January 25, 2013
NAMM 2013 Day One...
by Chris Randall
One long-ass day of wandering about and strained politeness in the bag. I took a few pictures, but it's early in the morning, and I don't feel like digging out my camera and dealing with that right now. Besides, Brandon Daniel did his usual photodump here and it includes everything I'd put up anyhow.
Brief Impressions:
1. DSI Prophet 12: This is the standout synth I've seen so far this year. It basically distills Dave's 30-odd years designing hybrid digital/analog instruments in to one fixed focal point. Beautifully built in the USA end-to-end (the electronics fab is done in downtown San Francisco, natch), eminently playable, and it sounds fantastic. I'm not saying that I gave everyone in the booth tinnitus with the resonant highpass filter (which self-oscillates.) But I'm not saying I didn't, either. Two thumbs way up. Absolutely getting one of these.
2. Korg MS20: The real MS20 was never one of my favorite synths, and this one is basically exactly the same in all respects (including Hz/V oscillators) only size-stunted, like it smoked a bit too much in its pre-teen years. I'm definitely in "do not like" territory with this, bordering on active hatred. So I guess I'm gonna be that one guy. That's fine. Those synths only make like 4 sounds, and Richard James killed them 15 years go. So now there's gonna be 3,000,000 other people making those four sounds, except in indie rock I didn't like with a microKorg. I don't even want to talk about the King Korg or whatever it is. TOOOOOOOOOOBZZZZZZZ!!!111!!!ELEVEN!!!
3. Phatty McPhat Phat Phatty Phat Phat Phat: Briefly poked at this. Opinion unchanged from previous post. Phat. The Moog booth is absolutely dominated by that gold-plated Voyager, and it's really difficult to concentrate when you're within 15 feet of that thing's powerful Phorce-Phield. Phat. The Voyager XL is still the best thing they make. Phat. Now, that is a nice instrument. Phat. They have a white one in the booth, and it looks and sounds great. Phat.
4. Buchla Music Easel: Apparently, it is identical in all respects to the original (except the font on the front panel, which is italics like the current Buchla modular.) The two units they have at NAMM are not operationally complete, so a full workout can't take place. I've only seen one of the originals in real life once, and I didn't get to play with it, so I couldn't say how they compare; you'll have to talk to Mark Verbos or Allesandro Cortini for that. The price is really the catch, at $3900, which is about 1/5th what an original Music Easel will set you back. It feels like a work of art, in the same way that a really well-made guitar or car feels. Whether that translates in to hit singles is open to question. But if you can afford one of these, you already had hit singles, so whatevs. As to why I don't hate this recreation (which is a hand-made labor of love) and do hate the Korg one (which is mass-produced Chinese Craplastic), well, I'm a fucking snob. But you already knew that. Deal.
5. Bitwig Studio: I got a full demo on this. They're getting very close to having a shipping product, and it feels polished. Now, I feel obligated to say the following: Ableton has been nothing but nice to Audio Damage, and to me personally. As a musician, Bitwig Studio excites me. In-clip audio editing (in the same way that Rex files work when you're in Cubase), multi-window support (for huge monitor spreads) and a buttload of other features that help inspiration flow. As someone with business ethics, it feels a bit creepy, to be honest. There is no possible way you can see it in action and not think it is a clean rip of Live. But competition is a good thing: it benefits all musicians (and, in a round-about way, the companies getting competed against), and if Ableton has to add these features to Live, well, I won't complain.
6. Elektron Analog Four: Got a full demo of this as well. I hadn't really, prior to today, thought of it as a full music-making tool; I was just kind of thinking it was an analog monomachine. That's not really the case. It has a far more sophisticated parameter-management system, and the ability to control and loopback a modular synth is the killer app. One of these and a little 6U Euro case and you've got yourself a show. I rate instruments that I try at NAMM by whether I start to write music while I'm playing with them, and how much I want to continue that exploration at the expense of seeing more new shit. The Analog Four delivered in that regard, and will probably be my next gear purchase.
Those are the highlights from Day One. Today, I'm going to bother Ray and Dan at the Eventide booth, to the point where they're going to ponder asking me to leave before they call security. I also hope to catch a Push demo at the Akai booth, and have a gander at the new Cubase iApps, and that sort of thing. Keep an eye on my Twitter feed; connectivity in the convention is not great, and I ran my phone's battery to zero yesterday waiting for Flickr photos to upload (and I only did like 6.) I'll see if I can't work something out today.
If there's anything you'd like me to specifically look at or ask about, post it in here or (if it's after 10AM PST) Tweet it to me.
Brief Impressions:
1. DSI Prophet 12: This is the standout synth I've seen so far this year. It basically distills Dave's 30-odd years designing hybrid digital/analog instruments in to one fixed focal point. Beautifully built in the USA end-to-end (the electronics fab is done in downtown San Francisco, natch), eminently playable, and it sounds fantastic. I'm not saying that I gave everyone in the booth tinnitus with the resonant highpass filter (which self-oscillates.) But I'm not saying I didn't, either. Two thumbs way up. Absolutely getting one of these.
