The annual Nationwide Affiliation of Music Retailers (NAMM) Present is among the world’s largest showcases of latest music gear from producers around the globe, taking in each aspect of taking part in, performing and recording. NAMM itself was based in 1901, initially to provide America’s piano producers a united voice; it now represents round 15,000 world producers.
Yamaha Seqtrak Music Manufacturing Studio
(Picture credit score: Yamaha)
This 12 months’s NAMM – held in Anaheim, California – showcased the same old broad sweep of introspection and innovation. In a world the place bed room producers can turn into worldwide megastars, each instrument, irrespective of how humble, comes freighted with untapped potential. Right here’s what caught our ears this 12 months.
Our choose of musical improvements at 2024 NAMM Present
Yamaha Seqtrak Music Manufacturing Studio
Yamaha Seqtrak Music Manufacturing Studio
(Picture credit score: Yamaha)
Count on to see this pleasant little gadget floor in a number of artistic studios and set-ups. Stealing a march on Teenage Engineering’s minimal, retro model, the brand new Yamaha Seqtrak was the shock of the present, an all-in-one ‘Music Manufacturing Studio’ that mixes a drum machine, synth engine, sampling and sequencing in a compact, trendy brick, full with onboard batteries, speaker and microphone. Newcomers to Yamaha’s strategy may have a studying curve, and it helps to have the app at hand for a extra visually-led strategy to getting down concepts.
Yamaha Seqtrak, UK.Yamaha.com, @yamahamusiceurope, £349 from Andertons.co.uk
Korg KR-11 Drum Machine
(Picture credit score: Korg)
One other compact, simply pocketable gadget, Korg’s KR-11 is an easy, no-nonsense drum machine, a contemporary metronome for musicians to make use of as a apply instrument. The addition of a full set of efficiency pads makes this barely totally different from the norm, and you too can edit and create your personal patterns. An non-compulsory foot pedal can begin and cease the beat, whereas the general aesthetic is according to Korg’s vary of compact, inexpensive synths.
Korg KR-11, coming quickly, Korg.com, @Korguk
Taylor Circa 74 Amplifier
Taylor Circa 74 Amplifier
(Picture credit score: Taylor)
Taylor’s Circa 74 is a brand new vocal and acoustic guitar amplifier with a richly crafted mahogany case, leather-based deal with and wood stand, in addition to ample energy (150 watts) for small gigs. Though it has a classic really feel, with controls which might be stripped again to the naked minimal, there’s additionally onboard Bluetooth so you possibly can stream backing tracks.
Taylor Circa 74, c$1,199, TaylorGuitars.com, @TaylorGuitars
Redshift 6 by Supercritical Synthesizers
Redshift 6 by Supercritical Synthesizers
(Picture credit score: Supercritical Synthesizers)
Supercritical Synthesizers introduced its Redshift 6 at NAMM, a brand new analogue synthesizer with a definite visible look and 6 impartial voices. Combining wealthy analogue filters with digital results and sign processing, the Redshift 6 is a versatile instrument for producing an enormous spectrum of sound. Transport is predicted to begin in summer time 2024.
Redshift 6, Supercritical Synthesizers, SupercriticalSynthesizers.com, @SupercriticalSynthesizers, pre-order for £1,090 from Thomann.de
Suzuki Omnichord OM-108
Suzuki Musical Devices Omnichord OM-108
(Picture credit score: Suzuki Musical Devices)
It’s 70 years since Suzuki Musical Devices was based and 43 years because it launched its first Omnichord. This bizarre hybrid of conventional kind issue with schlocky Nineteen Eighties synth and drum sounds and brown colourway has turn into a cult basic, not least for its belated success within the palms of latest musicians, most notably Damon Albarn.
To have a good time seven a long time, the Japanese firm is relaunching the instrument, including it to an eclectic product line-up that features harmonicas, melodions and conventional Japanese devices. The Omnichord’s innovation was the ‘strumplate’, an expressive floor that permits non-musicians to set off preset chords by way of an array of buttons. MIDI out, new sounds and new chords shall be added to the unique function set.
Suzuki Omnichord OM-108, extra info at Suzuki-Music.co.jp
VOX APC-1 Journey Guitar
(Picture credit score: VOX)
One other instance of contemporary tech shoehorned right into a retro kind, the VOX APC-1 is a brand new journey guitar from the long-lasting producer with its roots in Nineteen Fifties rock’n’roll tradition in South London. Now a part of Korg, VOX has doubled down on the Nineteen Fifties and Sixties aesthetic that made its identify in each amplification and guitars. The brand new APC-1 attracts visible inspiration from basic VOX designs just like the ‘Teardrop’ and the Phantom, in addition to incorporating onboard results (as seen on the Phantom), a speaker and even a drum machine.
VOX APC-1, extra particulars at VOXamps.com, @VOXAmplification
Korg Handytraxx Play
(Picture credit score: Korg)
The Korg Handytraxx Play is a feature-rich moveable file participant, one in every of a cavalcade of latest merchandise from the Japanese producer and its subsidiaries. The Handytraxx Play is meant as a fast and soiled means of getting sounds from vinyl right into a sampler, with assist for 78rpm data, onboard loop and scratch features, delay and filter. It’s solely a prototype for now, and attracts closely on the unique Vestax Helpful Trax participant, a cult object for DJs.
Korg Handytraxx Play, extra info at Korg.co.uk, @Korguk
Zoom Important Collection Helpful Recorders
Zoom H4Essential Helpful Recorder
(Picture credit score: Zoom)
Zoom has rejigged its vastly fashionable vary of ‘H’-series handheld multitrack recorders. The important thing innovation is the introduction of 32-bit float recording, which successfully takes care of massive adjustments in audio ranges by vastly increasing the dynamic vary of the sign it could seize. Deployed accurately, it means you’ll by no means encounter distortion (clipping) or unusable audio – every thing might be mounted in post-production. For subject recordings, concert events and interviews on the go, the H4 Important (together with the brand new H1 Important and H6 Important) vastly expands your choices.
Zoom H4Essential, €219, ZoomCorp.com, @ZoomUnitedKingdom
Korg microKORG2 Synthesizer
Korg microKORG 2 Synthesizer
(Picture credit score: Korg)
Lastly, one other new product from Korg. The brand new microKORG 2 is an replace of the all-time favorite microKORG, launched in 2002 and nonetheless a powerful vendor right this moment. Combining a synth engine with Vocoder results, it’s proved fashionable with everybody from the Prodigy to Tame Impala and LCD Soundsystem. Essentially the most notable enhancement is a 2.8-inch color display, together with a looper, extra results and rather more flexibility.
Korg MicroKORG 2, Korg.com, @Korguk, £522 from Thomann.de
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