NAMM 2015 thread

jibberish · January 21, 2015, 12:58:21 PM

why not.
especially if big discussions start, plus maybe mark can blog a little about what he is doing there.

I read they may finalize a new midi protocol at this show. that will be interesting how that finally ends up when it is finished.

The Shocker · January 21, 2015, 01:19:00 PM

Black Arts has 2 new pedals and a pedal colab with DOD!

RAGER · January 21, 2015, 05:38:12 PM

Good news for Mark. I'm mildly interested in a couple of things mentioned to be unveiled but nothing I'm duper stoked about. I'm heading down the modular path. There's a couple analog drum machines and sequencers I'm researching to buy in the near future for my modular.

The Korg SQ 1 is one of the things being premiered at NAMM

jibberish · January 22, 2015, 10:56:38 AM

akai released the 2 matching pieces to your drum machine. a 4 voice synth with 4 sequencers(that caught my attention) and a ..ummm..shit I forgotr. but we have until july to figure it out as that is when they ship

roland is showing that JP-vzi w/e hybrid. 2 digital oscillators+pcm banks and digital processing path. also an analog osc and analog filter, then digital effects. this would be a sweet first keyboard. but it looks like it does a bit of everything but not a lot of anything. it even has a 16 step sequencer and separate drum section..like the roland casio series heh.
if the price is cheap enough it will be nice in a casio sort of way.

dave smith is supposed to have something awesome cooking.

PRS made a dragon super special guitar. let's guess the MSRP(heh) i'm guessing $17,990

looks like everyone is following taylor with their different series of guitars and shapes and materials. cool.

Danny G · January 22, 2015, 12:28:34 PM

I need to finally attend NAMM

If only so I could then sit alone at a bar, and if someone comes up to strike a random conversation, I can begin a horrific war story in a gravelly voice: "This one time in NAMM...."

RAGER · January 22, 2015, 01:39:28 PM

ha! good one.

I guess I'm looking forward to the Beatstep Pro now too. Fuck the SQ 1.

jibberish · January 22, 2015, 02:25:13 PM

what is this beatstep pro? beatstep needs some beefing up. they aere starting to show up used by the ton, like $69.

i'll google the beatstep pro to see what we have..

wow. yeah just leapfrogged the sq-1 shit.

RAGER · January 22, 2015, 02:39:34 PM

Looks like it wants to look like the OP-1

Jake · January 22, 2015, 05:14:20 PM

https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=M9oJkRqbAJ0

Lumpy · January 22, 2015, 05:34:25 PM

Fender "sandblasted" finishes look pretty good to me.

RacerX · January 22, 2015, 07:57:33 PM

Ooh, I do like that sandblast!

Submarine · January 22, 2015, 08:34:37 PM

Dee Dee Ramone signature bass
http://www.musicradar.com/news/guitars/namm-2015-fenders-dee-dee-ramone-precision-bass-reaches-stores-614069

It looks cool, probably sounds great - it just seems so not punk to have a signature model - feeling slightly conflicted. $:-\$

jibberish · January 23, 2015, 07:12:25 AM

how did they get him to sign it?

this is getting confusing. the sq-1 with that modular kit is pretty nice.
roland has a master mixer thibngy. I would call it sort of an "ableton in the can" but it seems like it interfaces with ableton too. whole master clock deal, sequenced effects, interesting.

I am becoming aware of a new type of device, this master controller idea.

when I fist watched an op-1 demo, they used that little tape deck thing on the lcd and it caught my attention. that is actually quite the powerful little toy looking deal. my initial mpression on seeing it was that this was something apple could have made. it just looks like an apple product.

RAGER · January 23, 2015, 06:41:41 PM

Holy shit my Moog just got waaaaaay better.

Metal and Beer · January 23, 2015, 09:05:40 PM

Dee Dee just used a white CBS-era Precision as I recall, I think he duct-taped the strap to it as a "mod", haha. I wonder who gets any sheckles from any licensing at this point, Monte? He certainly earned it, haha...

I guess I'm finally gettin' old and cranky, but I can't even imagine anything at the NAMM thing appealing to me. All the good stuff was made decades ago, by cracky !