2. Korg MS20: The real MS20 was never one of my favorite synths, and this one is basically exactly the same in all respects (including Hz/V oscillators) only size-stunted, like it smoked a bit too much in its pre-teen years. I'm definitely in "do not like" territory with this, bordering on active hatred. So I guess I'm gonna be that one guy. That's fine. Those synths only make like 4 sounds, and Richard James killed them 15 years go. So now there's gonna be 3,000,000 other people making those four sounds, except in indie rock I didn't like with a microKorg. I don't even want to talk about the King Korg or whatever it is. TOOOOOOOOOOBZZZZZZZ!!!111!!!ELEVEN!!!
3. Phatty McPhat Phat Phatty Phat Phat Phat: Briefly poked at this. Opinion unchanged from previous post. Phat. The Moog booth is absolutely dominated by that gold-plated Voyager, and it's really difficult to concentrate when you're within 15 feet of that thing's powerful Phorce-Phield. Phat. The Voyager XL is still the best thing they make. Phat. Now, that is a nice instrument. Phat. They have a white one in the booth, and it looks and sounds great. Phat.
4. Buchla Music Easel: Apparently, it is identical in all respects to the original (except the font on the front panel, which is italics like the current Buchla modular.) The two units they have at NAMM are not operationally complete, so a full workout can't take place. I've only seen one of the originals in real life once, and I didn't get to play with it, so I couldn't say how they compare; you'll have to talk to Mark Verbos or Allesandro Cortini for that. The price is really the catch, at $3900, which is about 1/5th what an original Music Easel will set you back. It feels like a work of art, in the same way that a really well-made guitar or car feels. Whether that translates in to hit singles is open to question. But if you can afford one of these, you already had hit singles, so whatevs. As to why I don't hate this recreation (which is a hand-made labor of love) and do hate the Korg one (which is mass-produced Chinese Craplastic), well, I'm a fucking snob. But you already knew that. Deal.
5. Bitwig Studio: I got a full demo on this. They're getting very close to having a shipping product, and it feels polished. Now, I feel obligated to say the following: Ableton has been nothing but nice to Audio Damage, and to me personally. As a musician, Bitwig Studio excites me. In-clip audio editing (in the same way that Rex files work when you're in Cubase), multi-window support (for huge monitor spreads) and a buttload of other features that help inspiration flow. As someone with business ethics, it feels a bit creepy, to be honest. There is no possible way you can see it in action and not think it is a clean rip of Live. But competition is a good thing: it benefits all musicians (and, in a round-about way, the companies getting competed against), and if Ableton has to add these features to Live, well, I won't complain.
6. Elektron Analog Four: Got a full demo of this as well. I hadn't really, prior to today, thought of it as a full music-making tool; I was just kind of thinking it was an analog monomachine. That's not really the case. It has a far more sophisticated parameter-management system, and the ability to control and loopback a modular synth is the killer app. One of these and a little 6U Euro case and you've got yourself a show. I rate instruments that I try at NAMM by whether I start to write music while I'm playing with them, and how much I want to continue that exploration at the expense of seeing more new shit. The Analog Four delivered in that regard, and will probably be my next gear purchase.
Those are the highlights from Day One. Today, I'm going to bother Ray and Dan at the Eventide booth, to the point where they're going to ponder asking me to leave before they call security. I also hope to catch a Push demo at the Akai booth, and have a gander at the new Cubase iApps, and that sort of thing. Keep an eye on my Twitter feed; connectivity in the convention is not great, and I ran my phone's battery to zero yesterday waiting for Flickr photos to upload (and I only did like 6.) I'll see if I can't work something out today.
If there's anything you'd like me to specifically look at or ask about, post it in here or (if it's after 10AM PST) Tweet it to me.
34 comments:
I gotta say, for someone who weened himself off hardware synths in order to "get with the times", that Prophet12 is like tempting a recovering alcoholic with a 12 year bottle of scotch. Goddamn you to hell, Dave Smith.
Also, lovin that orange treatment on the MiniBrute.. sexaaay
Also, lovin that orange treatment on the MiniBrute.. sexaaay
If you happen to walk past the Livid booth take a gander at Base. Interested to hear your thoughts from the Push demo too.
when you go talk to eventide can you tell them where to stick the iLok? but then give them a hug and tell them they are awesome in every way except iLok.
feel free to mention airplane avionics
after that, as a courtesy, you should make sure there is a defibrillator in good working order near the Roland booth.
feel free to mention airplane avionics
after that, as a courtesy, you should make sure there is a defibrillator in good working order near the Roland booth.
Chris' reaction to the Mini MS20, in video form:
link [www.youtube.com]
Justin McGrath gets the credit for spotting this - I just saw his post on Twitter.
link [www.youtube.com]
Justin McGrath gets the credit for spotting this - I just saw his post on Twitter.
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