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You never know what you’ll see at NAMM. Here’s a rag-tag collection of memories from Day 2 at NAMM.

In the midst of all the blinking lights and touch-screens, I’ve been pleasantly surprised to find some really beautiful workmanship. Not just injection molded plastic and brushed metal, but wood and other natural materials crafted into instruments that I’d be extremely pleased to handle and play.   A stop by the Tanglewood booth prooved to be one of those times.

Shure Microphones are dependable and solid. They make arguably the most popular dynamic mics. Model Numbers like the SM7B, SM57 and SM58 are the bread and butter of any major studios’ microphone closet.   Shure has some great new offerings for not only the professional musician and studio owner, but the home studio owner and weekend warrior.

Yamaha’s got a lot to offer! In the last post, I talked about seeing the THR series of guitar amplifiers in action. I’ll cover off the rest of our stay at the Yamaha booth – digital pianos, analog mixers, studio monitors, bass guitars and electronic drums. Not too much to cover…

Yamaha has a LOT of instruments and gear in its catalog. I mean a LOT. When you take into consideration all the acoustic band, orchestral AND contemporary instruments and gear, it’s no wonder they book the entire ballroom at the Anaheim Marriott for themselves. We got a peak at some of the offerings that Yamaha has – we had a lot of fun doing it too.

I watched ‘Fat, sick, and Nearly Dead’ the other day. I honestly didn’t know what to expect from it. I really thought it was something similar to the ‘SuperSize Me’ documentary that had everyone running away from McDonalds.   Turns out, I couldn’t have watched a more timely documentary. This month on Shelly’s Friday Favourites I’ve been talking about smoothies and juicing, and I don’t think you could find more information about the health benefits of juicing anywhere else. I’ve been researching the topic and looking at recipes all month, but that documentary really demonstrated how you could turn your life around with juicing.

It’s only been one day at the NAMM show in Anaheim California, but I’ve been seeing a couple of themes recurring as I walk among the booths. Continued integration of or integration with touch-screen devices and miniaturization & portability seem to be features that a lot of vendors are including in their product lines this year. Day 2 will be a test to see if my hunches here are correct and to see if there are any other trends emerging.

NAMM is BIG and LOUD. Along the way to giving you a sneak-peak at some gear that Best Buy is going to offer you, my francophone co-hort and I came across a few things that gave us pause, made us stop and look or were just … plain weird.

A tour through the Samson booth proved to be a treasure trove of good ideas and why-hasn’t-anyone-else-thought-of-this discoveries. Not only were there things that make you go “hmmm”, but the yet-to-be-confirmed forecasted price points seemed to be more than reasonable. After a long day walking the Anaheim Convention Center, the Samson booth turned out to be an energizing stop with many Easter eggs.

  Roland has a lot to offer the musician – whether you’re an amateur or pro. For the guitarist, there are a number of exciting treats that Roland and BOSS have come up with that you can find at Best Buy.