look/ my guess is that they are going to sell loads of these!

MoonMusic · Post by **MoonMusic** » Fri Jan 24, 2014 2:06 am

So far my biggest interest is Slate Digital's mic/pre/plugin....I won't be interested in actually buying the thing until I see what the industry has to say about it but it's my biggest interest so far....I was secretly hoping for something really exciting for the kronos like another synth engine, etc....
I'm OK with not seeing anything new though, there is still plenty of gear I'd like to have that I haven't acquired yet (like a wavedrum) and the Heat plugin for my Protools rig just to name a few....I'm sure you have plenty on your list too....LOL....moon

djcactus · Post by **djcactus** » Fri Jan 24, 2014 6:27 am

depends entirely on what you mean by "electronic musician"

Personally i wont be picking much up this year but from what i can see this year should be good for electronic musicians in general. Maybe not if you already shelled out on a kronos and a j80 but for people with smaller rigs looking to get out and gig i think its going to be a great year.

chilly7 · Post by **chilly7** » Fri Jan 24, 2014 8:03 am

Kevin Nolan wrote:I've been dropping in on sonicstate, gearslutz, musicradar and so on - and - from the perspective of electronic music / synthesis, this is a really poor NAMM.

There have been essentially no major announcements other than the Moog Sub 37. I had hope for new generations of workstations, some radical new designa, mature new analogue and robust update and libraries for top end products like Kronos and JP80; but it just hasn't transpired.

Not a good state of affairs over all.

Let's see and wait until Namm starts and then djaje. Maby there are something will be anoccented

chilly7 · Post by **chilly7** » Fri Jan 24, 2014 8:10 am

Oooppss, my sorry, i thought the Namm show begings on 24th by US time

EvilDragon · Post by **EvilDragon** » Sun Jan 26, 2014 1:04 pm

NuSkoolTone wrote:The challenge is to manage and encapsulate it all into something that works.

http://www.gearslutz.com/board/namm-201 ... tudio.html

NuSkoolTone · Post by **NuSkoolTone** » Sun Jan 26, 2014 7:52 pm

EvilDragon wrote:
NuSkoolTone wrote:The challenge is to manage and encapsulate it all into something that works.
http://www.gearslutz.com/board/namm-201 ... tudio.html

No doubt that's cool , but it's a racked computer with some interfaces it seems. That remote is far too small,and I don't want to setup a monitor, mouse ,qwerty, etc and have to rack stuff.

I'd like it all embedded with a keyboard (And not slapped together nonsense like open labs), nice large touchscreen with a lot not only tweakable right on the spot but a full fledged editor that I can make complex combis and programs with routings instantly recallable as easy pressing up/down scrolling through on a regular keyboard. Much like the Kronos, but a bigger screen and more open that I could use 3rd party VSTis seemlessly.

Bachus · Post by **Bachus** » Sun Jan 26, 2014 8:42 pm

NuSkoolTone wrote:
EvilDragon wrote:
NuSkoolTone wrote:The challenge is to manage and encapsulate it all into something that works.
http://www.gearslutz.com/board/namm-201 ... tudio.html
No doubt that's cool , but it's a racked computer with some interfaces it seems. That remote is far too small,and I don't want to setup a monitor, mouse ,qwerty, etc and have to rack stuff.

I'd like it all embedded with a keyboard (And not slapped together nonsense like open labs), nice large touchscreen with a lot not only tweakable right on the spot but a full fledged editor that I can make complex combis and programs with routings instantly recallable as easy pressing up/down scrolling through on a regular keyboard. Much like the Kronos, but a bigger screen and more open that I could use 3rd party VSTis seemlessly.

That controller is really cluncky and non intuitive... In the age where everyone gets spoiled with touchscreens and thats the best they can come up with..

VSTs work perfect under windows 8.1 with a huge touchscreen... I dont see a problem with having a huge touchscreen set behind my keyboard... For visibillity and touchcontroll

Bertotti · Post by **Bertotti** » Sun Jan 26, 2014 9:18 pm

Maybe it is to early but I expected a bigger presence using the leap motion technology, something at least but has NAMM had anything utilizing the leap motion interface?

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NAMM seems poor this year (for electronic musicians)!

NAMM seems poor this year (for electronic musicians)!

Re: NAMM seems poor this year (for electronic musicians)!