Arturia has been named the recipient of the first annual Rear of the gear of the year award, a new trophy being presented in order to recognise, according to its organisers, the importance of “the business end of music-making gear”
The clock source dip switches add an air of mystery that’s all-too hard to find these days
London Institute of Ergonomic Surveyors
“In an era of ever-expanding options for connectivity, whether that’s physical, wireless or purely spiritual, we want to celebrate the very best in port arrays and interface design as a whole,” says Jacques Mensonge, managing director of the London Institute of Ergonomic Surveyors.
One of the panellists, citing the Keystep’s port-packed posterior, was gushing in her endorsement.
Jill Mentir said, “Whether it’s the full-size MIDI ports, seductive CV outputs or alluring Sync I/O, this thing just screams ‘I want to connect’.
"The come-hither on/off rocker switch is the icing on the cake, and we could stare at that dreamy Sustain pedal input for days. The clock source dip switches, meanwhile, add an air of mystery that’s all-too hard to find these days.”
While many manufacturers focus on what their gear looks like from the front, the Rear of the gear of the year award has been introduced to celebrate back panel brilliance. These after all, are the bits your audience has to look at when you’re on stage.
“We want to show that there’s more to a lot of products than a pretty fascia,” says Jacques Mensonge. “If our award can make more manufacturers think about getting their rear ends in shape, then we’ve done our job.”
![A comped image with a young George Harrison [left] onstage with the Beatles in Hamburg, a Gretsch Duo Jet strapped to his shoulder. On the right is his Futurama electric](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/b8Kr55ksRwtGJHnbs2GZvg-1280-80.jpg.webp)
