Sweet Notes | Early Fall 1998 | Page 4 |
SUMMER NAMM REPORT
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drum track, a dedicated bass track, and an external source track for triggering external MIDI gear plus a variety of real time controls including tap tempo.
CAKEWALK. In collaboration with Roland and Fender, Cakewalk plans to participate in products enabling guitarists to be more creative and productive in recording and live per- formance. The first solution from the alliance is the combination of three distinct products optimized to work together: Cakewalk Guitar Studio digital audio and MIDI recording soft- ware, the Roland
tual Fretboard for the display and input of melodies and chords. Players are able to capture ideas quickly by using the rhythm patterns provided. There are also specialized utilities including a guitar tuner, MIDI Guitar setup, and guitar effects including cho- rus, reverb, EQ, flange and delay.
DDRUM was showing a new expanded drum kit called Ddrum System One ($4595), which is based on the Ddrum 4 technol- ogy. It adds three Ddrum cymbals and a
DIGITECH. Expanding on their success with the
100.The Vocalist Access ($469) packs the harmonic punch of the Vocalist Workstation into a
EMAGIC. Their big news is that they are finally shipping all of their software packages announced at the January NAMM Show (see our Winter NAMM ’98 report). They have also announced VST support. Even bigger news is that they are going to be sup- porting Roland
EVENT announced that all of their computer recording plat- forms (Gina, Darla, Layla) are shipping. They were showing Layla running on a Mac, but they say it will still be Fall before it is available that way.They showed a new microphone, the Rode Broadcaster, a large diaphragm condenser mic that is mounted to a clip so it can be boomed in to a broadcast person with ease.
G&L had several new models at the show all featuring Leo Fender’s
tremolo system, the ASAT Z3, which has their patented Saddle Lock fixed bridge, and the ASAT Z3
JBL had their full range of new LSR products working and sounding great. Their newest system consists of the LSR28P
KAWAI showed a fully working version of their new MP9000 piano and controller ($2195). The keybed assembly in this unit is a whole new design that employs real hammers at the back of the key for a more realistic feel. It has fantastic piano sounds, which were modeled with a new process they are calling “Harmonic Imaging” — a modeled technology that is continuously variable based on your playing velocity.
KORG. The new Trinity V3 is the marriage of the famed Trinity and Z series keyboards into one incredible instrument with
in 18 MB of wave ROM. Interestingly, the LCD display can be switched from amber to green. LEXICON. Further solidifying their position as a premier guitar effects developer Lexicon introduced the
Page 9 for more) was in use in many of the high end guitar booths.
LINE 6. POD is their Flextone on a table ($399). This
MACKIE. The buzz of the last few NAMM and AES shows (and this one) is still the Mackie Digital 8•Bus Console ($9999). They do have product on the assembly line and they should be arriving as you read this. Some minor features have changed a little bit since the last time we wrote about it, but the thing still does look incredible with 56 inputs, 72 channels, 48 channels with EQ, compression and gate simultaneously, hardware DPS card expandability, software plug in capability on generic DSP cards, SVGA display output port, Apogee UV22 process on tape and main outputs, integrated
MARTIN. Heading up the “I wish I could afford one” category was the Steven Stills model. They're only making 91 and they tumble in at a price of only $19,310! Oh, but what a beautiful instrument it is. They also showed a Don McLain model ($5750), a Lester Flatt model ($8500), and a Willie Nelson model. They did not, however, reproduce the hole he has in the front of his. The East Indian Rosewood version is $5500, and the Brazilian Rosewood one is $9800. There were also three Johnny Cash models (priced between $3950 and $8200) and the “lowly” Eric Clapton model at a mere $3500. In the more affordable range they showed a new cutaway guitar designed for women available in three different woods ($1900 to $2300), a new
MIDIMAN never fails to amaze me (and I'm terribly difficult to amaze these days). This year they introduced SAM, a S/PDIF ADAT mixer and format converter ($399.95). Weighing in at just one pound, SAM's main function is to be an ADAT to S/PDIF (and vice versa) converter. It just happens to be able to mix eight ADAT tracks to one S/PDIF output with
NORD. Clavia was showing off the new Nord Micro Modular synthesizer. At $895 everyone can now afford to get into the power of modular synthe- sis. It comes with and uses the same software as its big Modular brother, but has a smaller hardware package with four realtime controller knobs (instead of the 18 on the Modular).
OPCODE. After being purchased by Gibson a short time ago these guys are as enthusiastic as I've ever seen them. Announcements at the show include Vision DSP ($495), which will replace Vision Deluxe, with support for Steinberg's VST architecture and full ASIO hardware compliance. DATport has a USB port on one side and a pair of S/PDIF ports on the other. Plug it into the USB port on your PC and it's ready to go. No messing with drivers (it doesn't even come with a disk), DMAs, IRQs, etc. Available in September for under $200.
PRESONUS displayed their M80,
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