For people who eat, sleep and live music, NAMM for years, has been their 'go to' event. NAMM stands for National Association of Music Merchants. Much to our dismay, NAMM has begun with a single most humble cause, i.e. belief in music, without any business angle attached. The music community is driven by creativity but lacks fund; that is exactly where NAMM comes into the picture. This association is a non-profit one and aims at facilitating the best music products to people believing in the cause. Gaining popularity over the years, it has succeeded in attracting celebrities from the domain in turn building a healthy music ambiance during its 4-day event. It did take place from Jan 19th-22nd, 2017 at Anaheim Convention Centre, Anaheim, CA.
We'll now take a look at some fresh music products that were launched in NAMM this year:
1.Korg: ARP Odyssey Synth – Korg as a brand has been omnipresent in every section of music products this year. One announcement that has particularly excited the fans was their collaboration with Mac OS. It'll be interesting to see how it shapes out in future. Few others that have caught attention are the limited edition White MS20 Synth, Krome Music Workstation Platinum, Kronos 88 Gold Music Workstation and the funky TM-50 Red Tuner. Talking of ARP Odyssey Synth, it is a re-issued version of the original one with advanced features like the full-length standard keyboard with a line-up of all three design generations. It has been carefully assembled in America and thus, has come out as limited edition product.
2. Numark NS7III – This being the third incarnation of their NS7 controller promises to be one of the top end controllers for Serato DJ users with features like three screens full-color LCD and waveform display. The three screen full-color LCD allows a DJ's to gladly ditch the laptop while monitoring the waveforms on the controller. Those who do not wish to part away with their controllers can just make the color screen display as a standalone purchase.
3. Denon DJ: 4 product announcement– In a mood to challenge the Pioneer DJ's global dominance in DJ culture products, Denon DJ has announced four of its own: SC5000 Prime Media Player, X1800 Prime Mixer, Engine Prime Music Management system and VL12 Prime Turntable. With such an array of products, this will surely be an interesting space to watch out for musicians (aspiring/current DJs) and music downloader enthusiasts.
4. Reloop: RMX 90 DVS – This four-channel new mixer emphasizes on producing clear and powerful sound characteristic achieved via fully digital sound architecture and HR 24-bit audio interface. The mixing is instant with intuitive mixer layout, three band EQ and filters on each channel. RMX -90 DVS unlocks the full version of Serato DJ including DVS control, and its 2 Serato NoiseMap control vinyl records are great plug-n-play, so it starts spinning instantly without taking playback time.
5. Pioneer DJ: TORAIZ AS-1 –This is the brand's first analog synth and what better platform to launch it than NAMM. As for continuity to their legendary collaboration with Dave Smith, this new synth is a beautiful tech output that is equally good at home, in a studio or as a part of extended DJ set-up. Much like Dave Smith's Prophet -6 synthesizer analog circuitry, TORAIZ AS-1 is also driven by a fully programmable true analog synthesis engine. Users can enjoy more complex patterns by connecting both TORAIZ AS-1 synth to TORAIZ SP-16 live sampler via MIDI.
6. MIXARS: Quattro Mixer and Primo Controller – MIXARS chose a great place-NAMM to show off its two products: Quattro Mixer and Primer Controller. Not much has been revealed about them yet, but basic specifications for the Mixer – it has deep Serato DJ integration with 2X banks of eight performance pads, dual USB support, and Controller – it's two channeled with standard performance pads, possessing controls for controlling digital DJ-ing software, is known.
For more information on the event happenings, watch this space.