Musical Instruments

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.

Now that 2016 is here, it’s time to honour all those resolutions you made when the clock struck midnight. There’s no better time than the present, but don’t worry, we’re here to give you some support in keeping those promises. So, if your New Year’s resolution was to learn a new skill, read on for how to actually make it happen in 2016.

The Fender booth was a treat for us. Why wouldn’t anyone like strolling through a large room full of iconic guitars, basses and amps.    There are some new things from Fender that will please both their established clientelle as well as their new ones. We got treated to a look at a couple of the Fender Amps that will be carried by Best Buy.

Today was busy! Even the exhibitors on the floor thought it was busy. The weather was fantastic (although I only caught a glimpse of it on the walk to the Annaheim Convention Centre), there were some artists spotted and some cool new gear discovered by yours truly.    

When my children were younger, I remember my wife and I contemplating questions like: when is my child ready for music? and How can I make sure they’ll like it? Even though we’re both classically trained pianists and I write and produce music for a living, we STILL grappled with these questions! Well I’m going to try to give all parents some answers. In addition to my own perspective on this subject, I bounced a few ideas off Jennifer Gasoi (2014 Grammy Award Winner- Best Children’s Album). She obviously has some fantastic insights and tips. You’ll see her perspective liberally peppered throughout this post.

January is a big month for new product announcements. In early January there was CES – the largest trade show for consumer electronics. Many companies keep their new products a secret so they can excite and surprise consumers with their announcements during the conference.  Late January has the NAMM show – the largest trade show in the world for musical instruments. Just like at CES, attendees at NAMM often keep the products they will present under wraps, until the show. What will be the biggest news in musical instruments for 2014. Best Buy will be at the conference to find out for you.

Even though I’ve been here before, NAMM is exciting, overwhelming, thrilling and exhausting. The first day was a hit-the-ground-running experience even though my brain and gear-geek self were asking my body and schedule to slow down. My francophone co-hort (Marc-Andre) and I caught up on each others’ past year, took a spin through the exhibit floor, saw a lot of new and familiar faces and, most importantly, took lots of photos, videos and notes on lots of interesting things!      

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.

The one stand-out customer request that IK Multimedia has had to wrestle with over the past few years is releasing the fantastic products that are enjoyed on iOS devices for Android devices. This year, they’ve been able to deliver upon that request!

Another NAMM show has come to a close and while all the exhibitors contemplate packing up their booths, I’m reflecting on all that I’ve seen over the past few days. There weren’t any show-stopping standout announcements this year, but there was a lot to see!