RAGER · January 23, 2015, 10:36:37 PM

Well I'm not really interested in new technology as far as guitars and amps as my dusty ol' toobs and les Paul's do me just fine. But I do like the much of the new blinky lights toys based off the old technology ever synth I turned into a synth nerd.

mortlock · January 24, 2015, 12:36:11 AM

those sandblasted fenders are sweet looking. heavy..

jibberish · January 24, 2015, 07:13:12 AM

they have the original dime "dean from hell" on display

then they made sig models that actually have the dean from hell sticker duplicates
I thought they said list 1099. so those will probably be in sweetwater for $799 heh.
the art is exact, the lightning etc..that was nice.

taylor guitar making totally homegrown guitars and only ebony from their Cameroon ebony farm. maple, Sitka spruce, yeah.

Gibson is into the powered monitor business now heh.

shit..mark is in with a huge company. dod is part of the Harman group. they have quietly sucked up like 20 common music gear names that we all know and love.
lexicon is part of Harman, so I saw their brand splash sheet in that lit or wtf.. go mark. I bet he took his pharaoh concept and let DOD use their eq circuits.

mark can't develop parametric eqs alone quickly and they probably had those circuits developed already or an entire department able to knock shit out fast. sounds like a good team up.
everyone in the fucking world will now know who mark is too.

the modular stuff is off the hook. I think the waldorf waveform module is a winner. I have heard nothing else like that.
the sensei. I would like that thing as a complete modular in a case setup. that thing was making weird sounds. also it was a collaboration between this guy and the Pittsburgh modular guy.
I have to admit, I am constantly liking the doepfer stuff which actually seems to be quite popular now that I am aware of it.

at the end of the day, I still truly believe, if you are going to drop a g and a half, the sub37 kicks all ass.
you know that patch is going to be killer squared. why? the geek firmware engineer doing it is why. his fucking glasses were driving me nuts sliding down his nose as he geeked out over his patch. what a fucking geek. no question, he is a god.
btw, while I meditate on owning one, I will meditate until the patch is available, debugged and then buy it from sweetwater. one of their service features is that they get all updates loaded and set up before they ship to you. you bet I would only buy novation synths from them too for that reason.

after further pondering, I wouldn't just jump to a super beatstep or korg sq-1 or that roland mx-1. they are hardwarizing the control from like ableton and cutting the pc out as the core of the whole music system(as in MASTER CLOCK unit)
I think the NEXT gen of these is where they hit the home run. but in the meantime, used beatsteps are $69. also you can clock a beatstep, but from usb control daw, so maybe one of these new master modules can send usb timing shit and slave that now almost useless beatstep back into usefullness

The Riffer · January 27, 2015, 10:06:59 AM

NAMM..just returned. First stop, SR.com

If you've never been, and can go as a spectator or loosely affiliated w a company, its a cool spectacle and worth a day or two walking around..Take in the enormous complexity of the whole thing and witness how deep the music industry really is.
If you're there working..fuck its a drag on nearly every level..except meeting some cool people, staying very drunk/hi..and well, thats about it.

Quote from: jibberish on January 24, 2015, 07:13:12 AM
they have the original dime "dean from hell" on display

shit..mark is in with a huge company. dod is part of the Harman group. they have quietly sucked up like 20 common music gear names that we all know and love.
lexicon is part of Harman, so I saw their brand splash sheet in that lit or wtf.. go mark. I bet he took his pharaoh concept and let DOD use their eq circuits.

mark can't develop parametric eqs alone quickly and they probably had those circuits developed already or an entire department able to knock shit out fast. sounds like a good team up.
everyone in the fucking world will now know who mark is too.

The #1 DFH was a heavy sight. Not a dime fan at all, and that one moved me.
Related story : I was taken up to Dean Z.'s private lair and he gave me a personal tour of his new line of guitars. Impressed by both the guitars and Dean personally. He's bigger than most rock stars there and was genuinely interested in my story and offered sage advice. Very cool guy.

I'll clear up the DOD connection.

