NAMM show 2007 Day One

Well, day 1 of NAMM '07 got off to the usual start with the marching
band perambulating through the convention centre. I was still in a bit
of a daze from the jet-lag, but there was no mistaking it - yes, that
*is* the Rocky theme tune they're playing! Awesome...

I managed to sneak into the show early and start doing the rounds...
so far nothing's exactly set the show alight, but there's plenty of
good stuff here on all fronts.



Korg were showing off their latest, as reported in our Filter section
in the issue that's just going on sale, so the mighty M3 workstation,
although that's not shipping much before the summer, while the R3
should be with us in 6 weeks. The KP mini is ready to
go, so although it doesn't have the same beguiling light display of
its big brother we're still excited by it, and you can expect a review soon



And, of course, the awesome ZERO mixers - I'm trying to prize one of
those out of Korg's hands before the show ends, so fingers crossed for
next issue...



Arturia have a hardware synth in development - monikered 'Origin' -
which looks to have all of their soft synths crammed inside that sleek
looking exterior, plus a Jupiter 8, as previewed here at the show.
They've taken a modular approach, so you'll be able to put the
Jupiter's oscillators through the Minimoog's filters and other such
shenaigans that will surely upset purists the world over. Bring it on,
we say..! It looks like it's gonna be great, but we'll have to wait
until Spetember to find out...

SPL launched a passsive EQ - finally someone to give Manley a run for
their money? - with the sexy looking if not sexily named Passeq...
it's billed to cost around $4,500, so not cheap, but if passive EQs
are anything to go by then it's sure to sound great....



Roland have filled the gap left from the out-going V-Synth (keyboard
version) with the V-Synth GT... we haven't heard it in action just
yet, but anything with V-Synth in the product name gets our vote...
and with that amazing touchscreen control we can't wait to get the new
version in for review...



Violet launched a new mic - The Black Hole - that has an innovative
new shockmount... it's gonna sound great, being a Violet, and that gap
in the middle means you can hold it like a knuckle-duster... nice!

We've also been hearing rumours from the Propellerhead camp, and
although nothing's finished yet we've had a preview of Thor, their new
'Polysonic' synth. It's got plenty under the hood, such as FM,
wavetable and subtractive to name a few, and on first listen it sounds
damn good - smooth, lush pads and atmospheres, full bass and complex
leads... no timeframe for the next revision of Reason, but watch this
space!

Dave Smith of Dave Smith Instruments has been busy, and although the
BoomChik drum machine / synth won't be ready for 9-12 months, the fact
that it's being developed in association with Roger Linn means should
make it a winner - well, two industry heavyweights working on one box?
We could probably mark this one 11 out of 10 right now...



On the DJ front all the big guns are here... so far I've bumped into
Roc Raida, Jazzy Jay, Shortkut and DJ Babu... not bad for a first day...!

Plenty more happening, but the evening session awaits, so I'll try and
file some more LA tales tomorrow... until then!

Oz Owen