Harman does own a shitload of companies. Black Arts is not one of them.
I licensed a design to DOD/Digitech. DOD is the analog leg, Digitech is the digital leg. Two brands that will co exist and each have its own thing. DOD is reissuing some of the good ole staple pedals we all grew up on. My pedal is under the DOD banner.

The DOD Boneshaker is a completely new circuit, not based on anything of mine or theirs. I wont bore anyone with tech Bshit, but am happy to if there is a need or interest in it. Its a neat circuit, and as far as I know, unlike anything else out there, although its not reinventing the wheel by any stretch.
Parametric eqs are pretty simple in theory but the difficult part (for me) is the execution in getting it all to fit in the enclosure. I do hand stuffed hand soldered pcbs and hand wired components. DOD does the mass produced stuff with SMD components, can do a mother board and two daughter boards and all board mounted pots/jacks. Saving TONS of real estate making the thing the small size which everyone seems to want now.
If youre not familiar with SMD tech by name, this:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Surface-mount_technology

When approached with the idea of designing a new pedal for DOD, I was open to it based on the boutique feel of the reissues and the history of DOD being what I grew up using. After a very informal dinner/drinking session w them, it was a no brainer, and in my mind the risk to reward factor was sufficient to tell myself "I'd rather regret doing this than regret not doing it". They liked my ideas and were willing to let me do something that neither of us had done in the past. Contrary to what you may expect, DOD is 6 people, but with the corporate machine of Harman behind them. They are long haired rockers who get what we do, have done it , and are attempting to resurrect DOD. Im all for that.

I have no idea what it may mean for Black Arts, because I certainly will get alot more eyes on what I do. We did alot of press over the weekend with some major players in the corporate world. I'll put it this way..I'm not out looking for anything.I'll keep my head down and keep doing what I do. But if opportunity knocks at my door, I'm gonna answer it and assess.

The Shocker · January 27, 2015, 10:17:09 AM

Sounds pretty damn sweet mang.

James1214 · January 27, 2015, 05:17:04 PM

Good on ya Mark. I think it's great that a bigger company like DOD is working with smaller, maybe lesser known makers of awesome stuff, then that's great for all parties involved.

Beta Cloud · January 27, 2015, 06:10:36 PM

Quote from: Lumpy on January 22, 2015, 05:34:25 PM
Fender "sandblasted" finishes look pretty good to me.

good god man, it looks like something you sit on at dairy queen!

Jake · January 27, 2015, 06:55:07 PM

Quote from: Beta Cloud on January 27, 2015, 06:10:36 PM
good god man, it looks like something you sit on at dairy queen!

An 8yr old?

RAGER · January 27, 2015, 07:22:59 PM

Hey Riffer Mark, would you mind maybe recounting how this whole relationship started and what the process was and how you protected yourself and your design. Lawyers involved? Patents? Third party holding of intellectual properties? Things like that. It would most interesting to me and others I would think.

jibberish · January 27, 2015, 08:44:12 PM

heh mark, ponder working the IMTS show in Chicago FOR 10 DAYS STRAIGHT. total bullshit.

the last 2 days are like zombieville. none of the exhibitors has anything left and anyone who wanted to go, went already. redefines boring and your ankles and knees are smoking.
this giant fucking showhall like a morgue. like right before opening...all carpeted and no one around.

the best one ever was this sort of fail local industrial show in Indianapolis at the old hoserdome.
3/4 of the exhibitors started packing up after they:
a)didn't do well the entire show
b)virtually no one showed up last day
c)mgmt. were a pack of tards

except the packing started about 4 hrs before the show closed. mgmt was going apeshit trying to stop everyone from packing up and just getting tacky on the pa system.
I was helping the local rep/distributor with our product line in his booth because it was pretty huge. we were laughing so hard I was sore the next day. I wish I would have filmed those couple hours.

best thing about McCormack is watching the collection of people they scraped up to bring the crates into the hall. like every bum and junky in Chicago heh.
waiting for your crates is like the lotto. do you get yours early? or do you get fucked and get yours near the end so you are still there packing way late.

glad I don't do that anymore.